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Thursday, April 8, 2010

making butter

lately we have been enjoying the taste and experience of making our own butter. since we live in the year 2010, butter making is super easy. easier than loading up the kids and heading to the store. trust me!

we use raw milk from a local source. i buy a gallon specifically for butter/yogurt making. see in the picture below the distinction between the cream and the milk? typically, if i were going to drink it, i would shake it up to mix it all together. but for butter, i need that cream.

1) i slowly pour the cream off into a jar. i let the jar sit out to warm up a bit (room temperature is nice, but not necessary).

2) after the cream is a nice temperature, i pour half of the quart jar into my blender and set it on a medium speed. on my vita-mix it is set on 4. by the way, you don't have to use a fancy blender to do this- any will do.


3) pretty soon (about 5-8 minutes) the butter begins to separate from the milk. it looks kind of clotted (see picture below).
4) in the above picture you can see the solid separated from the liquid. i stop at this point and pour off the liquid into another jar. this is buttermilk. do not pour it down the sink! i use it for corn bread or pancakes. yum!

5)after the liquid is poured off, i give it another spin on the blender on a low speed. by this point it looks nice and smooth. a little more buttermilk will have seeped out, so i add that to my jar. next, i add cool water and pour it off. i do this over and over until the water runs clear. the less buttermilk that is left in the butter, the longer it will last.

6) after the water runs clear i put it in some cheese cloth to drain a bit more. while this is draining i start on the other half of my cream. i just do the whole process over again!

you'll notice that the butter is yellow. that's because it is from nutrient dense, grass fed, raw milk! no food coloring used here!


7) when i'm all done, i spoon it into a little glass bowl that has a lid and place it in the refrigerator.



that's it! super yummy butter, with little effort!

if you'd like to read up on the benefits of raw butter check here.

7 comments:

Rachel said...

So cool! You make it seem so much easier than reading about it.

cally said...

Uh, I'd like to be so bold as to say this was for me.

I love you.

Can I buy raw milk at a regular grocery store, or do I need to go to a nature store, which is totally intimidating and wonderful at the same time.

Can I make cookies with this? Does it get hard like sticks of butter, or does it stay spreadable.?

You're amazing. Have I said that before?

I think I have.

mandi said...

rachel- it IS super easy! go for it, you yogurt making lady!

cally- i must say that i did think of you when i thought to post this. because i know how much you love your butter! raw milk...sadly, you cannot buy this from any store. you'll need to find a local farmer. so convenient, i know ; ). lemme check around and find out the laws on raw milk in tennessee. it is illegal in some states. geesh. don't get me started.
yes, you can make cookies or anything else you want. it hardens in the refrigerator just like store bought butter and softens up nicely for your home made bread.
can i just add that whipping up some cream in a blender is nothing compared to the quiet books you make. and i'm not just being humble. i mean it. those books are the bees knees!

cally said...

there is hope for me.

I shall make butter.

thanks, Mandi. I'll try to round up a farmer.

Mommy, M.D. said...

I'm coming over right now. With biscuits. Pay no attention; I'll just help myself and be on my way.

Rosie_Kate said...

When I was a kid, my mom would put the cream in a quart jar and we'd all have to take turns shaking it until it turned to butter. The person with their hands on it when it turned was the winner.

Nicola said...

you aren't the only one i have seen making it, but your how-to is awesome, thank you!
nicola