I use a lot of buttermilk. And by ‘a lot’ I mean a ton. Many of my baked goods contain buttermilk. Much of my salad dressing uses buttermilk. And The Evil Genius? He drinks buttermilk. * We go through a lot of the stuff. And I may have mentioned that I live in the middle of nowhere in Amish country before (or a million times before, but who’s counting?) so frequent last minute trips to the store are not convenient.
*Now before any of you out there yawp with a resounding, “EW!” let me just mention that millions of Southerners and displaced Southerners are right now saying, “Mmmmmmmm! A nice tall glass of buttermilk with salt and pepper sounds mighty fine right now.” A reminder: never yuck another person’s yum. Unless we’re talking durian, then all bets are off… (You may want to read about my family vs. Durian.)
There are probably quite a few of you out there saying, “Oh pish,” (Someone other than me says that, right?), “All you have to do is add a little vinegar or lemon juice to milk and you get the same thing. Why buy buttermilk?” See? I just knew someone out there was saying it. Not so fast! It’s not the same thing. To prove my point, I have to make a scientific sidebar.
Scientific Sidebar Alert!
Buttermilk is used in recipes for several important reasons:
- Buttermilk is acidic, so it helps invigorate leavening agents -such as baking powder, baking soda and yeast- when added to baked goods. The acid also helps combat discoloration in baked goods and promotes deep, beautiful browning.
- Buttermilk contains natural emulsifiers; this improves texture and aroma, and extends shelf life after baking.
- Remember how buttermilk is acidic? That makes it a wonderful addition to marinades for chicken and pork. The acid helps tenderize the meat and gives it a tangy flavor.
- You know the ‘cultured’ part of cultured buttermilk? It’s good for you. It contains many active cultures similar to those found in yogurt. Most of the cultures generally found in buttermilk are form the Lactococcus Lactis family and many of their subspecies. Those cultures are what make buttermilk so thick and creamy. And what? Good for you!
Now that you know more than you probably ever wanted to know about buttermilk let’s get onto the ‘Why make my own?’ thing. Because you can. Seriously. You need more than that? Okay. Also make it because it’s dirt cheap, it’s super simple, it’s really fun and you’ll never run out of buttermilk again.
Hang on one second. Someone out there just said, “I never use a whole thing of buttermilk. What do I do with all that buttermilk?” I’m so glad you asked. How about a few of these ideas:
Bacon and Swiss Rye Muffins These are every bit as good as they sound and as easy as pie. No wait! They’re easier than pie. Pie can be hard.
Buttermilk Cornbread Rounds Based on my Grandma’s Buttermilk Cornbread recipe, these perfectly portioned cornbread rounds fit neatly in the hand and go anywhere cornbread goes, but look cuter doing it! This one’s going a little way back in the FWF archives. When you read it, please forgive the “I’m learning” format!
Buttermilk Pancakes Nothing beats beautiful, light, airy buttermilk pancakes smothered in real maple syrup. Nothing. This one’s also reaching back. Wow. I played around with those fonts and indentations a bit, didn’t I?
Garam Masala Depression Cake from Val. Nothin’ depressing about THAT cake, I’ll tell you. We’re talking about a decadent, Garam Masala flavored chocolate cake with orange buttercream and toasted coconut. Oh my. I only take issue with the number of servings Val specified in it. It looks like a one-person cake to me.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention these others…
- Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies (Drop scones)
- Extra Crispy Fried Chicken Fingers (The Evil Genius can cook!)
- Cornbread Salad
Are you good and hungry yet? Excellent. Let’s make some buttermilk. I promise it doesn’t take but two shakes.
Homemade Cultured Buttermilk
Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk (from the store or home cultured)
- 1 to 2 quarts skim,1%, 2%, or whole milk from the store or raw milk
Also needed:
- 1 clean, dry quart or half gallon jar with a tight fitting two piece lid.
Okay. Ready? If you blink you’ll miss how to do it.
Pour buttermilk (1/4 cup for a quart jar or 1/2 cup for a half gallon jar) into your clean jar. Top off the jar with your plain milk. Tightly screw lid to the jar and shake vigorously for 1 minute. Place in a warm (but not hot) area out of direct sunlight. Let it sit there for 12 to 24 hours, until thickened. Refrigerate when thick. Use within two weeks. If you re-culture this regularly, you can carry on re-culturing indefinitely. I always feel like I’m stickin’ it to the man when I do homemade stuff like this. Who doesn’t love beating the system?
Now here’s a glimpse of my finished product. Note that mine is super thick. I used raw, whole milk to culture my buttermilk. If you use skim, it may end up a little thinner than what you see here.
- ¼ to ½ cup cultured buttermilk (from the store or home cultured)
- 1 to 2 quarts skim,1%, 2%, or whole milk from the store or raw milk
- Also needed:
- 1 clean, dry quart or half gallon jar with a tight fitting two piece lid.
- Okay. Ready? If you blink you’ll miss how to do it.
- Pour buttermilk (1/4 cup for a quart jar or ½ cup for a half gallon jar) into your clean jar. Top off the jar with your plain milk. Tightly screw lid to the jar and shake vigorously for 1 minute. Place in a warm (but not hot) area out of direct sunlight. Let it sit there for 12 to 24 hours, until thickened. Refrigerate when thick. Use within two weeks.
I have got two half gallon jars on my counter right now trying to make buttermilk. It has the culture in it and has been setting since yesterday. It doesnt seem to be getting thick. Do I need to take the lid off the jar? In the recipe it didnt say to take it off so I left it on. Thanks for your help.
Hi Joanna,
I have the same problem and I tried two times with different milk and different temperature. The milk smells sour and it has not thickened after 24 hours. Were you able to do it since then? Anyone have an idea? Next attempt is with my yogurt maker and after I will try to find another source for buttermilk (not easy!). Thanks for your help!
I wonder if it’s a funky culture in the purchased buttermilk!
Yes it’s possible but I saw on another blog that the same brand (Neilson) is being used so… My final goal is making quark cause here it is so much expensive, it doesn’t make sense: 6$ for 350g! I pay 2.88$ for one liter of buttermilk.
Can You make butter out of this home made buttermilk?
I don’t think you can, but I don’t know it for a certain. You might use a tablespoon to culture cream before making butter, though!
Wow, thanks so much for this recipe! I live in the UK and in our area buttermilk is hard to find. I’ve just found a sorce online but the price is sky high. Now I can buy some once to use as a starter then not need to buy again, or at least not very often!
Hi, I am so happy to find this info! I totally love drinking & cooking with buttermilk! I’ve been drinking it since I was a kid. Nothing better then a nice tall glass of cold buttermilk with a slice of sourdough bread! Yum, yum! Now that I live in the back hills of a very rural area, I can only go to the market about every 2 weeks. Things are so expensive in our town & buttermilk runs about $4.50 per half gallon here, when I can even find it! Thank you so much for posting the recipe! Oh, BTW, when culturing it, I assume I am supposed to have the lid on? Also, do I need to culture it only in glass jars or can I use plastic, like the plastic jugs the buttermilk comes from at the store? thank you!
I’m not a big fan of plain milk and the Dr is telling me I need the calcium. So I took up drinking buttermilk. But although store bought is low in fat, it’s high in salt. So I bought my last qt a while ago.
Cleaned a 2 litre soda bottle, added a cup of the buttermilk and topped it up with 1% skim milk. Leave it on the counter over night check it in the morning and leave it longer if need be. By now, I’m sure there is very little trace of the sodium from that first cup of store bought. I have a second bottle, clean and ready to go when the first one gets down to the 1 cup mark I put on the side of the bottle. I Transfer and top up the second bottle. Then I can clean and have the first one ready to go. Awesome recipe and soooo cost efficient. Thank you!
as far as the salt goes, I still like it so I virtually pulverize some seasalt. Now that it’s almost a powder it covers more surface area when I sprinkle it. Since it’s tasting the salt that we look for, you end up using less in the long run. (if you mix it in,you probably won’t notice a difference if you are going by taste.)
I made this a couple of days ago and it worked beautifully with store-bought 1% milk. It took about 24 hours because I didn’t have anywhere quite warm enough for the shorter time, I guess. I had originally read about the same procedure in an old “Hints from Heloise” book from the 1960′s, but I was afraid to try it because of the outdated recipe. I’m so glad I found your blog and discovered your success–which I now share! Thanks!
Hi! I was anxious to try this out because we use a lot of buttermilk and my husband likes to drink it. I used 2% milk. When I made it, it had the right flavor, and thickened within 8 hours. But it was too thick and a little slimy, even. It was more like yogurt texture and not drinkable, except maybe with a spoon. Any suggestions what I might have done wrong?
This recipe works great, but it is way too thick and looks more like a slimy paste. How do I thin it out (some) and keep the flavor?
Hi Bea- I’d say divide your buttermilk between two jars, add some fresh milk to each jar and shake well. That ought to do it!
I’ve solved the thickness/sliminess problem. I remembered that when I blend yogurt, it loses its thickness, so I blended the buttermilk (adding milk and shaking it up did not work). After that, it was just the right texture and consistency. My husband said it is as good as any buttermilk he’s had.
Silly question but how warm is a warm spot? I was thinking about putting it in my dehydrator over night but the lowest it goes is 95 degrees. I read others are putting their jars in cabinets.
Hi Rebecca,
I followed your recipe and ended up with super thick slimy goo, in about 8 hours. Should I have let it stand longer or maybe its because I used a coffee filter instead of a tight lid. I always over think things…lol
I USE POWDERED MILK.IT MAKES VERY ACID B-MILK.THAT CAUSES THE PRODUCT TO CURDLE,SO I ADD 1/8TEAS SP OF BAKING SODA.THAT STOPPED THE CURDLE AND SMOOTHED THE B-MILK.IT IS STILL ACID ENOUGH FOR DRINKING AND BAKING.
ALSO, I HEAT THE MIXED PWD MILK TO 160o,OTHERWISE THE CULTURE SPOILS TOO OFTEN
yum. thanks for loving food enough to not use the typical lemon juice/vinegar “buttermilk” recipe. i just knew, based on making cultured yogurt, i could do buttermilk this way! love it. thanks again. cook on!
I found your site a couple of months ago, Love it!! Thanks to you I have it and use it on a constant basis.
I,, too, have trouble with warm spot – tried the water bath as for yogurt right at 100 degrees – still working — getting thick on top – do you shake it periodically – (don’t shake yogurt) we keep our home about 67-68 is that too cool? Thanks, could you please respond to my email…thanks so very much.
I wouldn’t shake it while it’s culturing, but I would definitely shake it afterward. 67-68 is too cool to culture in the timeframe I gave. You can let it sit at that temperature, but it will take longer to thicken. I put mine behind my woodstove where it’s about 75-80 degrees at most times.
What are your thoughts about the water bath at 100 deg.–we don’t have a wood stove…..all electric home.
Hi,
Rather than starting a homemade buttermilk recipe w. a base of store-bought buttermilk, I’d like to add culture to the raw milk we regularly buy from a farmer down the road. I’m not clear on how to procure the organisms, or in what form they come. Is it something one buys from a health food store? Is it a liquid? A powder? Other?) How would I add it to the raw milk as a first step to following your buttermilk recipe? How much would I add to the recipe, and is it something I’d just throw in to the overall mixture? Also, I’m curious…the local organic cultured yogurt we buy seems to have more, or perhaps a wider range of cultures than the buttermilk we buy…can I substitute yogurt instead of buttermilk in your cultured buttermilk recipe? Kindly address as many of my questions as you are able!
Thanks!
Verano en Vermont
If you have raw milk, you do not need to buy a culture. I get raw milk from our farmer..to make buttermilk, skim the cream, then let it sit on the counter in a jar with a lid (not screwed tight-wide mouth is best) until it is so thick that when you tilt the jar the cream does not move. This can take 1-2 days. I usually do this before our next milk run when I have had the cream for a week. The culturing may take longer if done right away. There will be bubbles along the inside of the glass. Make sure when you put the cream in the bowl you do NOT have any much milk in there..(use a slotted spoon) a milk line will have formed while it was culturing..if You leave it in it will not work. TRUST ME. Then proceed to make butter..I use my kitchenaid mixer. I found a good youtube video on this a while back..you basically whip it up into whipped cream, then keep whipping till it goes all the way back down and starts to separate. This can take an hour sometimes….that’s when I’m glad I don’t have to use my arm!! You have to squeeze the butter globules together on the inside of the bowl with a flat paddle (like a salad paddle kinda)..wood is best..it becomes nonstick like nothing else will over time. Pour off the buttermilk you are squeezing out of the butter..this is real buttermilk..the method mentioned here is simulated buttermilk..just uses the culture from store bought to culture the milk…BTW..you must “wash” the butter with cold water..just google that..it’s not very hard. (There are organisms in raw milk that will culture naturally. You don’t have to add anything. The cultured butter you end up with also has those beneficial organisms in it…it will be tangy like yogurt. Hope this works for you!
I tried this but mine didn’t get overly thick and it separated. One part was white and thicker and one part was yellow and watery. It smells like buttermilk but I’m a little nervous to use it. Did anyone else have this issue? I kept it out for 29 hours at room temperature.
When the milk separates like that it just means it cultured a bit longer than necessary. My kefir does the same thing when the house is warmer than usual. Just put the lid back on and shake it back together. Or you could put it in the blender.
Wow too easy and so much less additives than store bought. I use organic 2% and follow the recipie for 18 hours at room temp. Thanks!