Post by Lannie on Oct 20, 2008 12:18:25 GMT -5
In Joann's book, and elsewhere around here I think, I've read how you can make a really good cottage cheese out of clabber. I also wanted to try making buttermilk from scratch (which is basically clabber), by setting out some fresh milk for a few days until it set up, then starting another batch from that one, and so on.
Well, it took exactly 17 days, but I succeeded. ;D Along the way, I'd see this curdled mess in the morning when I got up and thought, "Now how the heck would you cut that into curds?" Eeeeuuuuww.... It never smelled bad, but it had a very unpleasant sharp taste to it, so after I took the starter for the new batch out, I'd give the rest to the chickens. The cats didn't even want it.
But yesterday, I found a very nice, smooth, uniform blob of curd in my jar, so I put two cups of it into a gallon jar and mixed in 8 cups of milk (from the fridge) and this morning, I can't even describe how beautiful it was. It still looked like milk sitting in the jar, but it was completely firm. And the TASTE! Wonderful! The sharp nasty taste is gone and it tastes perfect. I whisked up another two cups, which smoothed out nicely into cultured buttermilk (just what I was originally after) and mixed it with another 8 cups of fridge milk. This time, however, I put it in a big pan, because tomorrow I'm making cottage cheese with it! YAY!
I feel so liberated! From the grocery store, that is! LOL! No more trips to buy buttermilk to start my cheeses with. I can just MAKE it if I need some. I'll keep this culture going as long as it still tastes good, then start working on a new one.
Does anyone know how long I should be able to keep using this culture before it starts to degrade? Or will it degrade? Since I used no starter, and it was just "wild" bacteria, maybe it will stay the same as long as I keep it going?
~Lannie
Well, it took exactly 17 days, but I succeeded. ;D Along the way, I'd see this curdled mess in the morning when I got up and thought, "Now how the heck would you cut that into curds?" Eeeeuuuuww.... It never smelled bad, but it had a very unpleasant sharp taste to it, so after I took the starter for the new batch out, I'd give the rest to the chickens. The cats didn't even want it.
But yesterday, I found a very nice, smooth, uniform blob of curd in my jar, so I put two cups of it into a gallon jar and mixed in 8 cups of milk (from the fridge) and this morning, I can't even describe how beautiful it was. It still looked like milk sitting in the jar, but it was completely firm. And the TASTE! Wonderful! The sharp nasty taste is gone and it tastes perfect. I whisked up another two cups, which smoothed out nicely into cultured buttermilk (just what I was originally after) and mixed it with another 8 cups of fridge milk. This time, however, I put it in a big pan, because tomorrow I'm making cottage cheese with it! YAY!
I feel so liberated! From the grocery store, that is! LOL! No more trips to buy buttermilk to start my cheeses with. I can just MAKE it if I need some. I'll keep this culture going as long as it still tastes good, then start working on a new one.
Does anyone know how long I should be able to keep using this culture before it starts to degrade? Or will it degrade? Since I used no starter, and it was just "wild" bacteria, maybe it will stay the same as long as I keep it going?
~Lannie