Can cultured buttermilk powder contain live cultures?

Question

I'm looking for some buttermilk starter, which I know I can buy online, but I wanted to shop locally first. The two local health food stores don't carry it, so I checked one of the local supermarkets, and came across some Saco Cultured Buttermilk Blend, which is a dry powder. I'm curious if this can possibly contain live cultures, though. One forum post I found claims it does not:

Because the SACO buttermilk is dried, it contains no live cultures and will not be a good buttermilk starter culture.

However, many other living organisms, (such as dry yeast, and the freeze-dried Kéfir starter I found in the store today) come in dry form, so I'm not convinced that a dried product cannot contain live cultures, but maybe dried buttermilk is different. So is it true that this type of product does not contain live cultures, or will it work as a buttermilk starter culture?

Asked by Flimzy

Answer

It is true that Saco Buttermilk Blend contains no live cultures. If you can have any further questions, please feel free to call our consumer line at 1-800-373-7226. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about our product! Amy Verheyden Director of Consumer Affairs Saco Foods, Inc.

Answered by Amy Verheyden

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Why does soda bread call for buttermilk?

Question

I've been looking for a soda bread recipe to try and I notice that most of them contain buttermilk. Buttermilk is not a standard part of my pantry. Part of the appeal of soda bread is that it's quick to throw together, so having to go shopping for a specific ingredient interferes with the spontaneous aspect.

I know there are lots of substitutions for buttermilk (using a bit of lemon juice in regular milk is the one I usually use), but I'm wondering what it is about buttermilk specifically that seems to be a standard part of soda bread. Is it just traditional? Or will it add a particularly noticeable flavour/texture?

Edited to add: I know that its functional purpose is to provide an acid to react with the soda for rising; so is it just that it used to be the most convenient acid?

Asked by Allison

Answer

Buttermilk has a delicious flavor that is not at all approximated by lemon juice.

It's true that lemon or vinegar with milk will clabber it a little and provide the acid that the recipe needs but the flavor will be distinctly lacking.

Get some buttermilk. It's inexpensive and has a longer shelf life than normal milk. It is also exceptionally easy to make. If you make it a standard part of your pantry you will find yourself enjoying life more (or at least pancakes.)

Answered by Sobachatina

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How long does it take for buttermilk to go bad?

Question

I love making buttermilk pancakes but I can never seem to use up my buttermilk before it passes the expiration date. The thing is, if I take a solid whiff of the "expired" buttermilk it smells great (even up to a month after the expire date).

How can I tell if it's still ok to use?

Asked by jessegavin

Answer

Buttermilk is already thoroughly packed with live bacteria. During its manufacture, that bacteria already consumed some portion of the available lactose and turned it into lactic acid.

Because of the lack of food, acidity, and the extreme competition it is pretty hard for buttermilk to go bad. The good bacteria will stay active and the buttermilk will get thicker and more sour until it runs out of lactose. In fact- when your buttermilk container has about 1/2 cup left you can make more just by refilling the container with milk and leaving it to ferment on the counter for a day. If you use it up more quickly than the bacteria eat the lactose then you can keep this up indefinitely.

Don't worry if it is thicker- if it still smells good then it probably is. As Noctrine said- mold around the lip is the worst risk. I am not a food chemist and despite my personal experience- if you ever suspect that food is bad just throw it out. $2 of buttermilk isn't worth an unpleasant afternoon.

Answered by Sobachatina

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What does “buttermilk” mean in an American pancake recipe?

Question

I want to experiment making American style pancakes (I usually make Austrian style unleavened palatschinken). The recipe I found says "buttermilk", but I remember reading somewhere that the Americans sometimes misuse the word for milk thickened by fermentation. What should I use for the recipe, real buttermilk or fermented whole milk?

And if you have ever shopped in a German supermarket, do you know which product would come the closest to what the recipe author meant? I have the choice between buttermilch, sauermilch, dickmilch and kefir. Currently leaning towards sauermilch (it isn't really very sour, tastes actually less sour than yogurt).

Answer

You are correct that in the US buttermilk refers to cultured milk and not the soured leftovers from making butter. Historically buttermilk was the liquid left after making butter that had fermented during the accumulation of the cream. It was described as milky and sour- not creamy like modern buttermilk.

Your recipe is certainly referring to the cultured variety. I have never seen or heard of actual buttermilk being sold anywhere and so I have no idea if it can be used in the same recipes.

The milk doesn't have to be whole. The product is thick, creamy, and tart not unlike a loose yogurt.

I don't know German but I can say that Kefir (if it is the same product as one with the same name in Russian) is definitely not buttermilk. It can be used as a substitute as it has a similar texture but the flavor is very different.

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Buttermilk + Butter =?

Question

Watching an episode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" (episode: House of the Rising Bun) and AB is demonstrating a recipe for cinnamon rolls. In the "wet" mix he includes both buttermilk and butter.

Now, since buttermilk is milk after the butter has been churned out, why would a recipe call for both?

Obviously, proportion would be an issue, but whole milk + (less) butter should equal buttermilk + (full amount) butter, shouldn't it?

Answer

Hah, I get to cite my new copy of McGee's "On Food and Cooking" for the first time! There are several things going on here (all of which can be found in the 2004 edition of McGee, most on page 50).

Firstly, as Nathan indicates in his answer, most of the liquid that is sold as buttermilk these days is in fact not "real" buttermilk, but so-called "cultured buttermilk", made from ordinary skim milk and fermented until acid and thick.

Secondly, even traditional buttermilk was somewhat sour, though less than cultured buttermilk. To find out why, let's examine the processes that were involved in making it. If you want to make butter, you start by separating milk into cream and whey. Since the 19th century, we typically do that with a centrifuge and it goes quite quickly, but before then, we would leave it to gravity. That would take a while, and the milk would start to ferment while it happened - especially in warmer environments. This fermenting is essentially lactic acid bacteria converting lactose into lactic acid, which sours the milk a little.

So in either case, you would have more lactic acid in butter + buttermilk than in butter + whole milk.

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