Homemade butter is an easy treat worth trying at least once. It's lighter and fresher, free of the preservatives and artificial coloring present in much commercial butter. It's also easier to flavor with just enough salt. We like to add a bit of sour cream; this gives it a pleasant tang similar to cultured butters.
Making butter now involves quite a bit less work than it did in olden days; a few minutes in the food processor replace hours of churning. But if you would like a workout (or an afternoon of activity for small and enthusiastic children) put the cream in a tightly sealed Mason jar and shake away.
Recipe: D.I.Y. Butter
D.I.Y. Butter
about 1/2 cup
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)
Whir the cream and sour cream in a food processor for about five minutes. (Alternately: shake energetically in a Mason jar for about 15-30 minutes.) After the cream becomes thick and clotted like whipped cream it will suddenly start spattering against the top again as it clumps into yellow butter. Whip until the butter has formed a solid yet grainy mass.
Put a small mesh strainer over a bowl and pour everything into it. Refrigerate the liquid; this is buttermilk and it will last for several days. Use it for pancakes, or Pecan Cake, or Meatballs with Buttermilk Gravy.
Put the butter in a small bowl and rinse under very cold water until the water runs clear. You want every bit of the buttermilk removed; any left clinging to the butter will cause it to get sour and bad overnight.
When the water runs completely clear squeeze the butter inside a clean paper towel or cheesecloth until dry, then turn out into a crock or small bowl. Mash in the salt, if using. Refrigerate and use within a week.
Comments (11)
I've found the instructions and pictures on
posted by
chiffonade
on 2007-03-26 13:25:06
view
chiffonade's
profile
Made herbed cheese butter this weekend using an electric mixer.
1 cup whipping cream
grated cheese rinds (from whole foods, very cheap), grated using smallest size
gradually folded grated cheese into whipping cream as it was becoming firm.
Added dried basil, dill, salt, garlic, etc.
Turned out very good
this might be a stupid question -- but how would you make "whipped butter"? after you mash in the salt, put it back in the processor for some extra time and air?
Careful! You are confusing cultured buttermilk and natural or "churn" buttermilk. These are definitely NOT the same product and the buttermilk here cannot be used in the recipes you note because it is not acidic.
I made this last night and don't see why I should buy butter when this tastes so much better and costs a fraction of the store bought. Rinsing off the buttermilk was more like kneading dough under running water and wasn't a problem. Thanks for both the recipe and the link to Cooking for Engineers and I urge everyone to try this at home!
How fun! I remember making butter in kindergarten in a mason jar.
view rachel's profile
Oh this is going to be FUN!!!
view Keisha Kornbread's profile
Faith, this sounds both interesting and easy. I think, tho, that photos/video would make this one soo much better. (Place the butter in a bowl and run water under cold water? I envision disaster!). Any chance of you guys adding slide shows similar to the city pages on the site?
view Martybird's profile
That step stopped me too, Marty. I'm guessing you remove the mesh strainer, with the collected butter, from the bowl o' buttermilk. Then, you put that strainer under the tap to rinse out the remaining buttermilk.
view verily's profile
A video or slide show is a great idea, Martybird. We'd like to incorporate more of that into the site.
In the meantime, washing the butter is actually not too scary. The butter will form a compact mass that you squeeze into a ball and lift out of the strainer, and you run cold water gently over that, turning and rinsing it in a small bowl. You would think the butter would fly into pieces but it doesn't.
Also, here's a posted by faith on 2007-03-26 13:10:15
view faith's profile