Homesteader Depot

Tag: cream

  • How to Make Natural, Raw Sour Cream

    How to Make Natural, Raw Sour Cream

    Sour cream is a delicious staple condiment of American cooking, that can greatly enhance the taste of many delicious dishes, from potato pancakes, to baked potatoes, to nachos.

    Most people will be familiar with the store-bought version, a thick, gooey cream that comes in a plastic container and often with additives and even artificial flavoring. But did you know you can very easily make your own at home?

    Like pickles, homemade sodas, yogurt, and sourdough, sour cream is one of the many delicious, healthy, and easy home fermentation products that anyone can try themselves. And it just so happens to be one of the easiest! You don’t need anything at all but raw milk. However, that the milk you use be raw is essential. Pasteurized milk, that has been heated to very high temperatures to kill the bacteria that naturally occurs in the milk, simply won’t sour the way cream from raw milk will, and it is also homogenized, meaning the cream won’t naturally separate for you to harvest.

    When you buy fresh, raw milk, if you let it sit for awhile, cream will naturally separate on the top, and this is what you can use to make sour cream. Here’s what it looks like:

    As you can see there is a distinct line between the cream on top, and the milk. That cream is what you use to make sourcream. Also, if you have milk that has naturally soured before you were able to use it up, you can use the cream on top for sour cream. This is a great way to use up soured milk!

    Here’s what you do: 

    Skim the cream off the top of your raw milk, and place in a small jar. I find a metal measuring cup works best for this, but you can use anything you can dip into the cream and extract it, without mixing the milk in with the cream.

    If you get a small amount of milk in with the cream you’re skimming, don’t worry, it will naturally separate later.

    Once you’ve collected all your cream and put in a separate jar, cover loosely with the lid, and leave on your countertop for 24 hours. After 24 hours, taste and smell it, to see if it has soured. It should have thickened in this time, although it won’t be as thick as store-bought sour cream. Depending on the weather, it might need another 24 hours, just use your own judgment and preference.

    When soured, tighten the lid, and put in the refrigerator, will it will thicken even more. Use as you would regular sour cream, and enjoy!

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  • The Easiest Way to Skim Raw Milk

    The Easiest Way to Skim Raw Milk

    A cold glass of fresh milk is a delicious, wholesome treat. If it’s non-homogenized, the higher-fat cream will naturally separate from the milk to be skimmed for butter, whipped cream, or to splash into a hot cup of coffee. The traditional skimming process, however, is a tedious repetition of scooping out the cream ladle after ladle (and sometimes spoonful after spoonful). If this setback has kept you from enjoying the bliss of fresh cream, here is an incredibly easy method to try using a siphon.


     Supplies:

    • A clothespin (the kind with the metal spring)
    • 1 Vinyl Tube, ¼” or more wide and at least 3 feet long (use afflink for this product)
    • A jar large enough to hold the skimmed milk

     

    Directions:

    • Put a jar of milk where the cream has risen to the top on a high surface, like a counter or table.
    • Use a chair or stepstool to hold the empty jar well below the level of the milk jar.
    • Insert one end of the tube down into the milk until it hits the bottom.
    • Create suction to start the milk flowing through the tube.
    • Place the dry end of the tube into the empty jar and allow the skimmed milk to flow.
    • Clip the tube to the rim of the milk jar so you don’t have to hold it. Now you can walk away and make lunch!

    For half a gallon of milk, the skimming process with this method should take about ten  minutes. When the milk is almost done draining, come back and keep an eye on it. You can see a thin line of cream start to get pulled down into the suction if you leave it in place. Just move the milk end of the tube around the bottom of the jar like a vacuum until all the skim milk is gone.

    To clean the tube, simply run hot water and antibacterial dish soap through it until it is clear of milk, and give it a good rinse.

    Now, with virtually no effort, you’ve skimmed yourself some delicious, healthy cream to use however you wish. Wasn’t that easy?

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