Buttermilk is a dairy drink made by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk to produce a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was made from the nearly fat-free milk remaining after churning butter from cream, which was cultured with natural bacteria prior to and during churning, giving a slight sour taste to the buttermilk. However, with the ubiquity of refrigeration in industrialized countries, butter in those areas is typically made from uncultured or "sweet" cream.[The Food Programme, "Butter is Back", BBC Radio 4 [1]] Therefore, most modern buttermilk is specifically produced by inoculating fresh, pasteurized milk, and is available in different levels of fat content.
Buttermilk is consumed as a beverage and used in cooking. Drinking buttermilk remains common in warmer climates where unrefrigerated milk sours quickly, as the fermentation prevents further spoilage. In making soda bread, the acid in fermented buttermilk reacts with the leavening agent, sodium bicarbonate, to produce carbon dioxide. Buttermilk is used in marination, especially for chicken and pork.
Traditional buttermilk
Buttermilk originated before the advent of refrigeration and homogenization, when fresh raw milk was left to stand for a period of time to allow the cream to separate to the top. During the separation period, naturally occurring lactic acid-producing bacteria in the milk ferments it, which facilitates the butter churning process, because fat from cream with a lower pH coalesces more readily than that of fresh cream. As this acidic environment also helps prevent potentially harmful microorganisms from growing, shelf life is increased.
This traditional method is susceptible to spoilage during the fermenting and churning processes, particularly under poor hygiene standards and when it is not kept cool. Refrigeration and the use of fresh milk in near-
clean dairies largely eliminated these problems.
Traditional buttermilk is still common in many households across South Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe, including the Balkans, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Poland, but is seldom found in other Western countries. In Arab culture, buttermilk is commonly sold ice cold with other dairy products. It is consumed during Ramadan for iftar and suhur. It is a common drink in many Indian and Nepalese homes, and may be served with roasted maize.
Cultured buttermilk
Commercially available cultured buttermilk is produced in the same way as yogurt, where fresh milk that has been pasteurized and homogenized, is then inoculated with a culture of
Lactococcus lactis,
Lactobacillus bulgaricus, or
Streptococcus lactis that produces the lactic acid that sours and thickens the milk, plus
Leuconostoc to enhance the buttery quality, so as to simulate the naturally occurring bacteria in the traditional product.
The lactic acid is the product of the bacteria fermenting
lactose, the primary sugar in milk. As the bacteria produce lactic acid, the pH of the milk decreases and
casein, the primary milk protein, precipitates, causing the
curdling or clabbering of milk, making cultured buttermilk thicker than plain milk.
While both traditional and cultured buttermilk contain lactic acid, traditional buttermilk is thinner than cultured buttermilk.
United States
Cultured buttermilk was first commercially introduced in the United States in the 1920s. It was initially consumed among immigrants. It reached peak annual sales of in 1960. Consumption of buttermilk has declined since then, and annual sales in 2012 reached less than half that number.
However, condensed buttermilk and dried buttermilk remain common in the
food industry.
Liquid buttermilk is used primarily in the commercial preparation of
Bakery and
cheese.
Buttermilk
Milk solid are used in
ice cream manufacturing,
as well as being added to
to make buttermilk pancakes. Home cooks can use powdered buttermilk to give baked goods a higher rise, add tang to dips, marinades, and rubs without thinning them out, and as a topping for fruits and vegetables.
Nutrition
Traditional buttermilk has only trace levels of fat — less than 0.5 percent. Modern commercially produced buttermilk made with whole milk is 88% water, 3% protein, 3% fat, and 5%
carbohydrates (see table). In a reference amount of (100 ml), whole buttermilk provides 62
of
food energy, and is a moderate source of vitamin B
12 (19% DV) and
riboflavin (13% DV, table).
|
| Food energy | | | | |
| % Total fat | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| % Protein | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| % Sugars | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.6 |
|
Acidified buttermilk
Acidified buttermilk or acidulated buttermilk
is a substitute made by adding a food-grade acid, such as distilled white
vinegar or lemon juice, to milk, using of acid with of milk and letting it stand for about 10 minutes until it curdles. Any level of fat content for the milk ingredient may be used, but whole milk is usually used for baking.
See also
-
List of dairy products
-
Butterfat, the fatty portion from which butter is made
-
Creole cream cheese, traditional Louisiana cream cheese made from buttermilk
-
Curd, a dairy product obtained by coagulating milk
-
Soured milk, denotes a range of food products produced by the acidification of milk
