# Not sure if this is buttermilk or not...



## auntdinana (Feb 28, 2010)

I attempted to make buttermilk using the powdered culture from Leeners but I put the milk in the oven with the light on overnight (like I do for yogurt). When I took it out in the morning it was much warmer than the 72 degrees recommended. The results look like curds and whey - not the thickened buttermilk they sell at the store. It does smell sour but I'm not sure I ended up with buttermilk. Is it use-able (did it work and I just am expecting it to look like the stores?) Or should I strain it like cheese and use the whey for bread?

I did pasteurize and cool the milk before I made it so I don't think there is anything too nasty in it...

Thanks for your help!


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## auntdinana (Feb 28, 2010)

"Cultured buttermilk is probably the easiest and most fool proof fermented milk product to make. " Just saw this from the Fankhauser site. Boy, do I feel good about myself now...


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## linuxboy (Oct 26, 2009)

Aww, it's okay, you just let the temp get too high. Happens all the time. There are two possibilities:

the bacteria had a chance to produce enough acid that it coagulated the milk, but then it got so hot that the bacteria died, and the added heat helped to expel more whey (is there a pool of whey around the curd?). Or, the second possibility is that it didn't get too hot, but the extra-warm temp helped the curd to expel whey. The third possibility, of course is that it got way too hot and you really did make cheese. In which case, drain it in muslin and eat it 

Store buttermilk doesn't separate because it has emulsifiers. A natural cultured yogurt or buttermilk usually separates a little. What actually happened depends on how thick the curds are. If you want to get the same texture as store bought, put the whole thing in a blender.


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

I guess the WA contingent is up late compared to the rest of the country, lol....

Buttermilk and yogurt are things even I manage to make successfully, which is to say don't let this experiment discourage you. If I can do it, you can. The difference at my house besides the culture is temp. The yogurt wants to be warmer here, I put in in a little ice chest with a warm water bottle. The buttermilk seems to make best at normal kitchen or warmest room temp. Rarely does it separate much then, if it does a little, then I just use a wisk to get the normal variable thick consistency of buttermilk, I wouldn't like the smooth blended personally, but that's all individual preference.


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