What is buttermilk and how to make it
I am constantly amazed by the ways in which cooks can make little bugs do their bidding. It's almost as if you have an army of little cooks doing your work for you and all you have to do is wait and take all the credit for their labor, which makes me feel like a CEO with a constant source of cheap labor that I only have to feed cheap ingredients and keep warm to make them happy.
Buttermilk is one of those wonderful things and many cooks have figured out how buttermilk with baking powder and/or soda can leaven things like pancakes, biscuits, or breads. It's also used as a taste and texture enhancement for things like fried chicken, pies, and all sorts of other things. But what is buttermilk really, and can it be made at home? I'll explain what buttermilk is in the next paragraph and yes it can be made at home. Furthermore making it at home results in a product that doesn't contain the additives you'll find in commercial buttermilk. Whether this is good or bad is for you to decide.
Buttermilk has been around pretty much for all of recorded history. Hindus were using it 3,000 yrs before Christ was born. So making it at home should be pretty simple, yes? Well, yes and no. Making buttermilk by the traditional methods is not that difficult as long as you have access to raw milk. Unfortunately most people don't have such access. To make buttermilk, you simply left the milk out for a while (remember they didn't have refrigerators 5,000 yrs ago anyway), until the good bacteria in the milk turned much of the lactose into lactic acid. The lower PH caused the milk to curdle and separate at which point it could be churned. After churning you were left with butter and buttermilk, both of which had a longer shelf life than milk. As long as you have access to raw milk, you can do this yourself by leaving the milk out at room temperature until it curdles, then churn it in a food processor or stand mixer.
Fortunately for the rest of us there is an easier way, and it's pretty much the same way commercial buttermilk is made. All you need is a cup of commercial buttermilk for a starter, which gives you the active cultures you need. The buttermilk you buy must say "active cultures" on the bottle or carton. If it doesn't, but does say it's pasteurized, it's not going to work. If you can't find buttermilk with active cultures, you can buy buttermilk starters online, and one starter is all you need to keep a batch going indefinitely. If you have buttermilk with active cultures, simply add one cup to one quart of milk (minus one cup) and leave out on your counter for 12-18 hours (depending on your room temperature, 12 hours for 78 degrees and 18 hours for 69 degrees). Culture your buttermilk in a mason jar with a piece of cheesecloth over the top with the ring used to secure it. Once this is done, store in the refrigerator. If you want to make a new batch, do so within 7 days as your culture will weaken and start to die off eventually if not turned into new starter.
Keep in mind that commercial buttermilk usually contains salt, so when using your homemade buttermilk you may need to add a bit of salt, or leave it out if you're watching your sodium intake.
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