How to Make Butter

Every once in a while I start feeling extra crafty when it comes to cooking.  I get these impulses to make really basic things that are readily available in the supermarket.  Once it was jam, another time it was bread – and there have likely been many other things over the years.

A few years ago I was reading The New York Times Magazine when I came across this article on how to make butter.  I clipped the article thinking I would make it soon.  Well two and a half years and a cross-border move later I finally did!

I decided to make butter at the oddest time. I came home from work one day and decided to go on a cooking rampage.  I made sloppy joes and sweet potato fries, a pear crisp, a loaf of bread and then butter…. at about midnight.  CRAZY TOWN.  I guess that’s when I felt inspired to do it, nothing wrong with that.

I remember making butter YEARS ago.  We’re talking when I was in DAYCARE years ago.  We made butter by shaking cream in a jar.  Every kid got a turn and I remember it being pretty cool learning that that was how butter is made.  Our daycare teacher then spread it on some bread and handed it out as a snack.  I threw up.  Not sure why but ever since then I’ve associated homemade butter with throwing up. True story.

Making butter gave me a quick lesson on cream.  The recipe calls for Heavy Cream which is 36% fat.  In Canada we don’t have “Heavy Cream” but we do have “Whipping Cream” which is around 36% fat too.  But then I went to my regular supermarket to pick some up and took it home.  I then looked at the ingredients and there were about 6 or 7 ingredients!  I was thinking that cream should have one ingredient, cream, but I guess I was wrong.  Apparently cream needs Carrageenan and Guar Gum and a bunch of other stuff.  Needless to say I returned the cream.  I mean, if I’m making butter from scratch it should be pretty pure.  I did some research and discovered that Harmony Organic makes Whipping Cream with only Cream as an ingredient. VICTORY!

Making the butter was pretty easy.  The recipe suggests using a stand mixer but I don’t have one so I used my regular hand mixer. A stand mixer would have been less stressful but I”m not knocking my hand mixer for getting the job done.  You basically beat the cream until it can’t be beat anymore.  It goes from whipped cream to a state where it looks like NOTHING is happening and then all of a sudden the butter separates from the buttermilk and you’re almost there!  This took about 12-15 minutes with my hand mixer, although the recipe suggests that it takes 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer.

From there I had to strain the buttermilk from the butter and then knead the butter to expel the rest of the buttermilk and make the butter dense.  This is kind of a weird step if you don’t know what you’re working towards.  I could have kneading forever!  But then your body heat starts making the butter softer.  I also kneading in some sea salt because I found the butter needing some flavour.

The verdict, NOT BAD.  It was really rewarding to make my own butter and I like that I could see what ingredients I used etc.  The butter was a bit sweeter than your typically supermarket butter and did seem “fresher”.  Would I do this regularly? Probably not.  It’s not that it’s a lot of work but I don’t really do enough with butter that I would want to spread on things for this to be a good option.  But I have to say, there’s noting like eating homemade bread with a schmear of your own butter.

Homemade Butter and Buttermilk

6 cups organic heavy cream

Salt to taste (optional).

1. Pour the cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk. Tightly cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and start mixer on medium-high speed. The cream will go through the whipped stage, thicken further and then change color from off-white to pale yellow; this will take at least 5 to 8 minutes. When it starts to look pebbly, it’s almost done. After another minute the butter will separate, causing the liquid to splash against the plastic wrap. At this point stop the mixer.

2. Set a strainer over a bowl. Pour the contents of the mixer into the strainer and let the buttermilk drain through. Strain the buttermilk again, this time through a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl; set aside.

3. Keeping the butter in the strainer set over the first bowl, knead it to consolidate the remaining liquid and fat and expel the rest of the buttermilk. Knead until the texture is dense and creamy, about 5 minutes. Strain the excess liquid into the buttermilk. Refrigerate the buttermilk.

4. Mix salt into the butter, if you want. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. Makes about 16 ounces (2 cups) each of butter and buttermilk.