Is unsour sour cream too new or too old?

Question

My supermarket only has one supplier of sour cream, so I always buy it. It appears to be made by a small company.

All last year, when I purchased the product, it appeared like any sour cream you can purchase in the US. But during the last 3 times, the taste and texture was different. First, it was not sour, the nearest flavor I can imagine would be cottage cheese, but not so sweet. Second, the texture was quite unusual. Rather than having the usual creamy texture, this was grainy, as I imagine sour cream would look if one mixed in some sand.

The date I purchased the cream was 10 days after the produced date.

• Is this taste and texture and indication that the sour cream is too old?
• Or perhaps an indication that the sour cream needs to age more to become sour?
• Or just a different style of sour cream?

Answer 1

It sounds like the sour cream was frozen and thawed.

Answer 2

Never tried US-made sour cream and never tasted anything like you described, but here in Russia when the sour cream goes bad, it smells either rancid, rotten, or moldy (depending on circumstances of going bad). 10 days after canning is close (for cheaper brands) to or (better) past its expiry date.

Perhaps what you have is from a bad batch: not fermented enough, or milk was too hot or too cold, or lactobacteria died due to contamination of competing organisms, or was just stored improperly or for too long. Again, as I have never encountered sour cream that resembles what you have described, my reaction would be to discard it as it is completely useless as sour cream and of questionable non-toxicity.

Do not forget to check its expiry date. If it was sold to you past expiry, it may be wise to talk to the store owner or even file a complaint.

Answer 3

Judy's guess is one good possibility. The other possibility is that it was curdled by something. As sour cream is quite stable and rarely curdles even if too old, it could have happened through heating. Still, going bad cannot be ruled out (because it is also a cause for curdling). But it might also have been benign.