Today we wanted to share one of our very first talks with you How to Make Homemade Butter. We have revised, added to, and tweaked the original talk into today’s version.
Everyone loves butter. You can put butter on just about anything and make it better or some things even palatable. There are many different kinds of butter you can get in a store, just about one for every occasion. But like many things these days, are you really sure what you are eating?
For a couple of years now, we have been making our own butter here on the farm. You may not know it but butter making is really very simple and beneficial. Making your own butter is a healthier choice as you know what it is. Making butter can also be a good work out and family time.
If you have a cow, butter making is inexpensive and convenient. Most dairy farmers know how and many do make their own butter. If you do not have a cow, no worries, you can still make your own butter at home. You will just have to go to the store or to a dairy farmer and buy some cream.
A. Ways to Make Butter
1. By Machine
When it comes to making butter there are several different ways. You can buy different machines to make butter for you, they are a bit pricey but are quick and easy to use. You can buy one from Lehmans Supply, eBay or Amazon, among other places. These machines are usually small, portable and come with direct instructions. It usually takes less than 20 minutes to make butter with a machine from milk to solid.
2. By Hand
You can make your butter by hand and there are several methods you can use. Either way you want to go at it, butter making can be fun. With the “by hand” method, you can get a great arm workout and get the whole family involved.
3. Plastic Bottle and Shake
The easiest by hand method is a used 2 liter, plastic bottle. I know, sounds crazy but it is true. You put the whole milk or cream, whichever you have, into the plastic bottle and shake. The kids find this great fun for the first 10 minutes. I admit this method takes a while but if you pass the bottle around and give everyone a chance to shake, it is not bad.
4. Glass Jar, Shake or Roll
The next option is to put the milk in a glass jar and shake it or roll it around. This gets the same results as the shake method but takes a bit longer.
5. Churn by Hand
There is, of course, the old fashion milk churn. An old fashioned churn consists of a large, ceramic pot and a plunger like thing that goes into the jar. You run the plunger up and down to basically beat the milk into butter. You can still buy a churn but you have to go to a specialty store like Lehamn Supply. The churn takes about the same time as the other 2 by hand methods.
It does not matter which way you work it, the process is the same. You want to agitate the milk until the fat separates from the milk. With the right amount of agitation, the fat will separate from the milk and clump together.
You will be left with butter and whey. The whey is the clearish, yellowish liquid that is leftover. The whey can be used as a protein supplement, some companies sell whey protein powder. We use it on the dog food, they love it and it adds some goodie to their diet. Be sure not to use to much at one time or you will make the dogs sick, it is very rich.
B. The Process of Make Homemade Butter
1. First pick your method, by hand or a machine.
2. Get either whole milk or cream.
We use heavy whipping cream as it is just the cream already. We find if you put the heavy whipping cream in the freezer it makes it easier. You just thaw when you are ready to make butter, the fat is already partly separated and it takes less time. Freezer or not, you need to be sure the heavy whipping cream, regular cream or whole milk, whichever you are using, is cold. Colder makes it easier to work with. If your milk is warm, it will not separate correctly and you will not get butter.
3. Start Agitating the Cream
If you are using a machine, follow the instructions, turn it on and sit back to wait for your butter. If you are going at it by hand, either shake, roll or churn. We use the shake method most of the time. The key is to keep agitating until you get butter. It will go through several stages before you get there. Do not get discouraged, it will get there.
We will use the shake method for this talk as that is the way we make our butter.
Put your milk or cream into your bottle or jar and shake. It will require a vigorous shaking, not a wimpy toggling. We suppose a whimpy toggle will eventually get to butter but that will take a long time and your arms will get tired. When you are shaking, you will notice changes in the liquid and how it moves in the jar.
4. Stages of Butter Making
First, it will be just liquid milk.
Next it will start to get thick and then it will get very thick. This is also how whipped cream is made.
After a while, the liquid will turn to a very thick whip, this is cool whip.
If you stop here, you will have a nice, homemade cool whip. But for butter, keep shaking.
It will get to a solid stage and you think it is done but it is not.
Keep shaking.
It is only done, when you get the butter clumping together and separated from the whey.
Once it is solid, keep up the good work, keep shaking.
At some point it will “break up” and you are almost there.
Once it breaks up, you will be able to hear the difference in the sloshing.
The whey will be waving back and forth with each shake and the butter clumps will be knocking around.
At this point it is tempting to stop but stay with it just a bit longer. The longer you shake, the firmer the fat will clump together.
You want the end results to be a large, firm clump of butter that is easy to get out and handle.
5. Remove the Butter from the Container
Once you have achieved butter you will need to take the clump out of the container.
Depending on which method you use, this can be quick or not so much.
If you are using a machine, a churn, or a glass jar, open and scoop out the butter, leaving the liquid whey.
If you are using a plastic bottle, cut the top off the bottle and then scoop out the butter. The best way to do that is to cut the top off the bottle, pour the whey into another container and use a scoop to get the butter out. If you are like us, we save and re-use everything, so cutting up the plastic bottle is irksume to us. We will cut the top off the bottle and save what is left of the bottle to plant in. We put the butter in a dish to work and the whey in another bottle to use for the dogs breakfast.
6. Salting and Squeezing Out the Whey
Ok, you have a clump of butter, now what. Well that is the simple part. You add a bit of salt to the butter to help get the rest of the whey out.
You will need to fold or kneed the butter to mix the salt and then press. The more whey you press out the better. It is the whey that will go bad more quickly so the more you squeeze out the longer the butter will last.
At this point, some people will do another salting. We do not, we do not want our butter salty and it is not as healthy for you, too much salt.
7. Shaped Molds
Once you have gotten the whey out you can make the butter into whatever shape you want the finished product to be in. We have old wooden molds, one square and one round. You simply scoop the butter into the mold, press it in and smooth in out. We put our in the fridge for about 10 minutes to let it form up a bit, this makes it easier to get out of the mold.
If you do not have a mold, you can just form it into a bowl or plate, in a “free form” lump. It will taste the same no matter what the shape. And there you have made butter.
I know what you are thinking, is it worth all this? The answer is yes, it will be. Homemade butter has a better taste than the stuff you get at the store. Hand making your own food, you get a more healthy product, a sense of pride, a comforting knowledge that you know what it is and a good arm work out. Where else can you get all that at one time? The kids enjoy the shaking, the adults have a good time socializing and when it is all done, we have fresh butter.
Just a bit ago, we did get a new farm, milk cow and her calf. We are now milking daily for fresh milk, cream, making butter and yogurt.
We hope you have enjoyed this look into a vintage method of living that is still good today. Try it out, you may find you like it.
If you are interested in other talks similar to this one, please check out these below.
How to make and use a Cast Iron Skillet Seasoning Oil
Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.
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