Buttermilk

Wikipedia

Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. This type of buttermilk is known as traditional buttermilk.

The term buttermilk also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates (e.g., Middle East, Pakistan, India, and the Southern United States) where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly,[1] as well as in colder climates such as Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. This fermented dairy product known as cultured buttermilk is produced from cow's milk and has a characteristically sour taste caused by lactic acid bacteria. This variant is made using one of two species of bacteria—either Streptococcus lactis or Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which creates more tartness. Buttermilk made with the latter is called Bulgarian buttermilk.

The tartness of buttermilk is due to acid in the milk. The increased acidity is primarily due to lactic acid produced by lactic acid bacteria while fermenting lactose, the primary sugar in milk. As the bacteria produces lactic acid, the pH of the milk decreases and casein, the primary milk protein, precipitates, causing the curdling or clabbering of milk. This process makes buttermilk thicker than plain milk. While both traditional and cultured buttermilk contain lactic acid, traditional buttermilk tends to be less viscous, whereas cultured buttermilk is more viscous.[2]

[edit] Traditional buttermilk

Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left over from churning butter from cream. Traditionally, before cream could be skimmed from whole milk, the milk was left to sit for a period of time to allow the cream and milk to separate. During this time, naturally occurring lactic acid-producing bacteria in the milk fermented it. This facilitates the butter churning process, since fat from cream with a lower pH coalesces more readily than that of fresh cream. The acidic environment also helps prevent potentially harmful microorganisms from growing, increasing shelf-life.[3] However, in establishments that used cream separators, the cream was hardly acidic at all.

On the Indian subcontinent, the term "buttermilk" refers to the liquid left over after extracting butter from churned yogurt (dahi). Today, this is called traditional buttermilk. Traditional buttermilk is still common in many Indo-Pakistani households but rarely found in western countries.[2] In Southern India and most areas of the Punjab, buttermilk with added water, sugar and/or salt, asafoetida, and curry leaves is given at stalls in festival times.

[edit] Cultured buttermilk

Commercially available cultured buttermilk is milk that has been pasteurized and homogenized (if 1% or 2% fat), and then inoculated with a culture of lactic acid bacteria to simulate the naturally occurring bacteria in the old-fashioned product. Some dairies add colored flecks of butter to cultured buttermilk to simulate residual flecks of butter that can be left over from the churning process of traditional buttermilk.[2]

Condensed buttermilk and Dried buttermilk have increased in importance in the food industry.[4] Buttermilk solids are used in ice cream manufacture.[5] Adding specific strains of bacteria to pasteurized milk allows more consistent production.

In the early 1900s, cultured buttermilk was labeled artificial buttermilk, to differentiate it from traditional buttermilk, which was known as natural or ordinary buttermilk.[6]

[edit] Acidified buttermilk

Acidified buttermilk is a related product made by adding a food-grade acid (such as lemon juice) to milk.[7] It can be produced by mixing 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk and letting it sit until it curdles, about 10 minutes. Any level of fat content for the milk ingredient may be used, but whole milk is usually used for baking.

[edit] See also

• Milk
• Fermented milk products
• Whey, the liquid left over after producing cheese
• Doogh, a fermented milk drink from Iran
• Dhallë, a type of buttermilk from Albania
• Filmjölk, a type of buttermilk from Sweden
• Kefir, a fermented milk drink from the Caucasus
• Lassi, a South Asian yogurt drink
• Ghol, a South Asian buttermilk drink
• Mattha, a South Asian buttermilk drink
• Ayran, an Anatolian yogurt drink
• Clabber, a Southern United States soured milk drink
• Soda bread, a type of bread popular in Ireland that uses buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda as the rising agent

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Making cultured buttermilk

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Annotations

• - Terry F on Thu 24 May 2007, 08:13pm. Flag this

  “Buttermilk is the liquid left over after producing butter from full-cream milk during the churning process. It has a slightly sour taste….Traditional buttermilk is quite different from cultured buttermilk [, that is, milk to which lactic acid bacteria have been added to simulate the traditional product]: it is thin and slightly acidic, while cultured buttermilk is thick and tart.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttermilk

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