Buttermilk is healthy, low in calories, and a good thirst quencher. After the best-before date has passed, it can still be kept for some time. But how to tell if buttermilk is bad, and how do you know when it’s spoiled?
Production of buttermilk
Buttermilk is created during the production of butter, but it is not a waste product, but a usable, healthy by-product.
Raw milk is processed in a centrifuge so that the cream is separated from the skimmed milk. To make butter, the cream is whipped to break down the protein coatings around the fat globules in the cream.
Butter grains form from the fat globules, which divide into butter and buttermilk through intensive kneading.
Butter can be made as sweet cream butter from unleavened cream or as sour cream butter from cream that has already been leavened. When making sweet cream butter, the buttermilk must be enriched with lactic acid bacteria, which is not necessary when making sour cream butter.
The buttermilk is commercially available as “buttermilk” and as “pure buttermilk”. Buttermilk may contain additives of up to 10 percent water or up to 15 percent skimmed milk and milk powder, while pure buttermilk is free of additives and usually thicker than buttermilk with additives.
Buttermilk must not contain any preservatives or binders. A natural preservative is a lactic acid, which allows buttermilk to keep for a few days. But buttermilk can go bad, you will learn how to tell if buttermilk is bad.
How to recognize expired or spoiled buttermilk
If the lid of the buttermilk bulges upwards, this does not necessarily mean that the buttermilk has spoiled, because the upwardly curved lid indicates that the lactic acid bacteria are at work.
However, if the buttermilk is lumpy, ie watery, and parts of it have clumped or curdled, this is clear evidence that the buttermilk has gone bad.
If it smells unpleasant or has a bitter taste, this is also a sign that it can no longer be used.
Even if the buttermilk turns yellow, it’s spoiled. If you notice mold on the buttermilk, it’s high time to discard it.
How To Tell If Buttermilk Is Bad
The manufacturer must print the best-before date on the buttermilk packaging. This can be around two weeks from the date of manufacture, but this period varies by manufacturer.
If the best-before date has passed, you can use the buttermilk for a maximum of two weeks if you keep it in the refrigerator, provided the cold chain has always been maintained.
Once the buttermilk has opened, you should use it up the next day at the latest.
Extend the shelf life of buttermilk
If you buy buttermilk, you should make sure that the transport route is short. With a cool bag, you can ensure that the cold chain is not interrupted after purchase.
You should put the buttermilk in the fridge as soon as you get home, if possible. Since the top shelf is the coldest, this shelf is best for the buttermilk.
You should pay attention to a refrigerator temperature of 5 to 7 degrees Celsius. You can also freeze buttermilk in the freezer.
What to do if you drank spoiled buttermilk?
If the buttermilk you drank has gone bad, you will usually find out pretty quickly by getting diarrhea and maybe a stomach ache. Worse symptoms are not to be expected. You just have to wait and see, as such symptoms will disappear after a short time.
Food poisoning is rare and manifests itself with nausea, vomiting, severe and possibly bloody diarrhea, and severe abdominal cramps. In any case, however, the advice of a doctor should be sought