Sour-cream advice?

[blissful]

I am so happy I can come here to DC and ask you all......Stupid me, I bought too much cream on sale and now it's well past it's use by date. I 'was gonna' make ice cream, which I did, but, just not all of it that I had hoped to make.

I have 2 quarts of cream and 1 quart of half and half.

So, does cream (heavy whipping cream also half and half) turn to sour cream, or does cream just become 'bad'?

The half and half had thick parts, but did not smell bad.

Also, about sour cream, does it go 'bad'? It's sour already, you know? Please don't say, if in doubt throw it out. Just because I don't know something or have a doubt, doesn't justify throwing out food. However, if you know something is bad, I have no problem throwing it out.

I just need to know more about mechanics of cream, anyone know?

[Andy M.]

Creams and Half and Half do not become sour cream when they spoil. They become spoiled. If it has thick parts to it it's time to toss it.

Sour cream does go bad. It grows mold.

[blissful]

Thanks Andy M.
Okay!
So I have unusable bad cream and half and half.

When making cheese: milk, cheese bacterias, salt, rennet, processing, it becomes cheese.

So when I make yogurt and add the yogurt culture to the milk, it becomes yogurt.

And when I take good cream (not apparently what I have now) I add, what exactly to make sour cream, if I wanted to make it? Curious minds want to know.

I wonder if McNerd would know?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by blissful

...And when I take good cream (not apparently what I have now) I add, what exactly to make sour cream, if I wanted to make it? Curious minds want to know.

I wonder if McNerd would know?

Google would know.

[blissful]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Google would know.

Yes, most likely, but, DC loves me more than Google.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by blissful

Yes, most likely, but, DC loves me more than Google.

Without a doubt.

Just if you are looking for a quick answer to wrap up this issue, google could do that for you.

[blissful]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Without a doubt.

Just if you are looking for a quick answer to wrap up this issue, google could do that for you.

Nope, not looking for a quick answer to wrap up this issue.

[AnnieDrews]

Edited this out because the next link I visited said this:

"Sour cream cannot be made at home with pasteurized cream; the lack of bacteria in the cream will cause the cream to spoil instead of sour. If you have access to unpasteruized heavy cream, you can add 1 Tbsp of vinegar to 2 cups of cream and let the mixture stand out at room temperature for several hours until curdled."

The article goes on to say:

"If you can’t get unpasteurized cream, you can still make a version of crème fraîche, which is also a soured cream. The taste is generally milder than that of sour cream, but it may be an acceptable substitute for you in recipes that call for sour cream. You can make crème fraîche by adding 1 cup of buttermilk to 2 cups of heavy cream and leaving it out in a warm place (80° to 90°F, or 26° to 32°C, is ideal) for as few as eight hours and as many as 24 hours. One of the benefits of crème fraîche is that it can be whipped."

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by blissful

Thanks Andy M.
Okay!
So I have unusable bad cream and half and half.

When making cheese: milk, cheese bacterias, salt, rennet, processing, it becomes cheese.

So when I make yogurt and add the yogurt culture to the milk, it becomes yogurt.

And when I take good cream (not apparently what I have now) I add, what exactly to make sour cream, if I wanted to make it? Curious minds want to know.

I wonder if McNerd would know?

To make sour cream, you would add sour cream or cultured buttermilk. I do it all the time. If my cream is getting close to the use by date, I make sour cream and extend its life by a week or more. When sour cream goes off, it usually grows mould.

Unpasteurized cream can turn into sour cream or crème fraiche without addition of a starter.

[blissful]

Being from the dairy state, there is a long disagreement on whether we should be able to buy part of a milking animal and get a portion of unpasturized milk.
Seems to me that adding buttermilk or sour cream would re-inoculate pasturized milk products with the same cultures originally removed with pasturization, similarly to not pasturizing it in the first place.

Anyways, the sour cream was good--no spoilage.
The cream was not sour (even after 1 and 1/2 months past the date), not lumpy, smelled and tasted sweet/good. We made cherry ice cream with it.

I've never fully taken one side of the issue or the other. Isn't it amazing that pasturized cream was good after 1 and 1/2 months past the date on the carton?
I wonder how long unpasturized cream lasts?

Thank you all for your help.