OT...Buttermilk substitute

Photo Egg

I'm not a big Milk fan and the taste of Buttermilk, even thinking about it, makes me cringe a little.
So many recipes are calling for Buttermilk. I guess it's one of the "in" things right now.
I normally substitute, in equal amounts, Heavy Cream.
I just don't like the sour twang of the Buttermilk.
Anyone else?

Sandtree

Add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar per cup of double (heavy) cream. Alternatively natural or Greek yoghurt can be used instead of cream 

jtcBoynton

One of the purposes of using buttermilk in recipes is to adjust the acidity.  Plain cream will not reproduce the acidity levels correctly.  Drinking straight buttermilk is quite different than using in a recipe.

Carolina Q

I just add a tablespoon of white vinegar and top off to 1 cup with whole milk. I rarely have heavy cream on hand and never cultured buttermilk.

BTW, real buttermilk, the liquid formed in the process of churning butter, tastes NOTHING like the cultured stuff they sell as buttermilk in stores today. It's like milk with a hint of sweet. Quite tasty. As is homemade butter for that matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmin9PBXP_g

caliking

Buttermilk is often called for in recipes for chemistry, i.e. an acid (buttermilk) and a base (baking powder) meet up to produce gas (for leavening).

If you don't care as much about the leavening aspect (or just use yeast or even sourdough starter instead), you may be able to replace the buttermilk.

Another option to consider is kefir. HEB sells it, lasts longer than buttermilk, and tastes maybe more like yogurt than buttermilk. I've used it in recipes that called for buttermilk, without noticing much of a difference.

Jstroke

Several questions I guess are in order. Is the recipe a baking recipe? If so the previous comments are accurate in the need to produce a rise in biscuits or pancakes etc.. baking is the only scientific reason to use it. You can use any acid. If not for baking, then for battering chicken etc? This is for taste. Many people like the twang of acidity for things like fried chicken or onion rings. It is subtle but you can tell if you try it side by side with milk as the wetting agent. Mashed Potatoes? Again, just taste. I like cream in mine rather than buttermilk. 

northGAcock

I recall from my very young years, my grandparents having buttermilk as a primary milk in their refrigerator. I use to drink it (in small amounts) and grew to tolerate it. These days I have three uses for buttermilk...my wife makes a caramel cake to die for, Original hidden valley Ranch dressing.....and thirdly, soaking okra before breading and frying. I don’t keep it on hand as a general rule...but use with no taste issues in these items. Bottom line, i’m Not with you on this one, but I certainly get where you are coming from.

nolaegghead

FYI - Buttermilk is 1-2% fat.  Heavy cream is 16-36% fat.

Photo Egg

nolaegghead said:

FYI - Buttermilk is 1-2% fat.  Heavy cream is 16-36% fat.

Explains why heavy cream and ice cream is soooooo good.

jtcBoynton

Carolina Q said:

I just add a tablespoon of white vinegar and top off to 1 cup with whole milk. I rarely have heavy cream on hand and never cultured buttermilk.....

Another option is to keep powdered buttermilk in your pantry with your baking supplies.

SonVolt

Here's a good breakdown of traditional buttermilk substitutes. 

https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/04/how-to-substitute-buttermilk.html

Google around and it's not hard to see why buttermilk seems so frivolous—experts everywhere act like getting rid of it is no big deal. Just use milk and lemon juice! Milk and vinegar! Milk and cream of tartar! Plain yogurt! Buttermilk powder! Anything but the real deal. 

caliking

The buttermilk that I buy has an expiration date of 2 weeks, so I'll buy it I know I'll use 2 quarts by then. Otherwise, I buy kefir,  which lasts over a month, if I just want to keep it on hand for weekend waffles, biscuits, etc. 

SonVolt

caliking said:

The buttermilk that I buy has an expiration date of 2 weeks, so I'll buy it I know I'll use 2 quarts by then. Otherwise, I buy kefir,  which lasts over a month, if I just want to keep it on hand for weekend waffles, biscuits, etc. 

Honestly, I don't think buttermilk ever truly "expires". I've used it 3 months later without it going rancid. Stella Parks, the baker for Serious Eats seems to agree - 

https://twitter.com/BraveTart/status/934469156094795776

caliking

I might disagree @SonVolt. I've had buttermilk smell pretty foul some time after the expiration date, so pitched it. It may have been fine for baking,  but I didn't use it. May not apply to all brands though. 

The_Stache

living with a lactose intolerant spousal unit has allowed me to find goat yogurt also makes a good substitute for buttermilk!

SonVolt

Could be. I typically pay a little extra for the real stuff. The store brands (etc) have thickeners and all sorts of other artificial junk in them. 

jtcBoynton

Buttermilk is a generic term.  For this discussion we should distinguish between the different products: traditional buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, and acidified buttermilk.

Photo Egg

jtcBoynton said:

Buttermilk is a generic term.  For this discussion we should distinguish between the different products: traditional buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, and acidified buttermilk.

For me, you guys have provided enough information.
When added for taste it's cool to sub in Heavy Cream but it adds a higher fat content. For Baking be careful it's not there for a leavening agent.
All good...Thank you everyone. 

nolaegghead

jtcBoynton said:

Buttermilk is a generic term.  For this discussion we should distinguish between the different products: traditional buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, and acidified buttermilk.

Buttermilk is the milk left over after making butter, then cultured for preservation.  It is low in fat because the fat just went into the butter.

What you mostly buy is an approximation of that.

jtcBoynton

Most of the cultured buttermilk found in the supermarkets is made from fermented milk and not associated with butter production.

nolaegghead

jtcBoynton said:

Most of the cultured buttermilk found in the supermarkets is made from fermented milk and not associated with butter production.

Yep.  It tastes close enough to the real thing.

If you like ranch dressing, you should like buttermilk.

StillH2OEgger

I've heard buttermilk works well as an emollient, so there's that.

bgebrent

Whole milk with either lemon juice or white vinegar works as a perfect substitute in most recipes.  Troof.

fishlessman

tried the keifer yesterday, like it, gassing off today though beans got nothing on this kefir

Jstroke

fishlessman said:

tried the keifer yesterday, like it, gassing off today though beans got nothing on this kefir

Pretty cheap humor. 

HeavyG

fishlessman said:

tried the keifer yesterday, like it, gassing off today though beans got nothing on this kefir

Now that you tried kefir, your next step is kombucha.