Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Though only mildly sour in taste, the name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial fermentation, sometimes referred to as "souring".

Traditional

Sour cream, made out of cream, contains from 12 to 16 percent butterfat, and gets its characteristic tang from the lactic acid created by the bacteria. Sour cream often contains additional ingredients such as gelatin, rennin, and vegetable enzymes.

Light varieties

Light sour cream contains about 40 percent less butterfat than regular sour cream because it is made from a mixture of milk and cream rather than just cream.

Non-fat varieties

Non-fat sour cream is thickened with stabilizers and thickeners such as corn starch, gelatin, carrageenan, and guar gum, and contains no or trace amounts of butterfat.

Storage

Sour cream is not fully fermented, and as such must be stored under refrigeration. As with other dairy products, is usually sold with an expiration date stamped on the container, though whether this is a "sell by" a "best by" or a "use by" date varies with local regulation. Sour cream can also grow mold on its surface. Unlike hard cheese products, sour cream cannot still be used if the moldy part is removed.

Uses

Used primarily in the cuisines of Europe and North America, sour cream is often used as a condiment. It is a traditional topping for baked potatoes, added cold along with chopped fresh chives. It is used as the base for some creamy salad dressings and can also be used in baking, added to the mix for cakes, cookies, American-style biscuits, doughnuts and scones. In Central America, crema, a slightly different variation of soured cream, is a staple ingredient of a full breakfast. Sour cream can also provide the base for various forms of dip used for dipping potato chips or crackers, such as "onion dip." In Tex-Mex cuisine, it is often used as a substitute for crema in nachos, burritos, taquitos or guacamole1.

See also

• Crème fraîche, french lightly soured cream.
• Smetana (dairy product), a heavier sour cream, used in the Slavic, Finnish and Hungarian cuisines.
• Souring for a discussion of the souring process
• Yoghurt, produced with other kinds of Lactobacillus bacteria.
• Fermented milk products for a comparison of sour cream with other fermented milk products.
• Cream, a more general term.
• Crema