How To Make Butter

25 March 2011

Delicious delicious butter.  A month or so ago friends of ours made butter.  The old fashioned way, they put it in a jar and took turns shaking the sucker until their arms were going to fall off.  Which is fun if there are two or three adults participating or several children that don’t want to quit after 5 minutes of shaking.

Finn & I decided that between the two of us, we are decidedly in the latter group.

So we made it the ‘easy’ way.  In a stand mixer the way nature intended.  It still took us close to 45 minutes, but we made quite a bit of butter.  You can certainly do this in whatever increments you’d like.

First, outfit your Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment.  Next, pour in your heavy cream.  {Incidentally, if you have a Costco membership and are going to be using quite a bit of heavy cream, it is the deal of the century to buy cartons of Horizon Organic there.}  We used just shy of three cups.  You will want to use the splash guard if you have one.  Trust me.

how to make butter   how to make butter

Whisk on medium {I think we had it set on 6-8 most of the time.}  It will start looking like whipped cream first.

how to make butter

Then, if you are three, you wait patiently-ish as it keeps churning and churning and churning some more and ask 500 times if it’s done yet.

how to make butter

Then it will start looking like yellowed, curdly nasty whipped cream.  You’re still on the right track!

how to make butter

And then you will suddenly see the NEED for the splash guard as the butter starts to separate from the buttermilk.  If you didn’t heed my warning, you’re likely swearing right now.

how to make butter

When you start to see a bit of buttermilk in the bottom, you’re going to want to stop the machine and pour it off.

how to make butter

We saved the buttermilk in a jar so I can con Dave into sweetly ask Dave if he’ll make pancakes this weekend.  Then, pop the butter back into the Kitchen Aid and continue to whip for just a bit longer… you’ll see more buttermilk escaping and the butter will come together.

how to make butter   how to make butter

Next comes the rinsing.  With water so cold you feel like your hands are frostbitten, soak the butter for a minute and squish it around.  The water will look terrible.  Drain it off and repeat until the water stays mostly clear.  Then drain the butter completely and pick a good salt to add.  Sprinkle the salt over the top of the butter and mix in using a wooden spoon until incorporated.  You can skip the salting if you want or you can also add other herbs and whatnot if you’re feeling like it.

how to make butter   how to make butter

Enjoy.

how to make butter

Finn thought it was really cool to watch.  He told me it was “like GOOD butter.”  You know, that kid just might be a food critic one of these days.  Make some with your kiddos soon!

18 comments:

Misc Momma said...

This is really fun! I totally want to do it now. How much was the heavy cream at Costco, by the way?

Just Jen said...

Looks like I'm making butter this weekend!!

Michelle said...

It was less than $4 for half gallon!

Katie said...

Oh my goodness, that looks heavenly. Do you know long fresh butter keeps??

Bunny @ 86n It said...

I'm going to do this. I like GOOD butter!

@JessEsco said...

I don't have a mixer...yet. But butter is my bff. I've learned how amazing real butter makes food over that big tub of crap. Only butter comes into our house now.

belles♥mom said...

See now you just need to make some fantastic homemade bread to go with it and I would stand camped out in front of your house until you brought me some! lol Very cool Michelle!

Michelle said...

Nik, we were out of flour! Can you believe it. Ugh. I was totally going to make a loaf for dinner that night.

Morgan Owens said...

Thank you so much for the comment on my blog, I was excited to see a new reader! :)

Lindsey said...

Great post!! I would love to make my own butter! Thanks for the comment you left me too!! =) Have a great weekend!

Just A Normal Mom said...

This is awesome! What a fun thing to do. Love the idea of using the buttermilk for pancakes. I might have just developed a craving!
-Ally

Jen @ Dear Mommy Brain said...

Hmmm... I do love anything that produces two end products. :)

Anonymous said...

I put 1/2 dl olive oil too in it with salt

Unknown said...

I just got a mixer for my birthday, and came across this post. Needless to say the instructions were right on, right down too the splash guard which I do not have yet but will be getting one asap. Thanks for the recipe!

Unknown said...

I got a mixer yesterday for my birthday, and came across your post and just had to try it. The butter turned out awesome though it did not take 45 minutes. Needless to say there will be a splash guard purchased very soon! Thanks for the instructions!

ACJennings said...

Love this! We are never going back! My 11 year old son wants to make honey butter for Christmas gifts! We definitely learned about splash, but I just use some plastic wrap! Thanks!

Unknown said...

How long does butter and buttermilk keep? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Put a paper plate on your mixer just above where the whisk attaches to the mixer. It works!

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for taking the time to add your thoughts! Comments on older posts are moderated, so if they don't get published immediately, don't despair.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
*