Sometimes I feel like I’m always saying “You HAVE to try this!” but I’m not going to stop. I hope you all understand, and I think you do, that I love what I do and therefore, I think everyone should love doing the same thing but if you don’t love it and if you don’t want to try it, I understand . . to some degree. You’d rather I tell you about it all and let you decide what you want to do or not do vs. me not even telling you about it, right? Good!
I mentioned making buttermilk about a month ago and since thing, I’ve made it four times and will make more today. If you’d like, I can do a step by step but there are plenty of them on the web.
It’s so basic and simple. If using raw milk, heat it to 180º, then let it cool to 76º. If using already pasteurized milk, heat it to 76º. I started with a purchased culture but, just like making yogurt, you can also start with storebought buttermilk that indicates it has “live culture”. Also just as in making yogurt, I save out about 1/4 cup of buttermilk from the previous batch to use as a starter for my next batch. I’ll explain more when I do a step by step post but this is basically all you do.
Even if I’m not drinking buttermilk, and I love buttermilk, it’s so good for so many things:
- Biscuits
- Cakes
- Pies
- Salad dressing bases
- Marinades for some meats
- Coating for some meats before breading to fry
Through the recent years, I can’t tell you how much buttermilk I’ve thrown out because I always have it in the fridge, and just don’t always use it all. When cooking with it, I’ll let it go way past the “use by” date but with making my own, I can use as little as 2 cups of milk to make buttermilk and it’s so unbelievably simple to make.
Biscuit Mix
From what I’ve read, even if you only make buttermilk once every three weeks, your starter will be fine. Much longer than 3 weeks and you may need a new starter.
I find it pretty amazing that I can make it myself and keep it rather than having to buy it. Biscuits made with homemade buttermilk are great!
Biscuits
But I suppose biscuits made with storebought buttermilk are pretty awesome too.
Sherrill says
Eww, I don’t like to drink buttermilk (my dad LOVED it but it always grossed me out) but VERY occasionally there’s something I need buttermilk for. I’ve done the down and dirty way of making it by adding vinegar (& something else maybe) to reg. milk and I’ve also had the dry stuff in the past (none currently). No way I’d ever make it like you since, as I’ve mentioned in the past, I really don’t cook since it’s only me. But I find it interesting as I do most of the things you do! 🙂
Pat says
Love that you share your stories. I am not a cook. I tell everyone I cook survival meals.