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creamy sour cream

How To Make Homemade Sour Cream

Learn how to make old-fashioned homemade sour cream in this step by step tutorial.  Sour cream is just what the name suggests, it’s soured cream.  It’s very simple to make and you can use sour cream from the last batch to culture the next.  Rich, creamy and delicious, once you’ve tasted real sour cream, you’ll never go back to store-bought sour cream.  Made with only two ingredients, this raw probiotic-rich creamy sour cream recipe is perfect for baking, cooking or eating fresh on a baked potato or taco.
Prep Time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours
Serving Size 8

Equipment

  • 1 Quart Sized Mason Jar
  • 1 Large spoon for stirring
  • 1 LadleJar
  • 1 Mason Jar
  • 1 Funnel
  • 1 Spoon for stirring

Ingredients

  • 1 quart heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon sour cream culture leftover from the last batch. You can purchase a sour cream culture, or just let the cream naturally culture if it's the first time you're making it and you're using raw cream.

Instructions

  • For Raw Milk Sour Cream
    For whole milk, skim the cream from the top of raw milk using a ladle or a small measuring cup, and place it in a quart jar.
    Optional:  If the cream from your cow is very thin cream, you can add 2 teaspoons of gelatin to the cream and it will help to thicken it up as it cultures).  I never find that necessary with the cream from my Jersey cows, because it is naturally thick cream.
    You can add a starter culture like sour cream starter culture, mesophilic culture or clabber culture if you prefer, but if you are using raw cream that really isn’t necessary.
    Cover the jar loosely with a beeswax jar bonnet or paper towel and rubber band and allow it to sit out in a warm place until it’s thick and bubbles start to form on the side of the jar.  This usually takes about 24 hours for fresh cream.
    Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.
    For the next batch, use 1 Tablespoon of this sour cream and add it to the next jar of cream.  It will cause it to culture much faster (usually less than 12 hours) and the flavor will improve over time.
    You will need to add a starter culture like sour cream starter culture, mesophilic culture or clabber culture to inoculate the cream with the enzymes needed to culture.  For the sour cream starter culture use the directions on the back of the starter culture packet.  To use mesophilic culture, warm the cream to 86 degrees, and stir in ⅛ teaspoon of culture.  For clabber culture, just add 1 Tablespoon to a quart of cream.  The warmer your cream, the faster it will culture.
    Cover the jar loosely with a beeswax jar bonnet or cloth and allow it to sit out in a warm place until it’s thick and bubbles start to form on the side of the jar.  This can take 12 to 24 hours depending on the culture you use and the temperature of your cream and environment.
    Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.
    For subsequent batches, use 1 Tablespoon of this sour cream and add it to the next jar of cream.  It will cause it to culture much faster (usually less than 12 hours) and the flavor will improve over time.
     For Pastuerized Sour Cream
    You will need to add a starter culture like sour cream starter culture, mesophilic culture or clabber culture to inoculate the cream with the enzymes needed to culture.  For the sour cream starter culture use the directions on the back of the starter culture packet.  To use mesophilic culture, warm the cream to 86 degrees, and stir in ⅛ teaspoon of culture.  For clabber culture, just add 1 Tablespoon to a quart of cream.  The warmer your cream, the faster it will culture.
    Cover the jar loosely with a beeswax jar bonnet or cloth and allow it to sit out in a warm place until it’s thick and bubbles start to form on the side of the jar.  This can take 12 to 24 hours depending on the culture you use and the temperature of your cream and environment.
    Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.
    For subsequent batches, use 1 Tablespoon of this sour cream and add it to the next jar of cream.  It will cause it to culture much faster (usually less than 12 hours) and the flavor will improve over time.

Notes

  • For the thickest sour cream, use heavy whipping cream to make your sour cream.  The thinner your cream, the thinner the sour cream will be.  For a thicker consistency, run your fresh raw milk through a cream separator.
  • Use a ladle or a small measuring cup to “skim” the cream off the top of raw milk, or you can purchase heavy cream from a dairy or the grocery store.
  • If you are using pasteurized cream, you will need to add a sour cream starter culture to your cream to get it to sour.
  • How long you leave the cream sitting out on the counter depends on how sour you want your cream and the temperature of your house.  I like to watch the sides of the jar, and put it in the refrigerator as soon as I see small bubbles starting to form.  That tells me that the cream is fully cultured.  If you leave it for much longer, the cream will taste more sour.
  •  Putting your sour cream in the refrigerator slows down the culturing process and keeps the cream good for 2 to 3 weeks.
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