Is Buttermilk Supposed To Smell Sour: Good Or Spoiled Buttermilk
Many people misunderstand buttermilk is the mixture between milk and butter and causes obesity. In fact, buttermilk is the low-fat liquid since it is leftover removing milk fat. Is buttermilk supposed to smell sour? Actually, buttermilk has a special tang not sour, so many people do not distinguish between good buttermilk or spoiled buttermilk. Therefore, in this article, I would like to tell you signs of spoiled buttermilk, how to preserve it and some cakes and breads probably made from buttermilk.
Some Facts About Buttermilk
Buttermilk is very popular in Western countries, India, the Middle East, the Balkans and the Southern United States. However, it is strange to many regions, or some people already consume them indirectly but still do not know them.
What Is Buttermilk?
Buttermilk has 2 main types: tangy buttermilk and sweet buttermilk. Sweet buttermilk is made from fresh cream and could be cultured after the butter-making process. However, most recipes use sour cream buttermilk. Low-fat milk will be mixed with good bacteria, lactic acid and diacetyl and heated to culture within about 12 hours.
Buttermilk is used for drinking and salad dressings. Moreover, due to acid, buttermilk is used for marinade to make meat or chicken dishes more soft and delicious. Buttermilk also is used a lot in making cakes and breads, especially pancakes; because acidity in buttermilk breaks down gluten strands and is connected with baking soda to create carbon dioxide. This makes a fluffy texture for cakes or breads.
Shelf Life Of Buttermilk
In the buttermilk, there are lactic acid and diacetyl. Lactic acid creates tangy flavor and diacetyl produces aroma and buttery flavor. If the longer you leave the buttermilk, the more sour buttermilk continues and diacetyl reduces leading to less flavor.
If you can not use buttermilk before it expires, you should freeze it. However, this can change the flavor as well as texture, and you should use freezing buttermilk when baking breads or cakes. You need to check your product beforing buying because if you buy unpasteurized buttermilk, you can get food poisoning.
You have to use buttermilk based on the time recommendation of the manufacturer to use the product properly. This can bring the best tastes as well as be safe to eat. Users should consume buttermilk as soon as possible.
| Unopened buttermilk | Opened Buttermilk | |
| Refrigerator | within to 7–14 days after expiry date | within 14 days after opening the product |
| Freezer | 3 months | 3 months |
Is Buttermilk Supposed To Smell Sour?
No, buttermilk is not supposed to smell sour. Buttermilk has a distinct tangy smell and buttery taste, but if buttermilk smells or tastes sour, it may be spoiled.
After opening the bottle to drink and smell, you will recognize the differences among the sour from yogurt, buttermilk and other kinds of sour milk. You should wait about 1 minute then to smell or enjoy it because the smell of buttermilk is quite different from the actual buttermilk. The gasses in the bottle could be stronger than the actual buttermilk when you smell.
Signs Of Spoiled Buttermilk
To know if buttermilk is still good or not, we will rely on the following 3 senses: sight, smell, taste.
Sight
By sight, you can see the expiration date, color and texture of milk. With the expiration date (abbreviated as EXP), most manufacturers print it on the product packaging. You should use buttermilk before it expires.
In addition, we can look at the color to know. When buttermilk expires, it will appear to mold and/or discolor. The texture of milk is also something we can evaluate by eye. Buttermilk is usually quite thick and smooth when it is in good condition and can be used immediately. If buttermilk has small lumps, you shake it well. And if the buttermilk still has chunks, you should absolutely not drink it and must immediately pour it away.
Smell
In addition to looking at the buttermilk, the smell of spoiled buttermilk is also very easy to recognize. When buttermilk goes bad, it has a strong odor and a horrible sour smell. However, you can not always recognize it by smell. Buttermilk usually has a stronger smell than milk, so this is not the best way to recognize it and combine it with other ways to check.
Taste
Buttermilk has a special tang. If you taste sour, the buttermilk is not good to use anymore. Like other ways to indicate spoiled buttermilk, you combine other ways to consider whether buttermilk is usable or not.
How To Keep the Shelf Life Of Buttermilk Longer?
To extend the buttermilk’s shelf life, you need to follow the below principles
Do:
- Keep your hands clean
- Pour the buttermilk out glass
- Refrigerate with under 40°F (4.4°C)
- Store in a stable temperature
- Purchasing suitable bottle of buttermilk size
Do not:
- Do not leave any dairy product (buttermilk included) at room temperature
- Do not drink directly from the lip of the bottle
Some Cakes And Breads Could Be Made From Buttermilk
This type of milk can be drunk directly or used as one of the ingredients to enhance the flavor, especially in baked goods such as
- cookies
- pancakes
- cakes and breads such as bundt cakes, cheesecakes, mug cakes, cupcakes
With cookies, you can refer to some recipes like salted caramel oatmeal cookies or salted brownie crinkle cookies
To be honest, to make cakes and breads, particularly mug cakes, you can use normal milk. However, using buttermilk will make your cake more flavorful and buttery taste. Therefore, there are some mug cakes that are easy to make at home: strawberry mug cake, angel food cake mug, hot cocoa cake in a mug, etc.
Furthermore, buttermilk could be used as one of the ingredients in Oroweat bread. Or if not, you can eat Oroweat bread with buttermilk; it is a healthy combination for your breakfast or any meal in your day.
A Word From Ice Maiden Cake
Buttermilk is a delicious, tangy beverage that tastes great by itself and lends itself well in many baking and cooking applications. Buttermilk is a healthy as well as tasty drink. It has many applications in culinary such as beverage, baking, marinade, and salad dressing. However, its shelf life is short at room temperature and should not be refrigerated too long. If buttermilk changes its texture, smell, or taste, you better throw it away.
