#13 Buttermilk

Back when I bought my yogurt culture from Cultures For Health, I also purchased a direct-set buttermilk and sour cream culture. The difference between direct-set and a traditional culture is that with direct-set you cannot use the buttermilk to make more, like I can with my yogurt culture. This is where I got it. Eight foil culture packets come in the box. I store it in the freezer and I can also make sour cream with it....I just need to use cream instead of milk. I followed the directions that came with my starter, not the directions that were in "The Homemade Pantry."


Buttermilk

1-4 Quarts milk (I used whole milk)
1 packet direct-set buttermilk culture

I used about 2 quarts of milk...because you cannot use less then a full packet of starter...so I thought I might as well make enough for all the recipes that I will now make with my fresh buttermilk.

So here we are back to my trusty heavy bottom stainless steel pot and candy thermometer. I have used that candy thermometer more in the last 3 weeks, then I have all the 10+ years before it:)

1. I first iced the pot....check back at my yogurt post to find out how. Here.

2. Add your milk and heat it over medium heat to 185 degrees. Once it reaches 185 you need to hold it at that temperature for 30-60 minutes. This is not an easy task....I was literally strapped to my kitchen watching that thermometer and adjusting the flame temp up and down to try to hold it. It did end up going down to about 165 at one time when I got busy....but then I let it climb back up. I figure there must be an easier way to hold a temp, but I don't know what it is. So I only fussed with it for the minimum of 30 minutes. I just rearranged the furniture in my kitchen and dinning room, so it was not wasted time:)

3. After the 30-60 minute temp hold, I took it off the stove, set it on a cooling rack and allowed the milk to cool to 77 degrees. It takes a while! No fear...I just made two more recipes during that time...I will post those in the future:)

4. Once the milk temp drops to 77 degrees, add the culture and dissolve fully and distribute it well into the milk by gently stirring.

 

5. Add your milk/culture mixture to a clean jar, cover and incubate at 74-77 degrees for 16-18 hours.

I'm not sure how warm your house is, but wherever it might be a constant 74-77 degrees in your house, is the spot. I have heard of people putting it on top of their TV. Search the internet to figure out how to use an insulated cooler, heating pad, crockpot...I'm not sure what will work for you.
For me the place was in our basement furnace/storage room. We have an outdoor woodstove, so the hot water coming into the house keeps it constantly pretty toasty in there.

You can see the hot water hose in the foreground of the above photo. I set a thermometer with it so I could monitor the temp. I set it at 5pm. Before I went to bed I checked it and saw that it creeped up to 78 degrees, so I moved it further away from the hose.

I checked my buttermilk at 9am...which was the 16 hour mark...and it was perfect!

 

You can see I rolled it around in the jar and the thick buttermilk coated the jar. And it smelled great! Buttermilk success! It is now in the refrigerator where it will keep for 7-10 days. You can freeze it in 1 cup portions for 4 months. Just thaw in the refrigerator and shake before using. But, you better be sure that I will be making all the recipes in the book that container buttermilk in the next week. Can't wait to try it out!