"Didn't you ever make it in elementary school?" She asked. "Everyone in the class took a turn shaking a jar of cream until they got tired, and then they just passed it to the next person."
Wow, well that does sound easy, but I am sure that Sarah and I combined do not have the jar-shaking strength of a classroom of eight year olds. Brilliantly, you can make butter in a food processor. Or a blender. Or a stand mixer. Basically, whatever you have that can beat the bejeezus out of cream will do the job for you, and it doesn't take long at all.
I bought two pints of organic heavy whipping cream and poured that on into the food processor. (That is four cups.) The only other ingredient you need is salt to taste.
Go ahead and start processing. After a while, the cream turns into (no surprise here) whipped cream. Keep on going.
A minute or so later, the cream looks almost a bit grainy. But still delicious.
After a minute or so more it starts to get really curdled looking and then finally, this is the exciting part, the buttermilk starts to separate from the butter. Yup, I said it, butter!
Let it go a bit more to be sure the cream has completely separated. Then it is time to strain the buttermilk off of the butter. We put a strainer over a large bowl and dumped it all in there. The buttermilk goes into the bowl (and we saved it for use in future recipes.)
Pick up your mass of butter and knead it a bit to squeeze the rest of the buttermilk out. It is surprising how much is still in there even though it seems rather firm.
Now that you've squeezed the excess liquid out, you can mix in the salt, if you like. We kept half of ours unsalted, and then added about 1/4 tsp of kosher salt to the rest. We probably got about two or two and a half cups of butter out of the four cups of cream. Cover it and store it for up to two weeks.
We were really salivating over our butter while we took the photos, and could not wait to sample it on some toast. It was a big payoff. So delicious! It is hard to put into words how much tastier it is than non-homemade butter. It really just tastes so... fresh.
Yippeee a step-by-step guide to butter-making! It didn't quite work the last time I tried, not sure what went wrong though...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely worth trying again! I'm not sure why I'd never thought to do it before (except that I thought I might need a butter churn to do it.) :)
ReplyDeleteWow! That looks so good! I've always wanted to try my hand at making butter. You've inspired me :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment over on TPT...It's my first time here & it's gorgeous!
How much buttermilk was left over??
ReplyDeleteIn doing the math, it seems that there would be a cup and a half of buttermilk. There was 2 and a half cups of butter from 4 cups of cream.
DeleteIs it possible to use a blender with various cycles instead of a food processor to get similar results? I also have a different blade for my blender for chopping if maybe that would work better?
ReplyDeleteGoing to try this... and I would assume the buttermilk would be good for any recipe requiring buttermilk?
ReplyDeleteYes, we have used it in baked goods (like the cobbler listed) with great results!
ReplyDeleteI have made butter for years. I rinsed my butter when the butter was done and pressed it out in an untreated wooden bowl. I used a blender for the rinsing also.
ReplyDeleteI was always taught to wash the butter under very cold water(so butter doesn't melt)until the buttermilk is all out, or the butter won't last. I also 'culture' the cream by letting it sit on counter until it reaches room temp,then blend.
DeleteAwsome... that looks really easy & I ♡ the whole homemade thing. U know exactly what's in it.. can't wait to c if my hubby can tell the difference
ReplyDeleteHomemade Butter
ReplyDeleteOne, or two, pints of Heavy Whipping Cream
Pour Heavy Whipping Cream into (empty, clean) 32 oz. Mayonnaise jar.
Can add ¼ teaspoon salt per 4 oz. of butter
Place jar lid on securely.
Shake, shake, shake, until you have butter – a solid mass!
Pour off liquid.
Time will take, approximately, 20 minutes.
Let someone else help you out from time to time with the shaking process. Be sure to tell them to securely hang on to the jar, too!
Homemade butter is the best. It's even better if you can use raw milk. It freezes well too so you can have some for later. Yum!
ReplyDeleteSo do u use the raw milk or the cream at the top? my family drinks raw milk I was just wondering
Deleteraw butter is the best! bright yellow full of nutrients. been doing his for a while
DeleteButter is hit and miss for me. Does the cream you start with have to be room temperature?
ReplyDeleteNope, I've made butter with refrigerated cream.
DeleteSure as heck DID NOT work for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat website, but I have to wonder why the font is so light we have to strain to see it. :(
ReplyDeleteCan you use Raw Cream?
ReplyDeleteProbably, but we don't have access to it so have never tried!
DeleteThat's what our "fore-mothers" used.
DeleteOf course you can use raw cream! It makes the very best butter! And it is best to chill any of the cream first. It will make faster that way. I have a Bosch mixer and use the wire whips and it only takes a very few minutes. Once I was making whipped cream, and in a flash had butter! It does go fast!
Delete20 min?! Oh yeah right, took several hours of shaking that jar. >.< And the "buttermilk" is not what you buy, so I don't see how it could be used in recipes that called for buttermilk.
ReplyDeletehere's a link that briefly describes the difference between old-fashioned buttermilk that's a byproduct of making butter vs. store-bought buttermilk.
Deletehttp://www.thekitchn.com/food-science-what-is-buttermil-58512
Excerpt:
"Traditionally, buttermilk is the liquid that is leftover after churning butter. It's low in fat and contains most of the protein originally in the milk. True buttermilk ferments naturally into a thick, tangy cream.
These days, buttermilk is usually made by introducing a bacteria culture to low-fat milk and then heating the mixture. We've never had naturally fermented buttermilk, but we hear that commercially-made buttermilk is thicker and tastes more tart than the traditional stuff."
I'm not a fan of buttermilk, so I gave the stuff left from making butter to my mother. She grew up broke and in the country, with hog butchering, lard rendering, and so on, so I figured if she said it wasn't like buttermilk was supposed to be, she was maybe speaking of the product not produced and sold in stores. :)
DeleteI wonder if you could add a small amount of purchased cultured buttermilk to the byproduct buttermilk from this recipe to make a cultured buttermilk for use in recipes. I don't like to drink buttermilk, but I do use it often for bread recipes.
DeleteThat is an interesting idea!
Deletecool stuff! so the cream becomes both buttermilk and butter, can you then take the butter and process it for the ghee? I'd be afraid to try it but would love the fresher approach!!
ReplyDeleteHello! I have never attempted to make my own ghee before, but I bet it could work. I know making ghee is all about separating the milk solids from the butter... I think this freshly churned butter may have a higher milk content than commercial butter (because it is hard to squeeze out ALL the buttermilk when you are doing it by hand). I'd be curious to hear how it turns out if you give it a try, let us know!
DeleteI buy my ghee at Indian and Lebanese grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteghee and the butter you end up with or the buttermilk (whey) is not the same as ghee either, ghee is clarified butter
Deletewhat a great idea!!! thank you and since I just got my new Kitchenaid mixer woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteI want a fancy Kitchen Aid mixer.. so jealous.
DeleteI made this today, using my Kitchen Aid. I mixed it, on medium, for about 5 minutes (so the whipping cream wouldn't splatter all over)and then increased the speed to high for 15. The whipping cream will go from pure liquid, to something that resembles Cool Whip, fairly quickly. Continue mixing and it will slowly thicken, turning to what looks like curds of butter, to a solid mass. It worked beautifully, just like the description and pictures above. It's amazing how much liquid is left over.
ReplyDeleteHI there, 24 hours before you make your butter, add a probiotic capsule or some fresh whey or even a little kefir milk to the cream. Leave on bench top for that 24 hours then turn into butter. You'll then have cultured butter with even more benefits!
ReplyDeleteI love home made butter - yum
If you are doing this in a vitamix, what speed would you recommend? I know when I make mayo, I have to have it on pretty low.
ReplyDeleteI made this butter and put it in my fridge. The next day I went to make my son a grilled cheese sandwich and the butter was not spreadable- at all. It just crumbled apart and tore up the bread. Any suggestions on how to make this spreadable?
ReplyDeleteI quit using margarine a few months ago and started buying butter which is 100% cream.....I found that the "butter" I buy in the store isn't spreadable either. The container does say that you can leave some out and it will soften.....maybe this will help!
DeleteThe milk.left is not buttermilk. You have to let milk clabber then churn the more cream in the milk the more butter you make. This butter is not sweet butter, but what you have left in the churn is buttermilk. You have to have fresh milk, not homologized, to churn and make buttermilk.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try this but was wondering if anyone has tried adding flavors? Flavors we love for our pasta so I am thinking of dividing it up and making a basil type, a jalapeno type and others. Also is it okay to leave it out overnight? My mother in law never puts sticks of real butter in the fridge and I have always wondered if this is okay to do. ~ thx in advance
ReplyDeleteDo you have to use organic cream? I live in a small town and an't get it here...
ReplyDelete