http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-green-dish-make-butter.html
The Green Dish: Make Butter
I have to say, the comments left for the introduction of The Green Dish were very touching! I knew that I wasn’t the only city mouse playing country life, but it was so nice to hear from those of you paddling around in the same boat. Also lovely to hear from those of you in the country, and just nice to hear from all of you. Thank you! Your comments gave me inspiration. And what do I do when feeling inspired? Make butter, of course!
When I was a kid I loved butter so much that my older sisters could easily trick me into eating a handful of softened soap from the soggy soap dish by simply suggesting to me that it was butter. (And yes, I have forgiven them.) My love of butter surely persists, but I have managed to stop eating it by the scoop.
In my neighborhood there is a growing number of fancy food stores, but I haven’t found a knock-my-socks-off butter at any of them. I keep spending too much money on the butter that will sweep me off my feet, like I know butter has the potential to do, but butter after butter: Disappointment.
So where does the girl seeking butter bliss turn? Her trusty stand mixer, that’s where! Chances are that I am not going to make butter any better than a gourmet butter company can, right? Well, no and yes. It may not be that much better, if even at all, but it will be my butter, and pride can be a really remarkable flavor enhancer.
At my local greenmarket there is a dairy farm stand that provides us with lovely, non-homogenized, minimally pasteurized, chemical-free milk. I have been to the farm to visit the beguiling bevy of cows. They were rambling around and chomping grass. They seemed happy. (I am projecting here, of course, I can’t possibly know what makes a cow happy.) I get glass quarts of milk for my family from this farm stand weekly and last Saturday I grabbed a pint of heavy cream too.
Now you know, I always imagined making butter to be an incredibly labor-intensive process: Many steps, lots of work. And if I were wearing calico and churning on the porch while watching Laura and Mary frolicking in the wheat field, it would have clearly taken some elbow grease. But with my KitchenAid, no tired arms did I experience, and the simplicity of it all was very surprising. (You don’t need a stand mixer, you can also use a food processor or a hand mixer.) It was like, pour in the cream, whip, mush it around, presto-chango: Butter. It’s so insanely easy, so why don’t we all make our own butter?
As for the result, well, my youngest daughter was scooping, and beyond swooning (genetics). And I think I even spied a flinch of pleasure from my butter-sneaking husband. It was really good. Sweet with the subtlest tang; round and creamy. It brought a flash of pastures, the smell of grass, and fresh breezy air to me. I think I have finally found my butter.
Make Butter:
Bring heavy cream to around 50F degrees, this took about 30 minutes out at room temperature for me.
Pour cream into the bowl of a stand mixer, cover top with shield, plastic or a dish towel. Really, do this or you will be wiping buttermilk spray from your kitchen ceiling. Whip with whisk attachment on medium-high for about five minutes, beyond the stiff peaks of whipped cream, until you can see that the fat has separated from the liquid. Alternatively, you can use a food processor or hand mixer.
Pour over a strainer into a bowl, and knead the butter to release more liquid. (This will make your hands very soft and give them a deep buttery flavor until you shower, which is kind of lovely, but can get a little gross after a while.)
When butter stops releasing liquid and feels so creamy—voila!
Save the liquid “buttermilk!” and drink or use for cooking.
Salt if you like (guilty non-local eco-sin confession: I added Himalayan pink salt).
Scoop with your fingers, experience weak knees.
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37 comments
add your comment »This is WONDERFUL!!!! I had my Grandson put some heavy cream in an empty baby food jar about 4 years ago. He was 9 and he loved watching the cream turn into butter as he shook it. We had it with rolls with our Easter dinner! What a memory, thank-you!
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Do you know, in India, butter is home made in most of the houses. People here still are able to get fresh milk, milked the very same morning and delivered right then to the homes.
Of course, it's not pasteurized, so what do we do? We boil it of course! And when it cools, there is a thick (and mostly thin, as the milkman adds some water to his milk to get some good profit! LOL) layer of cream, that we call malai. This is separated once the milk is cooled and day by day it is collected. (thanks to the refrigerator) At the end of the week, we take it out, plonk it into a mixer, add warm water and churn. And there is our supply of butter! I'm glad the American women are now learning to enjoy the goodness of home made butter. Sadly, urban Indian women are getting too caught up with the hectic city life and have to let go of the practice. Cartons of milk and slabs of yellow, salted butter are slowly but gradually replacing the fresh and home made version. Sad, but that's the way it is.
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Sherri, I made butter in my blender quite successfully several times. The process was not quite different from that which Melissa describes except that I remember the directions I was following reminding me to be careful to watch for the moment it actually clumped and became butter or else it would break. I don't remember having to knead it, just be careful to watch when the cream separates from the water (milk solids from whey maybe?) that is when you stop blending and take it out of the blender. I'm sorry I can't remember more, I did this about 20 yrs ago. But I remember the results were delicious and I did feel like Laura Ingalls WILD-er, right there in my Brooklyn kitchen.
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If you would like to do this the "fun" way; add cream to a large jar, put in a clothespin (for agitation), put on lid, and shake! Kids love to do this. It takes a few minutes; you will be shaking and feel a clump of butter form.
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Does anyone know if you can use a blender instead of a food processor? I live in Belize and don't have one.
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This only took a MINUTE in the food processer. We are delighted!! My maid has a recipe from the farm she grew up on for the "buttermilk". You cut up onion, garlic,throw it in the buttermilk along with whole grain cumin and black pepper and leave it in until the buttermilk turns into a kind of yogurt (we live on the carribean coast of Colombia, so all we have to do is leave it out of the fridge) and then strain the veg and spices out of it and use it to put in soup, rice etc. I am in the procss of doing it at the moment. If it´s good I´ll let you know!!
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Wow, this brings back memories. Born and rasied on a farm in the 40's till I was about 12,then moved to city. Watched my grandmother make butter all the time, while doing my homework at the kitchen table. I recently came into possession of the butter paddle she used to work the(butter milk)out. Will try this soon, as I love butter also. I love the country and wish I could go back. For now I have my own back forty in the city, an area about 40 feet X 40 feet used for gardening. Love the soil!
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Ooops, thanks for the tip Elizabeth, but I've just reread my posting and I should have asked how to separate the cream from the MILK and not the butter. Any suggestions for my correct question!! Thanks, TAMI
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Yeah,we did the "butter experiment" in Girl Scouts.That was alot of fun but I think this sounds a bit easier for times when there are not 10 kids waiting to take their turn!
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My mother always had her classes make individual butter jars in pretty baby food jars before Easter break. It's also a fun way to start any holiday gathering. Put your cream in a glass jar and have guests take turns shaking. No tired arms and fresh butter!
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