On expired buttermilk

I made pancakes this morning with buttermilk that's been open for several weeks and has a "best by" date of over a month ago. The buttermilk didn't smell any weirder than usual and I am not dead yet. Will I be dead later? And should I get rid of the remaining buttermilk?

My stepmom used to keep buttermilk for months after the best-by date. I distinctly remember the rancid smell and the bloated carton in the back of the fridge. She probably took it too far but the pancakes were fire and no one died. 

Buttermilk is probiotic which means it is both trendy and exceptionally safe to eat.  As buttermilk ferments, the “good bacteria” creates an increasingly hostile environment for the kind of bacteria that will make you vom vom. It’s probably more apt to compare buttermilk to something like yogurt or pickles than to regular milk. In other words, you’re right to look past the expiration date and use your nose. 

Remember, best-by dates aren’t an indication of when the food goes bad. Instead, those stamps are meant to show the last day that the buttermilk will be at peak quality. But why let the manufacturer decide what’s good enough for you? Your pancakes, your rules.

I sincerely doubt that your last batch of pancakes or the next few will make you die.  If your buttermilk starts smelling weirder than it usually does — you will know — then toss it out. Until then: buttermilk pancakes!

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