What, NO Buttermilk?!

[Mike Nolan]

What do you keep your buttermilk in? Do you wash the container out periodically?

[rottiedogs]

I just posted the original thread. It took me awhile to find it. Link below.

Making your own Buttermilk – Cook27

[cwcdesign]

I’m with wonky on this - nice to “see” you Gina and thanks for posting the thread rottiedogs - I miss so many of the people who commented on the thread. And, again, thank you Mike for providing us a place to visit and learn.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks to Skeptic7 for the link to the site with buttermilk directions.

Thanks to Rottiedogs for having saved the Baking Circle thread and for posting it here.

And once again, thanks to Mike for giving us this wonderful neighborhood of bakers and cooks.

If I can get to one of my quart canning jars, I will give this a try, since it will likely be at least a week before the roads are clear of snow and ice and salt, so that we make our grocery run to the larger town. My only concern is that the buttermilk I still have is a bit old.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

How do you define 'a bit old'? I find my buttermilk lasts 2-3 months from when I buy it, usually well beyond its 'expiration date'.

[skeptic7]

Mike;
I use a clean quart canning jar with each new batch of buttermilk. I put 3/4 - 1 cup of buttermilk into a quart jar, and then fill it nearly all the way up with milk. Sometimes I rinse the old jar out with fresh milk and add it to the new jar. I screw on the mason jar lid and shake vigorously. I then loosen the lid but leave it on to keep out dust, and place the jar in a warm place for around 24 hours until the buttermilk is thick. The time varies being more in the winter and less in the summer. I then open the lid to let air in and then screw the lid on tight and put it in the refrigerator.

BakerAunt;
I find the buttermilk is good for a long time too. Its possible its too old to use to make more buttermilk, and that the bacteria is weak or died, but you will have to try it to see. Does it smell or look bad? There have been times I gave up on my buttermilk and started again with a new batch from the store. Its perfectly normal for the solids and liquid to settle out, just stir or shake it up before using.

Rottiedogs;
Thanks for bringing back the old thread. Its sweet hearing advice from Mrs. Cindy again. The real difference I find in buttermilk is with pancakes, they are thicker and easier to handle.

[Mike Nolan]

Even with buttermilk from the store I always shake the carton before using it. As long as it hasn't turned colors and still smells like buttermilk, it seems to be OK for me.

[Joan Simpson]

I'm with you Mike I never throw it out and it's way past expiration date,I just smell and shake it up.The buttermilk I have now has expiration date of Nov.

Nice to see you posting Gina.

[BakerAunt]

Now that everyone else has confessed to using buttermilk well past its expiration date, I will confess to doing so as well. 🙂 The date is 1/20/18, and it has been fine in the cornbread and the Buttermilk Grape Nuts Bread that I baked. I was able to excavate a quart canning jar, so I will make up a batch and set it in the front room near the wood stove, but I'll have to refrigerate it before I go to bed.

Update: The canning jar is marked in milliliters, so I used 200 ml of buttermilk and 600 ml of 1% milk. That leaves some air space at the top. (Quart jars do not hold a liquid quart.) I followed Mrs. Cindy's lead and used an upside down cupcake paper to cover it and secured it with a rubber band. It's on the floor in front of the wood stove where it is warm, not hot, and pushed back enough (I hope) that neither we nor the dog will knock it over. If this works, I have enough buttermilk left to make a second batch.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Not much help with buttermilk as I use the powdered stuff. I used the liquid once and my family did not like it so I went back to the powder.

Mike you are 100% right about fruit and vegetables. When we lived in California we thought we would find fantastic produce at the grocery store and were sorely disappointed. Even the stuff grown in CA was shipped to warehouses in Texas where it was packaged and shipped on to its various markets around the country. We found out we had to shop at the farmers' market to find the really good local stuff.
We would get huge flats of strawberries for $5 and they were amazing. And then the season would end and we would move on to something else but there was always great, fresh produce.

[BakerAunt]

I was expecting loads of fresh vegetables in Florida. Ha! While we did buy some great tangelos and tangerines from Yellow River Farm's shop, what was in the grocery store was no better than what we find here in Indiana, and in some cases the prices were higher.

[BakerAunt]

Quick question: Once the buttermilk has cultured, am I correct that I can then screw a lid on it when I refrigerate it? It seems that should be the case, since regular buttermilk has a screw on lid.

[Mike Nolan]

Yeah, I think once it's cultured and in the fridge, you're probably OK leaving it in a jar with a screw on lid though I wouldn't tighten it as hard as you can. The packages of buttermilk with screw on caps are not air tight, I found that out the hard way when one tipped over in the fridge and I wound up with a shelf full of buttermilk the next day.

But during the time that it is culturing, it may be generating gasses that could build up and cause the jar to explode. You do want to keep dust and bugs out, though, so some kind of lid is needed.

[Mike Nolan]

I wonder how many of those fruits and vegetables in Florida were grown in-state? Florida orange groves are down about 75% in the last decade, due to a combination of diseases, weather and land being converted to more profitable residential use. I suspect truck farming has declined as well.

So there's a good chance many of the fruits and veggies you were seeing in Florida came from California, Mexico or South America.

[Joan Simpson]

BakerAunt when I made the buttermilk I used a large quart jar with screw on lid after it was made.

[Author]

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