I’ve been having an intense love affair with “real” milk for about six months now.

And by “real”, I mean the stuff fresh from the cow. Not my cow {someday I hope}, but from the local dairy that our small fishing town of 1,500 people are so incredibly fortunate to have.

I don’t take much pride in having to go to the store to buy anything. I’m at that point where I wish I could just make EVERYTHING myself. But because we simply don’t have the land cleared for our own cow, being able to drive the 20 minutes to our local dairy and pick up that cool, heavy, 1-gallon glass jar with the deliciously distinct cream line is pure bliss. I don’t feel the least bit guilty about making that shopping run. I love it.

What I love even more are the endless possibilities that that one product provides. One of the very first things I learned how to do was make butter, and in the process, buttermilk. Since then, I’ve used fresh cream to make cream soups, gravy, and countless recipes where I easily opt for cream over milk. I discovered fresh whipped cream {Cool-Whip ain’t got nothin’ on that stuff!}. And then there was homemade ice cream- WHERE have you been all my life you crazy easy amazing goodness? And then, when I was making up my meal plan for the month, I realized how much sour cream we would need to fulfill some of my upcoming recipes.

Sour cream. Hmm. I bet I can make that!

And so I did.

Let me say first that there are many, many ways that you can make homemade sour cream or even sour cream substitutes in a pinch. When selecting which method to go with, I wanted to be able to fulfill two important requirements:

• Find the most natural, whole food, organic, and junk-free way of accomplishing homemade sour cream
• Find and follow a simple ratio that I could easily adjust according to how much sour cream we could use within the next few weeks to a month to avoid waste

Homemade Cultured Sour Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour cream {from organic cultured sour cream* or from a previous batch}
• 3 cups cream {preferably raw/organic and not ultra-pasteurized}

*when selecting an organic cultured sour cream for your starter, the only ingredient you want to see on the label is “Organic Cultured Cream” {the word “Pasteurized” might be in there as well and this will work, especially if you are not comfortable with raw milk}. The only exceptions allowed in addition on your ingredients list is “Acidophilus and Bifidus Cultures“, which are beneficial bacteria that aid in digestion.

Directions:

Pour cream into a quart-size jar. Spoon in your sour cream and stir until combined. Loosely cover with a jar lid, a towel, or coffee filter {secure with rubber band}. Allow to sit at room temperature for 12- 48 hours** or until thickened and the taste is to your liking. The longer it sits, the thicker and more sour it will become. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours to allow it to fully set {it will thicken upon chilling}.

**The amount of time for culturing will depend on the room temp at which your sour cream is sitting. If it is cooler, it will take closer to 48 hours to thicken, whereas if it is at the optimal 70- 80 degrees you could expect it to take closer to 12 hours. Keep in mind, too, that it will not only thicken upon being refrigerated, but that homemade sour cream will not be as thick as what you find in the store {due to additives and thickening agents}.

^This sour cream has been culturing for 46 hours {during a particularly cold stretch in which my house was around 64 degrees}. Because I noticed a distinct change in the thickness from 12 hours before, it went into the refrigerator. Don’t be afraid to stir it and check the thickness every now and then. It will give you a “feel” for it and you will be able to better recognize when its consistency is starting to change.

^The same batch, after chilling for 5 hours.

Note: The ratio used here is 1:3; 1 part sour cream to 3 parts fresh cream. This can easily be adjusted based on how much sour cream you would like to make.

A word of warning: once you have tried homemade sour cream, you will never go back to the store bought stuff. And I have good news! You can use your homemade batch as a starter for your next batch of sour cream.

What a delicious, beautiful tasty circle of life 🙂

Shared at:

Clever Chicks Blog Hop #121

The Art of Homemaking Mondays #34

Tuesdays With a Twist #92

Simply Natural Saturdays