"Stark Raven" wrote in message
...
When a recipe calls for buttermilk, is fat free buttermilk okay? Or
does the recipe want the butterfat, say for waffles?

Yes. Generally the purpose of the buttermilk is the higher acidity not the
butterfat. The acidity aside from a pleasing flavor adds to the leavening
process.

Dimitri

Julia Altshuler wrote:
Does the other buttermilk (the stuff from
milk with the butter removed) taste anything like the cultured?

No.

And how
would the original buttermilk differ from skim milk?

A small amount of fat remains, thereby affecting the flavor.

If skim milk is
milk with the cream removed, and buttermilk is milk with the cream
churned into butter and then the butter removed, wouldn't they be
remarkably similar if not identical?

Just try it! Buy a small box of heavy whipping cream, put it into your
food processor, and whip it into butter. (Depending on your processor,
this can take a very short time or upwards of 15 min.) Remove the
butter from the liquid (wash and salt the butter to preserve it), and
make cream of mushroom soup with the remaining fluid. It's remarkably
different!

Fwiw, the cultured sour thick stuff is not to my taste. If some recipe
actually needs buttermilk, I just put in the powdered SACO buttermilk
(and add'l water), and it's good enough for me.

-j.

June Oshiro wrote:

Just try it! Buy a small box of heavy whipping cream, put it into your
food processor, and whip it into butter. (Depending on your processor,
this can take a very short time or upwards of 15 min.) Remove the
butter from the liquid (wash and salt the butter to preserve it), and
make cream of mushroom soup with the remaining fluid. It's remarkably
different!

Cool idea. I will try it.
--Lia

In article ,
June Oshiro wrote:

Just try it! Buy a small box of heavy whipping cream, put it into your
food processor, and whip it into butter. (Depending on your processor,
this can take a very short time or upwards of 15 min.) Remove the
butter from the liquid (wash and salt the butter to preserve it), and
make cream of mushroom soup with the remaining fluid. It's remarkably
different!

Fwiw, the cultured sour thick stuff is not to my taste. If some recipe
actually needs buttermilk, I just put in the powdered SACO buttermilk
(and add'l water), and it's good enough for me.

Traditionally, buttermilk was the leftover liquid when making butter
from *clabbered* cream, which is cream that has becomes somewhat
thickened and soured as a result of sitting around a day or two before
churning (from what I've read, this may have originated from storing the
cream for a couple of days until enough had been collected to churn).
Essentially, it's creme fraiche, though a little thicker. That's why
cultured buttermilk is sour, so as to try to replicate the original
taste. Of course, there's also "sweet cream butter," so labeled as to
distinguish it from the clabbered sort.

To replicate, start with vat pasteurized cream (ultra pasteurized tastes
cooked), re-pasteurize it (heat to 165, stirring constantly--it burns
easily--turn off the heat, cover, and allow to sit for a half hour, then
put the pot into a cold-water bath).

Add a starter, such as yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream (about a
tablespoonful per cup of cream; the taste of the final product will vary
with the starter, so experiement). Try to use a brand without extra
ingredients such as thickeners and preservatives (the latter may
interfere with souring). Add some of the cream to the starter first, to
thin it and help it dissolve into the main batch. Cover the pot and
insulate it, or put it into a warm place. You want to keep it at 75F for
about 12 hours.

It should taste good--a little sour, but pleasant. If not, it's
contaminated: toss it. Cool it down and make the butter. And don't add
the salt: unless you're keeping it around for several weeks, the fridge
will be fine, and it'll taste better without the salt.

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