Hillbilly Culture - Cultured Buttermilk

Having grown up on a Goat Dairy, I am all to familiar with "fermented" dairy products. After all, fresh raw milk only lasts so long in the refrigerator, no matter how clean all of your stainless steel equipment is or how fast you filter it and get it chilled, it still has a short shelf life... Enter pasteurization...

Pasteurization is a god send for the small dairy, but it can be troublesome as the milk has to be heated to 145 degrees and then held at that temperature for 30 minutes. A pain to be sure, but the added shelf life is worth it. There is only one downside, it alters the taste of the milk slightly, and kills off all the vitamin C. Enter Ultra-Pasteurization.....

This is where I get a little opinionated. Ultra-Pasteurization is a way for big business to make money. In the UHT (Ultra-Heat Treatment) process, milk is flash heated to 280 degrees under pressure and only held there for 2 seconds. Sure it saves time and energy costs. However, the milk is now a dead liquid. The proteins have been denatured, all the natural enzymes (like lactase) that help your body break down lactose are dead, and it is devoid of ANY vitamins at this point. It is so damaged that you can't make cheese with it, that should tell you something right there. So just like white bread, they add synthetic vitamins to it and call it a day. Pathetic.

Thankfully, there still remains a few hold out companies that simply pasteurize their milk instead of killing it. BUT, I challenge you to find Half and Half, Whipping Cream or Heavy Cream that have not been boiled to death. Even Horizon Organics "fries" these products, which slays me... here you spend the money on ORGANIC dairy products, and they have been denuded of all their intrinsic food value by Ultra-Pasteurization. On top of the food value issue, UHT cream doesn't whip as well as pasteurized cream, for not only have the proteins been torched beyond recognition, but the fats have been damaged as well.

Needless to say, when I was a kid, we did a lot of goat milk pasteurizing before making cheese, yogurt, sour cream and butter, to ensure that the bacteria we were inoculating the milk or cream with, would have the upper hand and prevent spoilage. Sure there are a lot of raw milk cheeses out there, as well as raw fermented dairy products, but we weren't taking any chances back then. Especially when making butter and buttermilk (for buttermilk is really the best part about making butter).

There are 2 bacteria that make great "cultured" buttermilk in my opinion. True you can use Yogurt which has a plethora of different lacto-bacter in it such as Streptococcus Thermophilus, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidus infanti and Bifidus Longum. You can also use Sour Cream (Leuconostoc Mesenteroides Cremoris) as well, but I love good old Lactobacills Bulgaricus (also known as Bulgarian Buttermilk Culture), the other option is Lactobacills Lactis (formerly known as - Streptococcus Lactis); but L. Bulgaricus is tangier and creates a thicker buttermilk than L. Lactis.

This is the part where I tell you that cultured buttermilk is fake buttermilk. If I was making traditional buttermilk, I would simply sit raw milk out on the counter and let the cream separate so I could skim it and let the proteins in the milk "clabber" or coagulate slightly... this would mean that the lacto-bacter in the air moved in and acidified my milk for me. But I think I will stick with the more modern method for right now.

So, to recap; This is good

This is bad...

and this is the culture I like to use for making buttermilk and butter. (I use it for Crème Fraîche too, but that is another post)

The bonus is that the acidified cream coagulates better than "sweet" cream, so this will facilitate easier butter churning.

Cultured Buttermilk

(oh, and Cultured Butter too)

4 cups (1 quart) Heavy Cream (preferably about 35%)
6 oz Bulgarian Buttermilk, room temperature (Yeah, I probably only needed 1 oz, but I wanted a REALLY good starter)

Pour the Buttermilk into a glass pitcher and let is come to room temperature.

Place heavy cream in a saucepan and heat to at least 85 degrees over low flame. (If using yogurt, heat to 110 cause Thermophilus needs more heat to function)

Remove the Heavy Cream from the flame and add the Buttermilk, stirring well to spread the bacteria around.

Cover the saucepan and set on the counter for 12 hours.

After 12 hours the heavy cream should have thickened significantly.

Move the saucepan to the refrigerator and chill for 8 hours.

Once chilled you have 3 choices.....

Pour the inoculated cream into a 1/2 gallon mason jar, cap it and roll it around on the floor (like we did when we were kids) until it separates (it takes a loooooooooooooooong time)

If you are lucky enough to have a butter churn (this is my mom's Dazey churn) then you can sit there and crank the handle for 1 hour to make butter and buttermilk.

OR --

You can use modern technology and pour the heavy cream into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. woo hoo!!

So, beat the heavy cream until it begins to become fluffy......

Then turn the mixer on low or stir and let it run for about 20 minutes.

Slowly, but surly the Heavy Cream will begin to turn grainy.....

Then all of the sudden (and this is why you need low speed) everything will separate and you will have sloshing buttermilk in the bottom of the bowl with butter stuck to the paddle.

Prepare a bowl of ice water.....

Scoop out the large butter chunks into a medium mesh strainer and let them drain back into the bowl. (you can press on it lightly with a spatula)

Move the hunk of butter to the ice water and chill it down, this makes rinsing and tempering easier. (yep, you temper butter just like chocolate, to force specific fat crystallization which will determine the hardness of the butter)

Strain the buttermilk from the bowl, into a container to ensure you get the larger lumps and add those to the chunk of butter in the ice water.

Begin kneading the butter and dunking in ice water then knead some more.

Then take it to some running water, and continue to fold and knead the butter. (this will help rinse out as much of the left over buttermilk as possible so it will not go rancid)

Once the water begins running "clear" you are done.

Now if you are a salted butter person, go ahead and knead in some salt. Me? I like the flavor of the butter itself. I have always thought of salted butter as a way to preserve "sweet cream" butter. Since cultured butter is acidified, it doesn't need salt as a preservative, so I leave it unsalted.

I got 3 cups of buttermilk (for Cinnamon Rolls, ButterMilk Pie and Red Velvet Cake) and 15.2 oz of butter (for Shortbread)

And now, a toast. mmmmmmm Real buttermilk.

The Buttermilk will last 3 weeks in the refrigerator, and the real beauty of all this, I now have a culture to do this again. (Just like keeping a sourdough starter)

Mangia and Cin Cin!!
~~

Butter Maybe Better, But Browned Butter is Best

I have said this before in a previous post. But I decided that I should probably go into a few details on WHY browned butter is best, for the attributes of browned butter go beyond mere flavor. But before I do that, I need to go back to the beginning.

In the beginning the cow/sheep/reindeer/goat/yak/water buffalo created milk and it was good.... (I don't think anyone knows which animal was the first "dairy" animal, I assume it was the goat but it could have been the yak)
Then man came along and for some unknown reason decided to drink said milk of unknown beast. And it was delicious, nutritious, and packed with vitamins, protein and fat, making the long hard winter a little less bitter...
At some point along the way, someone noticed that the milk separated if left alone for a couple of hours. A thick layer floated to the top, which was especially good when skimmed off and spooned over berries (OK, I just made that up).
The point is, that the fat in the milk separated, since milk is not naturally homogenized (Fat clusters broken down), that is except for goat milk. But that is another post. The fat globules from the milk fall out of suspension in the water (milk is about 75% water) and float to the top.

So Man begins skimming his milk and making "Cream". Which is all fine and good...

Then, probably by chance, "someone" high in the Alps, had milked their dairy animal, waited the appropriate amount of time, skimmed the cream into a jug, place the jug in their nap sack and went running "helter skelter" down the side of the mountain, jumping trees and boulders. By the time they arrived at their chalet in the valley, there was this strange clumpy stuff in the bottom of their jug. They grabbed a baguette and smeared some of this strange lumpy substance on a slice ----
Boo-YAH!!!!

European culture begins, for THIS was the first Butter.

OK, Now that we finally have butter, let me explain what butter is. If you have ever made a salad dressing or a hollandaise you are familiar with an emulsion. That is, tiny little droplets of oil/fat, suspended in water and an acid. Well, not to confuse the issue, but butter is the opposite... tiny little water droplets (Buttermilk), suspended in fat. True there is also a little protein (Casein) thrown in for good measure along with Lactose sugar and just a smidgen of lecithin (thus the finishing of sauces in French Cuisine). But butter is a water in oil/fat emulsion. Here is another little tidbit, Butter is unique in the fact that is is not JUST a saturated fat... Oh no! It also contains free fatty acids that are liquid at room temperature, this is why butter gets soft when left out on a warm day. Butter is tempered just like chocolate, to form crystals of fat, the temperature of the tempering determines how hard the butter is. If butter were made of ALL saturated fat, it would be like trying to smear candle wax on your toast. That just ain't right!

OK, before expounding on browned butter, I must first explain clarifying butter... which is simply the melting of butter until the water "boils" away and the proteins molecules fall to the bottom or rise to the top as a scum. The top layer is skimmed off and the middle layer is poured off leaving proteins/sugars in the bottom of the saucepan or filtered out by pouring through cheese cloth.
What is the purpose of this? Clarified butter resists rancidity, yes, its the protein and the water that cause butter to go rancid. In warmer climates, such as India, Ghee was made, to prevent their butter from going rancid. Bacteria need water along with sugar and/or proteins to perform their nasty deeds, not fat. The purer the fat, (Saturated fat) the longer the shelf life. This is why vegetable shortening lasts so long at room temp in your cupboard.

OK now that I have explained clarified butter, I want to "kick it up a notch"...

Browned butter is simply clarified butter that has cooked a little longer until the proteins/sugars that have separated out in the bottom of the pan, begin to brown, and impart their "browned" flavor to the fat. This is the same idea as using the fond in the bottom of your pan to create a pan sauce. Picking up all those delicious browned protein bits can enhance any meal.... Especially a steak.
Allow me to demonstrate.

Here we have the butter beginning to melt over LOW heat--This is IMPORTANT; I used almost 1 cup of unsalted butter. (this will make 3/4 cup + 1 TB browned butter)

Here the foam (Casein) has begin to form, this should be skimmed off.

Save it in a bowl, because this is REALLY GOOD over vegetables, especially asparagus.

Now you can really see the water boiling off, at 212 degrees the water becomes steam and breaks the emulsion.

Now the protein/sugar bits have begun to brown, in essence, this is a controlled scorching of butter... Keep the heat LOW or you will actually burn it.

I usually swirl the pan a couple of times, just to get everything mixed up...

After the butter begins to brown, remove from the heat and let it set for 10 minutes, you want to let the browned bits steep in the oil to transfer flavor, but not to get any darker. This is where copper comes in handy for cooking, for the response to temperature change is immediate; If you are using aluminum or aluminum core, remove the butter a little early, unlike copper, aluminum holds heat and is slow to change, even after being removed from the heat (which comes in really handy when serving from stove to table as the pan retains the heat longer)

Gather a strainer a pyrex cup and a little bit of cheese cloth, folded over a couple of time.

Place the cheese cloth in the strainer and pour the liquid butter through, leaving the browned bits in the pan.

Voila!!!!
Browned Butter; or as the French call it.... Beurre Noisette (Hazelnut Butter)

Allow to cool and then pour into your storage container, you can store this at room temperature for a month.

Now I am sure you are asking yourself... "Yeah, but why is it really better than regular butter?"
OK here is the list of the phenomenal attributes of browned butter:

• Browned Butter, like clarified butter, resists rancidity.
• Browned Butter imparts a host of subtle flavors, just as Caramel is to Sugar, so Browned Butter is to Plain Butter.
• Browned Butter, and clarified butter, contain no Lactose; thus those that are lactose intolerant can consume browned butter with no reprisals.
• Whole Butter Burns at 250 degrees (This is why low heat is needed to brown it) Browned & Clarified butters do not begin to smoke until 350 degrees. Thus a sauté, with Browned Butter, is possible (YUM!)

So there ya have it, all the reasons that Browned Butter is superior to whole butter. Yes, Clarified butter is just about as good, but is missing that subtle nutty flavor that Browned Butter is known for. It truly is a treat for the palate. I invite you to try it the next time you sauté some fresh spinach or how about the next time you make mashed potatoes, nothing can compare. This is your ace in the hole when it comes to adding flavor to your next dish. World renown chefs all over the world have been using this little secret for many many moons.

Now I say to You.... Go Forth.... Be Fruitful and Brown Butter......

Mangia!!
~~