cultured butter

Remember last year when I started making our butter in the blender?  Well, lately I'd been wanting to try to make cultured butter, so Moonpie and I gave it a shot last night.

When you culture butter you allow friendly, beneficial  bacteria to grow in it, making it easier to digest and healthier for your body.  It's the same idea as yogurt- only it's delicious butter!  I would love to get to the point where our family consumed probiotics in every meal, and not through supplementation.  Rather, through whole, fermented foods made right in our kitchen.  So far this morning we have  lacto-fermented granola, cultured butter, and fresh made yogurt ready to go!  This makes me excited!

If you look back at the steps to make butter that I posted last year, there is an extra step in culturing.

After pouring the raw cream off into a quart jar, I added 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt, covered the top in cheese cloth, and let it sit out over night (more like 12 hours).  The next morning I didn't have time to work on it, so I put it in the refrigerator until I had time the next evening.  I let it sit out to around room temperature (which is around 65 right now- it's the warmest I could get it!) and then picked up at step 2 (in the original tutorial).

This butter doesn't taste much different than our regular home made butter.  It's just as delicious as ever!

*Notes for next time:  I think I will leave the cream out for about 24 hours next time instead of the 12 that I did this time.  I would like a little more sour next time with more beneficial cultures.  I realize that trying to culture anything in  my chilly kitchen right now is a difficulty.  Just ask my sour dough starter (that never started).

I'm linked up on GNOWFGLINS Twister Tuesday!  Check out some other great traditional recipes!