Home Made Cultured Sour Cream

Culturing food has long been a stable in human civilization. It started as a practical step used to keep foods lasting longer. This practical tradition, however, lost it's popularity mid last century when advances in packaging and processing food developed. However, many claim that the health benefits of cultured foods are too good to pass on and in recent times an increased intrest in products with live cultures and probiotics have come into vogue. But there is a difference from what you can find on the selves of your local super market and true cultured products that one can make at home. One of the easiest cultured foods one can make at home are cultured dairy products. 

Some examples of common cultured dairy products are yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, and kefir. These are just a few of the better known and more regularly used cultured dairy product but there are many other less known ones out there too. 

One may ask why would I want to make my own cultured dairy products if I can just buy them at the store? Well, the answer is simple, like most things one finds in the grocery store, store bought products often contain additives that have no place being there. Ingredients like, gelatin, rennet, guar, carrageen, and addtional non-naturally occurring acids. Additionally, home-made cultured dairy products contain more probiotics, or good microorganisms and nutrients that benefit our bodies. Probiotics are credited with making food, especially dairy more digestible. They additionally, lessen or alleviate many gastrointestinal issues like heart burn, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Probiotics are also believed to help protect our bodies from diseases like the common cold and even cancer. How could you pass up all of that?

When creating a cultured dairy product a simple process happens. When cultures or bacteria are added to milk or cream they break down the carbohydrates into lactic acid. This process results in an easier to digest sour or tangy tasking dairy product. Different cultures in different milks result in different tastes and textures. 

Making sour cream is one of the easiest. The simplest way is to add 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk to ever one pint of heavy or whipping cream. Place the mixture in a container with an open top. Cover the top with a towel and leave out on your counter for 24 hours. After the right amount of time has passed you should have a thick tangy sour cream. Refrigerate in a covered container to stop your sour cream from continuing to culture. Now you have delicious homemade sour cream great for topping a baked potato or for including in salad dressings.