BUTTERMILK

I'm dating myself when I use the old timer's joke:

"How can a cow give anything but her milk."

 

Buttermilk in my opinion is an excellent drink.  The cultured kind in the grocery store is so different from the buttermilk which is left over from the churning of butter.  The milk left over from churning butter is more akin to a very watery skim milk.  If soured milk was used to make the butter then it will be a sour tasting skim milk. 

 

I am an aficionado of the cultured kind (when I had goats and cows we had the other kind but we didn't drink it, we mixed it with the chickens mash to feed to them).  Cultured buttermilk runs on the pricey side but you can cut your cost.  You can turn a quart into a gallon for only the cost of a quart of buttermilk and a gallon of whole milk. 

 

I usually use 4 quart canning jars.  Have the jars and their lids very clean and dry.  If you have other similar size jars and lids use them.  The only prerequisite is, they need to be glass.

 

Divide the buttermilk equally into each of the jars.  Then top off the jar with warmed whole milk. Leave a 1/2 inch head space so you can shake the jar to mix.  You can use the microwave to take the chill off the milk.  You want it to be a little warmer than body temp. (About 100 degrees).  Don't warm the buttermilk. 

 

If you have an out door barb-b-cue with a cover, it is a perfect incubator (If it is not sitting in the bright sun).  I sit my jars in there on a warm day and leave them about 10/12 hours, sometimes longer if I forget.  The longer you leave it the tarter and thicker it will be.   Don't forget it more than 12 hours!  I was late today getting my jars out so I will leave them in there all night.
 

When you retrieve it, give it a shake and put it in the coldest part of the refrigerator to chill down. 

 

You now have more buttermilk than you can use.  Make some cornbread to have a nice tall glass of buttermilk with it.   Have buttermilk biscuits for breakfast.  I believe you can also make cake with it, but I never have.

 

Have fun discovering new ways to use buttermilk now that you have plenty.

I posted this blog on June 15.  Today is June 16.  Well, I did it.  I left the jars out in the barbeque... The bright son heated up the black top..and....cooked the jars...I didn't remember them till after lunch.  The morning son hits right on the unit.  The jars were so hot, it hurt to touch them.  You could see the separation of the whey from the curds.  It occurred to me it might be spoiled.  It wasn't.  When I opened the jar it smelled like delicious cottage cheese.  I took my fine strainer and strained out the whey (If it happens to you and you have cheese cloth or nylon hose you can strain it).  After straining salt your curds and add a little sweet cream and you have cottage cheese.  It's delightful.

Using very clean everything when you are working with the milk will keep the good bacteria working.  With anything you make is it smells bad don't consume it!  You notice I didn't tell you to scald the milk before you added the cultured buttermilk.  Since both milks are pasteurized I do not do that step.  When we had raw milk, straight from the goat/cow I scalded.

 

 Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup who has become a hidden treasure.

 

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Where I have stories of my cats and other pets

a blog about my courtship with my husband,

and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.

A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.

 

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com/

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle

 

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