Have you ever come across a recipe that calls for the blessing of the buttermilk and was unsure of what to use. The solution is easier than you think!
What is Buttermilk, originally?
The translation into Portuguese is buttermilkbut in many recipes, mainly in English, the term used is buttermilk.
The traditional, the old, the original is the liquid byproduct what is left over in the production of butter: when beat the cream (milk fat), has the fat separation (butter) and part liquid. This liquid is leitelho original.
If you’ve ever hit cream to turn into whipped cream and it’s gone past the point, or if it’s already done butter at homehave you seen the buttermilk closely.
Nowadays this is no longer used buttermilk original, because he is not commercialized on a large scale. Read: you won’t find it in any market. This is analyzing the foreign market, that is, in the United States. Ah, yes: Brazil almost never had it. And no, that hipster micro store where the wind bends doesn’t count.
And practically in all current recipes and Western countries (United States and Europe), which are the vast majority, use the buttermilk moderno.
The modern Buttermilk
So what is the buttermilk currently used?
Basically: almost one low-fat yogurt.
The production uses skimmed milk as a base that is fermented with bacteria specific (Lactococcus lactis or Lactobacillus bulgaricus) to have a product similar to the original.
I.e, buttermilk is a type of fermented milk. The difference to the traditional yogurt is due to the bacteria used, in the yogurt other species are used (Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus e Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus).
As it is a fermented product, the butermilk and so the yogurt have a profile of I like e flavor properties given by the fermentation of the bacteria present.
What impacts the I like e flavor end of preparation, but they also modify the pH of mass that can influence the growth e texture of what is being prepared.
Substitutes for Buttermilk
There is no shortage of things on the internet ideas and suggestions to exchange the buttermilk of the recipe. Let’s take a look at the main ones.
Milk and Vinegar
The most common is mix vinegar (or lemon juice) in about 250mL of milk, stir and let it cook for a few minutes. You’ve seen it, right?
It works, it works… sort of. This alternative will not have the same dairy flavors e sour taste do buttermilk because the acids are different. See, in vinegar it is acetic acid and in the lemon, citric acid.
In general, the product/dough will have a more acidic, stronger character… just a flavor note. And because of this more excessive acidity, it will interfere with cor final (in time: the famous Maillard reaction which gives that golden roast color and aroma occurs better in less acidic environments).
Anyone who wants to test:
- 250mL of milk to 15mL of vinegar or lemon juice.
Kefir
Our confectionery muse, Stella Parks (aka BraveTart) suggests that the best substitute for buttermilk It is kefir. E what is kefir?
Kefir and another fermented milkbut is used a mixed culture of microorganisms. In other words, it is a mixture of fungi e bacteria to reach the fermented product itself.
Technically, there is no standardization per se. O kefir original is made with wild microorganisms from the environment and milk, similar to homemade yeast for bread, you know?
Brazilian legislation (IN 23/2007) indicates that kefir should be made with: kefir grains Lactobacillus kefirspecies of the genera Leuconostoc, Lactococcus e Acetobacter. The grains of Kefir are made up of lactose fermenting yeasts (Kluyveromyces marxianus) and non-lactose fermenting yeasts (Saccharomyces omnisporus e Saccharomyces cerevisae e Saccharomyces exiguus), Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobaterium sp and Streptococcus salivarius subsp thermophilus.
For those who are more interested in fermented products, you may already know and have tried them, right? But, in general, it began to appear now (mid 2019-2020) in long scale in the Brazilian market, while abroad it is common to already have it on the market shelf.
I confess that I haven’t been able to test it yet precisely because the offer isn’t that comprehensive. It doesn’t necessarily exist in any market, I’ve seen it a few times, but not consistently.
Another important factor: may be more expensive due to volume. What I’ve seen is always sold in a 500mL bottle (average of R$11), and the internet says there are 200mL for R$8. If you’re going to drink it, no problem, but for use in recipes the 500mL version might be a bit much.
Yogurt
The replacement I always recommend: yogurt.
It fulfills practically all the requirements in the vast majority of recipes. AND fermented milk in the simplest sense of the word, it has the flavors e likes characteristic of fermented dairy.
It has the particular acidity that some recipes require sense of tastenot to mention the chemical sense: will make the dough acidic so that growth agents chemicals can act (bicarbonate and chemical yeast).
You can find it in any grocery store in an easier way, it is sold in small portions (the pot weighs around 165-170g) and the price is incredible (around R$1.50 to 1.90).
Again, the Stella finds yogurt almost perfect for some recipes, precisely because of the characteristics it can bring: making it moist, rich and slightly sweet (due to residual lactose). But stop a minute bread (like Biscuit), she doesn’t like it so much anymore.
But bringing it to our reality in Brazil, we don’t do this type of preparation as much in general. Here is more cakesat least for me, then: for a cake, the replacement for yogurt is perfect.
And I always do it in a 1:1 ratio, that is, if the recipe asked for 100g of buttermilk, I use 100g of yogurt. And according to my tests, it doesn’t matter if it’s whole or skimmed.
My only caveat: do not use Greek yogurt. For now, we do not have specific regulations for this. And the vast majority of versions in Brazil are thickened with thickeners and not due to yogurt draining (similar to curd). But the big detail: are not acidic enoughwhich completely changes the recipe that requires acidity.
References
- BRAZIL, MAP. Ministry of Agriculture and Supply. Normative Instruction No. 16, of August 23, 2005: Technical Regulation on Identity and Quality of Dairy Drinks.
- BRAZIL, MAP. Ministry of Agriculture and Supply. Normative Instruction No. 46, of October 23, 2007: Technical Regulation on Identity and Quality of Fermented Milks.
- USA. FDA, Food and Drug Administration. Code of Federal Regulations Title 2: Sec. 131.112 Cultured milk.
- USA. FDA, Food and Drug Administration. Code of Federal Regulations Title 2: Sec. 131.200 Yogurt.
- FENNEMA, Owen R. . Food chemistry. 3rd ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1996.
- McGEE, Harold. On food and cooking: the science an lore of the kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004. (Portuguese, affiliate link)
- MUDGIL, Deepak; BARAK, Sheweta. Dairy-Based Functional Beverages, Milk-Based Beverages, Woodhead Publishing, 2019, p. 67-93.
- Stella Parks: Why Buttermilk Substitutes Are a Bum Deal.
