World’s First Dairy-Free Buttermilk Made From Ancient Grains

Until now, home chefs had to make dairy-free buttermilk by adding acid to plant-based milk and waiting for it to curdle. Mill It is a dairy alternatives company. It developed the first dairy-free buttermilk, based on a unique combination of ancient grains. To offer its Plant-Based Buttermilk dairy-like properties, the business ferments these grains, which include millet and sorghum.

“Ancient grains are very important in the process because they replace some of the traditional functionality in milk that allows us to ferment our plant milk and turn it into a probiotic buttermilk with acidic properties that are beneficial when baking,” Mill It Founder Bill Meyers stated.

While it is possible to make vegan buttermilk alternatives at home, Mill Its version is probiotic-rich and has no effect on the taste profile of baked goods. “Our buttermilk performs as a one to one replacer of traditional buttermilk in any recipe. This allows consumers to convert any of their favorite traditional recipes into plant-based versions… This is superior to any home methods of curdling plant milk because the lemon juice or vinegar used can cause significant flavor defects and when the ratio of acid to plant milk is unbalanced it can ruin a recipe,” said Meyers.

While it is possible to make vegan buttermilk alternatives at home, Mill Its version is probiotic-rich and has no effect on the taste profile of baked goods. “Our buttermilk performs as a one to one replacer of traditional buttermilk in any recipe. This allows consumers to convert any of their favorite traditional recipes into plant-based versions… This is superior to any home methods of curdling plant milk because the lemon juice or vinegar used can cause significant flavor defects and when the ratio of acid to plant milk is unbalanced it can ruin a recipe,” said Meyers.

Mill It’s vegan buttermilk has a low sugar content and is available in 32-ounce bottles for $4.99 to $5.99. It may be used in baked goods, pancakes, and smoothies, as well as savory dishes like coleslaw, corn bread, and curries.

Making Dairy-Free Buttermilk

Mill Its vegan buttermilk came about by chance as a result of the company’s aim to create creamy dairy-free dressings. Meyers decided to make the dairy-free buttermilk as a stand-alone item after recognizing how useful and distinctive it is.

“Buttermilk is the main ingredient in salad dressing and since most early plant-based dressings were replacing buttermilk with fatty oils or unsavory vegetable purées, we wanted to make something that would taste better and be healthier for consumers…Once we developed the buttermilk, we quickly realized that vegan buttermilk could be used to make a lot of other products as well,” Meyers stated.

In addition to buttermilk, Classic Ranch, Thousand Island, and Creamy Italian vegan dressings are all available. Mill Its products are available at Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, and Sprouts, as well as Fresh Direct and Vegan Essentials, two online grocery stores.

Dairy-Free Innovation

Mill Its vegan buttermilk is one example of an invention that is closing any remaining gaps for dairy-free consumers. Miyoko’s Creamery, a pioneer in vegan cheese, is closing another: vegan cottage cheese. Miyoko Schinner, the company’s creator, experimented with numerous cultures and formulas in search of the ultimate dairy-free cottage cheese, and discovered that watermelon seed milk and sunflower seed milk produced the creamiest curds. The product is expected to be commercially available in 2023, according to Miyoko’s Creamery.

Several companies have developed new methods to innovate in the plant-based milk industry, despite the fact that it is highly saturated. Danone, the French multinational company best known for its dairy products, thought that single-origin plant-based milks like oat, almond, coconut, and soy might be combined together to make a superior basis. Danone demonstrated similar innovation earlier this year with the introduction of two line extensions under its WhiteWave portfolio of brands: Silk Nextmilk and So Delicious Wondermilk (which is also the base of a new So Delicious ice cream line).

In Chile, TheNotCompany (“NotCo”) is combining plant-based components with artificial intelligence to create alternatives to animal goods. NotCo’s AI technology, dubbed “Guiseppe,” analyzes the components of animal goods and assists in recreating them using plant-based ingredients. NotCo’s milk, or rather, NotMilk, for example, contains pea protein for smoothness and a touch of cabbage and pineapple juices to mimic the stink of dairy without the animals.

Since 2015, NotCo has been pioneering in the dairy-free and meat substitute industries in South America, and it will make its US debut in 2020 through Whole Foods Market. This year, the forward-thinking company announced a ground-breaking partnership with worldwide consumer products behemoth Kraft Heinz. The newly established Kraft Heinz Not Company promises future breakthroughs in the form of co-branded goods that might lead to huge shifts in the global food chain toward plant-based foods.

Source: “WHY THE WORLD’S FIRST DAIRY-FREE BUTTERMILK IS MADE FROM ANCIENT GRAINS” by VegNews

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