DIY Cultured Buttermilk Recipe
Note: You can make larger (or smaller) volumes as needed. I use a ratio of one tablespoon starter for every cup milk with reliable results. Unless your culture was not designed to be perpetuated (some freeze-dried options fall into this category), you can reserve a bit of each batch to culture the next.
Some recipes indicate that you should pasteurize your milk (at 180°F) before culturing or at least warm it to 76°F. This step is entirely unnecessary, as store-bought milk is all pasteurized before it hits the shelves.
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- Yield:2 cups
- Active time: 2 minutes
- Total time:10 to 24 hours
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk (store-bought or activated dried starter)
- 2 cups milk (whole, 2%, or skim, depending on your nutritional needs and preferences)
Directions
-
1.
In a mason jar or other glass container, thoroughly mix the starter and milk. Cover with a coffee filter or piece of cheese cloth (do not seal tightly with a lid) and leave to culture out of drafts at a warm room temperature (between 70-78°F is recommended) until milk has clabbered (10-24 hours).
-
2.
To test if the milk has thickened, tip the jar slightly. It should move away from the wall of the jar as a single mass. Just as with yogurt making, once the milk sets, it will get more tart the longer you allow the culturing to continue.
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3.
Refrigerate to halt culturing for at least six hours. Stir before using.