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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from USA, Canada, northern Europe

Cultured buttermilkbuttermilk

Cultured buttermilk is milk, usually skim or low-fat, soured with a mesophilic culture at room temperature until it thickens. Dairies make it in place of the liquid left from churning butter from soured cream, which goes off quickly. The result is a thick, tangy drink and baking ingredient. Made in 5 steps over 3.8 days. The longest step, store cold, takes up to 3 days (FOODSAFE BC with the BC Ministry of Health 2022) and runs at up to 4 °C (FOODSAFE BC with the BC Ministry of Health 2022). Salt is 0.3 % (FOODSAFE BC with the BC Ministry of Health 2022). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and subsp. cremoris and Lactococcus lactis biovar diacetylactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 3 daysSet[bc-buttermilk]Store cold
Temperatureup to 4 °CSet[bc-buttermilk]Store cold
Salt0.3 %Set[bc-buttermilk]Break the set, salt and cool

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceBC food-service standard recipe for 10 L of milk; its sample batch filled five 2-L jugs.
10 LPasteurised milk · Whole milk (3.25 % fat) gives a thicker, creamier buttermilk; lower-fat milk also works[bc-buttermilk]
125 g (about 1 % w/w)Skim milk powder[bc-buttermilk]
As the culture maker directsButtermilk culture (mesophilic) · The BC sample batch used 5 g[bc-buttermilk]
0.25 % w/wSalt · Added at the end of incubation, for flavour[bc-buttermilk]
Starterdefined-culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.8 days

Start
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82 °C

What changes: Heat kills stray bacteria and firms the milk protein

Step 1 of 5
Heat the milk
Time
10 min
Set
Temperature
82 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides

Dairies heat the milk to 90–95 °C for about 5 minutes (Tetra Pak).

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills competing bacteria

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Cultured buttermilk is not the liquid left from churning. It is fresh milk soured on purpose with a mesophilic culture, sometimes with butter granules added to look like the old product. Traditional buttermilk is the by-product of churning butter from soured cream; it has about 0.5 % fat and a short shelf life.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Directly acidified buttermilkSkim milk is brought to pH 5.2 with lactic acid before culturing, or acidified with no culture. Shorter to make and more even; a consumer panel could not tell it from cultured.
  • Buttermilk with butter granulesFlakes or granules of butterfat are added so it looks like churned buttermilk. With these, or with an aroma culture, salt or citrate, US rules allow the name "cultured buttermilk".

Safety

In the US the milk must be pasteurised before culturing, and cultured milk needs a titratable acidity of at least 0.5 % (21 CFR 131.112). BC food-safety guidance discards a batch that has not reached pH 4.6 two hours past the expected time, cools it to 4 °C within 6 hours and keeps it at 4 °C or colder.

Hazards the sources name: Spore-forming bacteria from the milk, if cooling to the culture temperature is slow.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Dairies began making "fermented buttermilk" from skim or low-fat milk to avoid the off-flavours and short shelf life of churned buttermilk (Tetra Pak).

  1. [bc-buttermilk] FOODSAFE BC with the BC Ministry of Health, BCCDC and Fraser Health, Guidelines for the Production of Dairy Products in Food Establishments, Buttermilk sample documentation, September 2022gov
  2. [cfr131112] US Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 131.112 Cultured milkgov
  3. [tp] Tetra Pak, Dairy Processing Handbook, chapter 13 Fermented milk products (buttermilk)book
  4. [tp-cultures] Tetra Pak, Dairy Processing Handbook, chapter 12 Cultures and starter manufacture (table 12.1)book
  5. [gettys1983] Gettys S.C. 1983, A comparison of methods for making buttermilk using traditional fermentation and direct acidification, MSc thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxvillepaper