Liquid in sour cream

[unklfstr]

I was wondering why does sour cream and dip make water in it if you leave it in the fridge after eating some and does it help it to stay good longer if you pour out the water?

[dilligaf]

it is just separation of the solids and non. I dont know if it keeps longer if you pour it off or not i just always stir it back in. I would assume though that if you were to keep pouring the liquid off each time you found it your sour cream would end up being awful thick after a few times

[Ebin]

I also just stir in back into the rest. I don't think it will hurt, as it has never hurt me before. I am still curious to know why it happens though, unklfstr.

[10101]

separation of the solids and condensation, its fine. It has a horrible smell once bad.

[rainbowgardens]

Have you ever heard of curds and whey, like in the nursery rhyme about little miss muffet sitting on her tuffit? Well, milk has different parts that are used in different ways.
Without going into detail about what each part is made of, I'll explain it.
When you skim the cream layer off of milk and churn it, the liquid part, (whey) separates from the fat, (butter.)
When you let milk sour, the whey separates from the thicker part and depending on how you processed it you can get sour cream, cottage cheese, or cheese.
That whey is very nutritious. I believe they use it in some natural protein drinks.
I use it to lacto-ferment food.