This is a milk, cream and stabilizer bath, the next step on the way to becoming sour cream. The next step is pasteurization to kill the microorganisms that make raw milk sour. A special bacterial culture produces the lactic acid that creates the characteristic tang. Chilling it after the bacteria has had about 12 hours to do its thing halts the souring so the tang doesn t turn to rank. Test and tastes are also conducted daily to make sure the sour cream isn t too sour.
Technicians look for body, texture and acidity, among other things.
Commercial sour cream contains about 18 to 20 percent butter fat. If you re watching that waistline you can also find this popular topping in a light version with 40 percent less fat.