In my experience, butter makes everything better. I simply can’t imagine life without it!
We use it everyday, in recipes like cookies, on our bread, on vegetables, corn on the cob, greasing pans and much much more.
It is so easy to take it for granted but do you know how it’s made? Have your kids ever experienced making butter? It’s so easy!
Years ago every farm had a butter churn and making butter was part of the family’s regular chores. Below you will find some instructions on how your family can make butter using kitchen tools you already have. No antique butter churn required!
I first learned to make butter from the American Girl Kirsten cookbook that my Grandma gave me for Christmas when I was nine. We would make butter by shaking cream in a quart jar with a marble.
Since we lived on a dairy farm, getting cream wasn’t too hard. When fresh milk sits for a period of time the cream naturally rises to the top of the jar. When we wanted to make butter we would simply skim the cream off the top.
One time the creek flooded at the farm of some friends of ours and their milk hauler couldn’t get in to pick up their milk. So to save what they could, they ran the milk through their cream separator and gave us a whole bucket of cream to use.
So what do you do with a whole bucket of cream? Make lots of butter, of course!
Mom came up with the brilliant idea (which turns out lots of people use), to start the cream in the blender. It cut down on the amount of time all us kids had to spend shaking jars.
It was a fun experience for us and I am sure your family will enjoy it too.
Step 1: Gather your supplies
Cream from your favorite dairy farmer or you can use heavy cream from the store.
Salt which helps preserve the butter
I use my blender but you can also use a food processor, your Kitchen Aid mixer, or shake it in a jar. You can add a marble to the jar to speed up the process.
A jar and strainer for the buttermilk
Mixing bowl and spoon
Cold water
Storage container
Step 2: Whip the cream in the blender, around six minutes or so. (Or have the kids shake it in a jar, which will take a bit longer.)
Tip: The butter will form faster if left to warm on the counter for an hour before you start. (I don’t always do this.)
I put 4 cups (1 quart) of cream in my 7 cup blender. It needs the extra space for mixing.
Four cups of cream.
Four cups while running.
Part way through you will notice the cream thicken to whipped cream. You’ll hear the blender working harder.
(If your whipped cream is too heavy for your blender you may need to stir in some milk or finish in a jar.)
As the cream continues to be agitated by mixing or shaking, the butterfat clumps together and separates from the buttermilk.
You’ll hear a change in the blender and see liquid milk again.
Here’s what you want to see when the butter has formed. It’s so yellow because of the beta carotene in the grass of our pastured cows.
Step 3: Strain out the buttermilk and collect all the butter in a bowl.
Scoop out the butter and strain the buttermilk into a jar for use in pancakes, hot cocoa, or your favorites recipes!
Step 4: Rinse your Butter
Run COLD water in the bowl to rinse the milk out of the butter, pressing all the butter pieces together.
Pour out the water and repeat 4 or 5 times, folding the butter over against the side of the bowl, until the water runs clear.
Getting the milk out helps the butter from turning sour.
Press the butter against the side of the bowl to get the water out.
Step 5: Salt the butter
At this point, I take the butter in my hands and squeeze a little more water out and add sea salt or Himalayan salt to taste, and fold it into the butter.
Step 6: Place your butter in a container, slather it on some fresh bread and enjoy!
The butter keeps longer if kept in the refrigerator. I have frozen some for up to a year to enjoy the benefits of grass fed butter in the winter.
Contact your favorite dairy farmer to get your cream and start making butter today!