How do milk, buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream differ nutritionally?
This occurred to me as I wondering the ways of moistening scones; and this was what I found:
| Dairy Product (1 cup) |
Total Cal |
Total Fat |
Sat Fat |
Total Carb |
Sugars |
| Milk (skimmed) |
86 kcal |
0.4 g |
0.3 g |
11.9 g |
--- |
| Buttermilk (low fat, cultured) |
98 kcal |
2.2 g |
1.3 g |
11.7 g |
11.7 g |
| Yogurt (low fat, plain) |
154 kcal |
3.8 g |
2.5 g |
17.2 g |
17.2 g |
| Sour cream (reduced fat) |
327 kcal |
29.0 g |
18.1 g |
10.3 g |
0.4 g |
I've always had the impression that buttermilk was high in fat until I saw a blurb from the Food Network. Buttermilk was originally the remnants of churned butter and often had extraneous pieces of butter. Nowadays, it is made from adding lactic acid to skimmed milk and allowed to ferment. Clearly, it's not as "unhealthy" as the name suggests.
I first targeted yogurt for it's fruit-infused flavors and consistency. For recipes that suggested sour cream, I preferred yogurt because of it's better nutritional value. My impression of buttermilk was restricted to neutralizing baking soda and the misconception of it's nutritional value. But with my new discovery comes the next question: what's the difference between using buttermilk and yogurt??
Yogurt's thicker consistency is deceiving since heat will make it just as liquidy. Using strained fresh fruit means I can use plain yogurt, which is lower in calorie and sugar. Both contain cultured bacteria. Summed up, yogurt and buttermilk are nearly the same, although buttermilk wins out in it's nutritional value. Furthermore, thanks to baking911.com, I find that buttermilk results in a less dense and finer texture when compared to yogurt.
I think I've found a new friend; now comes the bonding...
