What's the difference between buttermilk and skimmed milk?

[Booboobedoo]

And can I substitute one for the other?

Specifically, skimmed milk for buttermilk.

I ordered buttermilk from Sainsburys, and they sent me soured cream as a substitution.

(They also sent me Catfood as a sub for dogfood. It was not a good day for Sainsburys To You).

Anyone?

I think that butter milk is much richer (higher in fat content) than skimmed

buttermilk is thick compared to skimmed milk - I use it sometimes for scones.

What were you going to use the buttermilk for?

buttermilk is what you get when you churn cream to get butter. The solid best coalese to make butter leaving a rich buttery liquid that looks a bit like milk.
I think ordinary (full fat milk) might work but would depend on the recepie

buttermilk is cultured, that's why it's thickish. I would use plain yoghurt as a substitute, skimmed milk is completely different from buttermilk and won't work in the same way as buttermilk if you're baking with bicarb for instance.
If you don't have any plain yoghurt you could also mix a tablespoon of lemon juice into a cup of milk to 'sour' it. That works well for baking, too.

just to clarify btw - butter milk is very low in fat, like skimmed milk. It goes thick because of the cultures.

I would substitude yoghurt, or slighlty watered down yoghurt for buttermilk, not skimmed milk which would be too runny and thin.

My mum used to add a little lemon juice to yoghurt when she needed a substitute for buttermilk.

Ah, I see geekgirl beat me to it!

you need the acidic culturey bit to react with bicarb if you are baking

Thank you!

How did I get to the age of 32 and not know this?

It's actually for a low fat panna cotta (I am a Weightwatcher, dontchaknow).

quarter teaspoon sunflower oil, gelatine powder, buttermilk, caster sugar, no-fat greek yog, vanilla extract.

I'll try to gat some buttermilk today, but have an aversion to supermarkets, so may have to go for the yoghurt/lemon juice option.

Thanks again!

get not gat.

skimmed milk is milk with the cream taken out
buttermilk is what is left when you make butter
whey is what is left when you make cheese

the muffins i make call for buttermilk and after doing a bit of reading up on the internet, i experimented with live full fat yoghurt mixed 2 thirds / 1 third with skimmed milk. as someone said, you need the cultury bit to help with raising etc. Works a treat and means I never have to buy special, coz I always have in, yog for ds, milk for me. hth.

You have all saved me a special trip to the Horrible Big Supermarket.

And I am glad to see that Little House on the Prairie has been of practical use to someone.