Sour milk is a regular item in a baker’s pantry. Even moms who love to bake make sure that they have some to grab when they need it. But how about if you run out of it? If you are curious enough to love baking challenges, I am pretty sure you have already Googled for the recipe for sour milk or for some substitutes.

Do you want to learn how to make sour milk? Read on!

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What Is Sour Milk?

I bake all the time, but do not buy it from the store. I always make it myself. Besides, you do not need to put a lot of sour milk in every recipe.

Recipes call for sour milk as a substitute for buttermilk. Both kinds of milk are a little bit acidic and are required in baking to neutralize the acidity of the recipe’s ingredients. It is also the starter ingredient when you make yogurt and cheese. Sour milk is a created by the acidification of milk. It is a little more tart than sour.

Yogurt and tofu are also great substitutes for sour milk.

How To Make Sour Milk

You can make sour milk by adding some acid, like lemon juice or vinegar, or by using bacterial fermentation. If you would like to know how to do it, then let’s make it from scratch!

Things You Will Need

1 cup of milk (I do not have raw milk, so I use pasteurized milk).
Pitcher or any container for the milk.
1 tablespoon of vinegar or squeezed lemon juice.
A fork or any stirring implement.
A kitchen timer, or your watch will do.

Here Are The Steps

Prepare 1 cup of milk or any measurement called for in your recipe.
Heat the milk in the microwave. It only needs to be a little bit warm. If you do not have a microwave, the stovetop is fine. However, you can skip this step. I just prefer to warm it up because milk sours faster when it is warm.
Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to sour the milk. A good substitute is one-half of the amount of cream of tartar (The ratio should be 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar for every 1 cup of milk).
Stir it for 30 seconds with a fork or anything else available. If you do use a substitute, stir a little longer. You need to ensure that it is totally dissolved.
It is usually ready to be used after 3-5 minutes. So set the timer, let the milk rest on your tabletop and use it when the timer goes off. You know it is ready when it has separated. This is quite normal since it indicates that the milk’s casein protein has thickened and is beginning to turn sour.
You can now add and combine the soured milk to the rest of your baking ingredients, or as instructed by your recipe.

Here is a video on how to make sour milk to make it easier for you to follow:

I have made it clear above that I use sour milk for my baking needs. However, do you know that you can also drink homemade sour milk? I know, we can buy our favorite dairy products in the supermarket. But for the sake of learning, it is good to know some things that might be important to apply in the future. Any knowledge always comes in handy.

The Quality Of Your Sour Milk Is Dependent On The Following

What kind of milk you use for fermentation. It is recommended that you use raw milk for this process.
How long did the milk ferment? How warm was the temperature when it fermented? The more natural the process is, the better. The natural process takes a long time.
What starter did you use for it? For the best results, a starter that has a high content of lactic acid bacteria must be used.
It all depends on the acid and oxygen content of your products and the conditions that can influence it.
The temperature that is used while the product is being fermented.

The Benefits Of Using Sour Milk

I wonder when it was that people found out about soured milk’s uses? If we come to think of it, sour milk was the very first of all the dairy products and it is still a popular pick in our stores today.

Our forefathers must have wracked their brains thinking about how they could store milk for longer so that they could keep a supply for some time later. So special thanks go to our ancestors who first figured out how to use fermented milk.

These are the advantages that sour milk can give us:

It’s easy to digest.
We adapt to it very well.
Improves the appetite.
It accelerates the function of the pancreas, liver and the excretion of bile.
A source of minerals (calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium compounds).
Contains vitamins (B2, B5, B12) and micronutrients.
Has a small amount of microelements in it (zinc, selenium, molybdenum, cobalt, iodine).
It’s good for the digestive system, as it helps the intestine to work well and eliminates constipation.
A source of antibiotics.
Lowers the cholesterol in our bodies, reducing the chances of a heart attack.
Contains anti-cancer properties.
Lactose intolerant people can drink this kind of milk, thanks to the fermentation.
Boosts the immune system.

Did You Know?

That sour milk is much safer to drink than fresh milk? The lactic acid and the bacteriocins in it kill the coliforms and other harmful bacteria, like E-coli.
When raw milk turns sour, it means that the probiotics have used up the lactose that made it more beneficial to health, while pasteurized milk has no enzymes. The moment it turns sour, you need to throw it out. Otherwise, it will cause you illness.
You can freeze sour milk so that you can use it later.

What Can You Make Out Of Sour Cream?

If you have made a lot more sour cream you require, there is no need to quickly use it before it expires. There are a lot of things you can make out of it. Truly, you will learn a lot from this!

+ Cottage Cheese

Use a boiler to cook the cottage cheese. Let it simmer until you see the liquid part has separated from the cheese. Strain it afterward to get rid of the extra liquid. Add some cream and seasonings, and there’s your cottage cheese!

+ Yogurt

Homemade yogurt that’s been made out of sour milk has a much better texture and flavor than the kind we buy from stores. It is way cheaper too.

+ Beauty

Sour milk can be an ingredient of facial masks, as it makes our skin smooth and even with a consistent color. Apply sour milk all over your face, rinse it off with milk (what?) followed by water.

+ Pet Food

It’s a good idea for pet food. You can make dog biscuits or just let it curdle and feed it to your chickens.

+ Fertilizer

If you dump it at the base of your plants, it makes a very effective fertilizer.

+ Cleaning Solution

+Use it to soak silver ornaments and you will have clean, shiny silver!

+ Cooking

Tenderize meat by soaking it in sour milk before cooking. You can also add a little bit of sour milk to recipes that are creamy.

+ Baking

Sour milk can be used in baking as a substitute for buttermilk. You do not require a large quantity for each recipe, but it always serves its purpose.

Warning:
Do not drink milk that has gone off for a long time as it will cause illness. We are not talking about milk that has a sour taste but has not spoiled yet and is safe to drink. To give you an idea, milk turns sour 3 days after its expiry date. If it has not been opened yet, it can last more than a week or two after the expiry date, but it depends on how you store it.

So now you know how to make sour milk. This article was a long read, but it did clarify a lot of things about sour milk. You not only learnt how to make it, but also the different uses for it. It was surprising to find out about the health benefits.

I am excited to know how you are doing out there? Was your first attempt at making sour milk a success? Share it with us right here. Till the next time!

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