Saturday, February 18, 2017

FREEZING EXTRA BUTTERMILK

 
OUT OF BUTTERMILK FOR BISCUITS ???
 
 
 
How many times have you tried a recipe that calls for 1 cup of buttermilk but they only sell it in quarts? Usually (at my house anyway) the unused/extra buttermilk sits (forgotten) in the back of the fridge until its "use by" date has expired, but that is now a thing of the past. Since I discovered how well buttermilk freezes, I always have it in the house.

The only trick is to freeze it in small containers so that it thaws quickly. The smallest container I tried was my ice cube tray. After they are frozen, just put them in a freezer bag and carefully mark what's in the bag:
 

 

Ice cube trays are not a standard size. I have one that measures 2 tablespoons per cube and one that measures 1½ tablespoons per cube, so keep that in mind when you are thawing out the cubes (I usually just thaw a couple extra to be on the safe side).

As a general rule:

8 frozen 2 oz. cubes = 1 cup buttermilk
6 frozen  2 oz. cubes = 3/4 cup buttermilk
4 frozen 2 oz. cubes = 1/2 cup buttermilk
2 frozen 2 oz. cubes = 1/4 cup  buttermilk
6 frozen 2 oz. cubes  = 3/4  cup buttermilk

 
 
You can thaw the buttermilk cubes overnight in the fridge, or if you need them sooner than that, you can microwave them for just a few seconds.
 
DON'T FREAK OUT TIP:
Sometimes, the thawed out buttermilk looks like it's separated (not pretty), don't freak out. Just whisk it back together (for a few seconds) then use it in any recipe.

TIP # 2:
The accuracy of the SIZE of your frozen buttermilk cubes is just a guideline and not at all important, it just gives you an idea of how many to thaw out for any given recipe.