Ryazhenka
Description: Ryazhenka, or ryazhanka, is a traditional fermented milk product in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. It is made from baked milk by lactic acid fermentation.
Ingredients
- Milk
- Sour cream (smetana) or thermophile bacterial cultures (Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus)
Instructions
- Pasteurize milk.
- Simmer milk on low heat for at least eight hours. Historically, this involved placing a clay pot with milk in a traditional oven until it formed a brown crust. This process, due to the Maillard reaction, gives the ryazhenka a creamy color and caramel flavor, and also evaporates moisture, changing the consistency.
- Add sour cream (smetana) for household production or pure thermophile bacterial cultures (Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus) for industrial production to trigger fermentation.
- Keep the mixture in a warm place at temperatures above ca. 40 °C / 100 °F.
- Allow fermentation to occur, which usually takes from three to six hours.
- Ryazhenka is free of harmful bacteria and enzymes and can be stored safely at room temperature for up to forty hours.