I've been doing research on how to make my own butter. I like a recipe I found on Epicurian.com because it seems so simple, and I can make it in an electric mixer.
However, I know nothing about making butter. Have you made butter? Do you have a recipe to share, or any advice to offer?
• Homemade Butter Recipe from Epicurian.com
Straw Mat from The ...

I made butter years ago and it's pretty simple. Just put some cream in a kitchen aid and let the thing spin for a while (I think it took about a half hour). The recipe there looks a bit more involved but will probably get a better result.
Made butter as part of a 5th grade class project on the pioneers....put cream in a jar and shake....and shake....and keep shaking until your arms about fall off....
Here are the instructions I used when I was learning how to make butter.
I have a new obsession with making cultured butter. It is unlike any butter I have ever tasted. I highly recommend it! I use this recipe.
heavy cream from Ballard Family [Idaho] - Kitchen Aid - on high - until the butter says "Hellooooo! I'm butter!" - cheese cloth - squeeze and shape - eat eat eat.
;)
When I was younger, at Thanksgiving we would always make homemade butter. My mom, a very smart woman I now come to realize, gathered my cousins as well as my two other siblings and myself in a circle. She would have her butter recipe in a mason jar and "shake, shake, shake, butter we will make....pass." It kept us entertained for a long amount of time and when we were done we were too exhausted to fight with each other.
Straight-forward: whip cream until butter separates from buttermilk. If you want to keep your butter for longer than a week or so, make sure you wash it very well in cold water to remove all the buttermilk. The buttermilk remaining in the butter is what causes it to spoil sooner.
I do it a la the post from lauraw. Put cream and a bit of yogurt in a clean jar amd mix. Leave for a few hours (I do it before bed and then make butter when im home from school). Put in food processor and go until chunky. Pour off buttermilk (save!). Put ice water in and repeat the mix and pour 3x. Then put in fridge to harden a bit (should still be malleable). knead in a large, cold bowl or even a casserole dish to extract the extra water. Add salt if you like, I add a *little bit*. I then portion it out and freeze it, leaving one portion in the fridge for daily use! YUMMMMM.
shake some cream in a tupperware (with the lid on!) and in a few minutes you have butter!
I use the Traveler's Lunchbox method also (lauraw's post). One thing - once that buttermilk starts to separate from the curds, things get very splashy. I cover the top of my Kitchen Aid with plastic wrap to protect against errant waves of buttermilk.
Butter is terribly easy, albeit expensive to make. Take cream, good cream from the farmers market if you can get it, and whip it (using a blender, food processor, or electric mixers) until it forms peaks, keep whipping past the point of hard stiff peaks (like whipped cream) and your cream will slowly separate into buttermilk and butter. Cool huh? Then you can add herbs, salts, peppers, oils, or whatever else you want to flavor it.
I made butter for the first time in my life 2 weeks ago, using my Kitchenaid. I thought ahead of time it would be hard and was worried about messing it up or not knowing when it was butter. This had to be the EASIEST thing I have ever done!! The only part that is difficult is the last step of washing the butter. You need ICE COLD water, and in the winter - - it can be uncomfortable. But honestly, the taste you can't buy in the store....and it doesn't have all the preservatives either. 2 cups of heavy whipping cream yields about a stick of butter.
Go make butter - - have fun!