Sour milk is a food product, different from spoiled milk, and a general milk term with a tart taste. It is an important ingredient in many recipes, especially in baking, as it gives them tangy flavor and thick consistency.
Soured milk contains Lactic Acid, which stimulates the function of various digestive glands, which means it fosters the digestion process.
Consuming sour milk regularly also improves the function of the intestine and prevents constipation. However, sour milk is also an important ingredient in many recipes, but having it in hand at the time of need may be difficult, or may purchase a whole container of sour milk is not convenient. So what to do? What can you use instead of sour milk?
Sour milk is an essential ingredient in many baking recipes; however, it is not necessary to buy this from the market as you can make sour milk substitutes at your home with easy-to-access ingredients that you would be able to have from your kitchen.
The two simplest ways of getting sour milk at home are the followings;
- Lemon juice and milk
- Vinegar and milk
Lemon juice and milk
If you do not have sour milk in hand at the time of need, you shouldn’t worry as you can make it at home by using lemon and milk. To make one cup of sour milk, take one cup of whole milk or 2% milk and squeeze half fresh lemon juice, or you may bottle lemon juice instead.
Then, stir them well together and allow them to sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. The lemon acid will curdle the milk slightly and will give you sour milk in no time.
Vinegar and milk
Don’t have lemon in the refrigerator and want to make sour milk? Relax, the good thing is there must be another ingredient in your refrigerator-that could help you make sour milk in your home: vinegar.
Take a cup of milk adds one tablespoon of vinegar into it. Stir them well and leave them for 5 to 10 minutes or until it gets curdled. You should leave this mixture to sit at room temperature; however, warm milk will allow you to get sour milk more quickly.
Can I use regular milk instead of sour milk?
Sour milk is an important ingredient in many recipes; however, it is not possible to have a container of sour milk in the refrigerator, so what to do in that situation? Many people think that they can use regular milk instead of sour milk. Will it give the same results in recipes?
Simply NO!!! It’s not a good option to use regular milk instead of sour milk. This is because the regular milk does not have the acid, so the absence of the acid will not give the same results. However, if you use any acid ingredient combined with regular milk, it will help you to create substitute properties closer to sour milk.
Note: if your regular milk has gone sour means it’s giving a sour smell, or even it gets thick or curdles, DO NOT USE IT!! There is a huge difference between sour and spoiled milk, the milk that goes sour on its own can harm you in many ways, so keep the difference.
Is buttermilk the same as sour milk?
Buttermilk also has a slightly sour taste and comes with a combination of milk and lactic acid. It has a thicker consistency and subtle tang.
Their appearance is more like sour milk, so many people confuse to distinguish between them and think that buttermilk and sour milk are the same. However, this is not true.
Both sour milk and buttermilk are interchangeable, but they are different as buttermilk is used to be the watery stuff leftover from making butter.
Nowadays, it is made by adding Lactic Acid bacteria into regular pasteurized milk. On the other hand, sour milk is a tart taste beverage made by using lemon juice or vinegar into the regular milk. Also, there is a difference in their texture, so it’s best to use buttermilk when the recipe calls for buttermilk and use sour milk when any recipe calls for sour milk to get the real taste of the recipe.
Can you Substitute Sour Cream For Sour Milk?
Sour cream is a thick dairy product that is made with the same bacteria used in sour milk; Lactic Acid. However, both sour cream and sour milk are interchangeable, but there is a difference in their consistency.
If you do not have sour milk in hand while making any recipe calling for sour milk, you can use sour cream instead to add flavor to your baking. So, sour cream is a good substitute for sour milk, and even sour milk is also a good substitute for yogurt and sour cream.
However, sour milk is not a good substitute for spoiled milk; they both may look the same and have a sour taste but using spoiled milk is not safe!
Is sour milk the same as sour cream?
Sour milk and sour creams are good substitutes for each other, and both have a sour taste. However, before using them, you must follow your recipe requirements as sour milk is liquid while sour cream is a kind of semi-solid ingredient, so you must be careful about the need of your recipe and go for that ingredient that suits your recipe.
