Today I did a little experiment to figure out which acetic acid solution is best to use for making a homemade buttermilk: Lemon or Vinegar? Allow me to first explain what and why buttermilk is important.
Buttermilk is a fermented dairy, product of butter churning. It’s creamy with a tangy flavor and is excellent as leavening in baked goods. They have a longer shelf life which is essential in baking. Buttermilk helps cakes develop a soft sponge and hold its volume. So if you don’t like dense cakes and you love tangy flavors, I highly recommend adding buttermilk to your cake batter! There are also a couple of recipes that requires buttermilk and if you need a substitute, you’ve come to the right place!
To make my experiment, I had my Control Test for comparison (store-bought buttermilk), a bottle of vinegar, and a glass of full milk. Next, I calculated the percentage of vinegar needed in a glass of milk to make buttermilk. It’s six percent. Assuming it would provide similar result, I made another buttermilk solution but with 6% lemon juice. I was disappointed to find that there were hardly any difference other than the added lemon flavor. Using a teaspoon, I kept adding 1 ml of lemon juice until it matched the flavor and texture of the Test Control. When I tested the vinegar again based on the lemon buttermilk solution, it gave me yet a different result. I was wondering what the problem was with the inconsistencies until I noted that the measurements on the teaspoons were ruining my calculations!!
- Test Control:
- 160 ml of store-bought buttermilk
- Vinegar Based Buttermilk Solution
- 150 ml of full milk
- 10 ml of rice vinegar
- Result: 6%; tangy & light
- Lemon Based Buttermilk Solution
- 150 ml of full milk
- 10 ml of squeezed lemon juice
- Result: 6%; tangy/citrus & creamier
So which is better? Lemon or Vinegar? Definitely LEMON is better than vinegar because it is closer to the consistency of an actual store-bought buttermilk: tangy and creami—ER. Whereas the vinegar based buttermilk is extremely tangy but light-ER. However, this may be because I used a rice flavored distilled vinegar! There may be different results with other types of vinegar (except for Apple Cider Vinegar! Do not use apple cider vinegar!).
I hope you enjoyed this entry as much as I had experimenting. Let me know if you tried experimenting with other types of vinegar!
Sweet t’Haart 