Sunday, January 10, 2010

Homemade Butter


When I was a kid, I remember my mom teaching my sister and I how to make homemade butter.  Actually, I was so young (under the age of 8) that I really only remember shaking a jar full of something and knowing that eventually it would turn into butter.  My memory of the entire event is sort of dicey.  However, while reading the Crunchy Chicken's blog last week, I was reintroduced to the idea of making homemade butter.  And since I'm all about self-sufficiency and I love butter, I couldn't wait to finish up the butter we had on hand so I could try my hand at making some homemade butter.  Last night was my lucky night.  And even luckier that Ben was willing to help me with the shaking! Here are my rudimentary instructions: (For detailed, step-by-step, instructions with pictures, check out the Crunchy Chicken's posting.)

Homemade Butter

Pour a pint of room temperature heavy whipping cream into a quart-sized mason jar. 
Shake, shake, shake (for about 15 minutes) until you see the buttermilk separate from the butter. 
Pour buttermilk into a separate container. 
Continue shaking butter and pouring off buttermilk until there is no more buttermilk coming off of the butter. 
(Buttermilk can be used in other recipes calling for... you guessed it... buttermilk!)
Put butter into a bowl and pour cold water over it. 
Stir it around with a spatula in order to rinse out more of the buttermilk. 
Drain milky water, add fresh water and repeat process until the water comes out clear. 

And there you have it... Homemade Butter!

2 comments:

  1. so did you say you would add salt? or that you would add herbs? After you are done do you have to refrigerate? I want to try it but i have to know what i'm doing or i freak.

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  2. well, i don't have a frig so i haven't refrigerated mine. as for salt, i'm not sure yet. try it without first... i'm going to research it more... i'd like to figure out if i can add herbs. and i think actually the longer you let it sour, the saltier it becomes naturally, but i have to test my theory.

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