HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR FREEZE DRIED BUTTERMILK STARTER:
To activate the buttermilk, boil 150ml of whole pasteurised milk and allow it to cool back to room temperature. We recommend boiling the milk for the activation stage so that any microbes in the milk are killed off, giving the starter the best chance of success, Put the milk into a jar (ideally 1 litre capacity). Place the sachet of freeze dried buttermilk into the milk and cover the jar to stop dust getting in. Do not cut off the airflow completely. A paper towel fastened with a rubber band works well. Leave it at room temperature for 24-72 hours until you notice that the milk has set. Then proceed with the steps listed below.
INGREDIENTS:
• Pasteurised milk. Whole milk works best.
• The activated buttermilk starter culture from the process listed above.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add 850ml of milk to the jar already containing the activated buttermilk from the step listed above. The milk can be cold and straight from the fridge.
2. Cover the jar again and leave it at room temperature for 12-48 hours until the buttermilk has set. The buttermilk is sensitive to temperature. The warmer it is, the faster it will set. During the summer, check the buttermilk every 12 hours. During the winter, it can take a couple of days to fully set.
3. Once set, place the buttermilk in the fridge to cool. The cooling process will help the buttermilk to thicken.
4. Before you eat it, remove some to re-culture the next batch. You want roughly one tablespoon of the buttermilk per 500ml of milk you wish to culture.
5. If you can’t eat all of the buttermilk that day, it will keep in the refrigerator for 7 days. You can use it to re-culture other batches during that time.
6. Ensure you re-culture the buttermilk at least once every 7 days week to keep it healthy and active.
PLEASE NOTE:
If you have more than one fermenting food culture at home, we recommend that you keep them at least 1 metre apart from each other at all times. This is to stop cross contamination of the different cultures. If you are working with dairy in particular, this is very important. Please contact us is you require further assistance with fermenting more than one culture.
