My cultured butter homogenised again after separating
I tried making cultured butter using a very simple recipe: 500 ml of cream mixed with 30 ml of buttermilk, left on the counter for a couple of days. Then mix to separate, drain, dry, etc.
I don't own a stand mixer, so I used a hand mixer instead. At one point I noticed the buttermilk separating from the butter, but thought I had to keep going to extract more moisture out. Then the mixture suddenly homogenised again and I was left with a slightly sour, buttery mixture that was quite tasty but won't last long in the fridge (because of the lactic acid still present in the mix).
Most videos I watched mentioned keeping on mixing for a little while after the separation first took place. I didn't really hear anyone mention mixing it too long.
A few questions:
How does it homogenise again? I thought that these fat droplets separate because of breaking membranes.
Is there a name for the mixture I ended up with?
Is there any way to separate it again? I kept on mixing but nothing happened.
Is the hand mixer the right tool for this job?
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How does it homogenise again?
I'm almost sure, the cream you used had some emulsifiers in it. Check the ingredients.
As mentioned above, almost all heavy creams (ie whipping creams) have emulsifiers (gums) that keep the cream from separating (ideal for making whipping cream).
I just made a batch of cultured heavy cream and found that my kitchenaid stand mixer was not able to churn the cream enough to separate it...It mixed and mixed and mixed without any separation...I decided to chill the mixture, same thing, no separation...I then decided to put my cultured heavy cream into my heavy duty blender and it separated within 15 seconds...
The lesson I learned here is that the condition of your heavy cream (brand, temp, level of fermentation, etc) will dictate how rigorous the required churning to separate the fat from the buttermilk...
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