Homemade Butter

This post was originally posted at our family blog, link in the sidebar.

What can I say?  I'm lovin me some homemade stuff!  Dishwasher powder, detergent, fabric softener, bath soak, hard lotion bars, multipurpose cleaner....I'm having a ball. Next on the list of homemade products is BUTTER!  Thanks to Julie from Mooberry Farm for this super duper easy instruction on making homemade butter...without a churn!

Here it is, well, my version anyway:

Start with heavy whipping cream.  Julie at MF uses cream from her cow, but I'm afraid we have to settle for store bought, which makes it pasteurized and not "pure", but what can you do.  Anyway, pour the cream into a clean jar. I used a wide-mouth Kerr. Add 1 tsp salt (Julie adds her salt at the very end, don't think it matters). Tighten the lid on the jar and shake.  Then, shake. Next, shake. Shake, shake shake.

After awhile, the contents of the jar will become frothy. Keep shaking until you hear it "thudding" around inside, the sides of the jar starts to clear up and you can see the butter inside.

Now it is time to separate the butter from the,um, butter milk.  I lined a colander with cheese cloth and put it over a pan. Dump the contents of the jar into the lined colander. Let the buttermilk strain through. I caught it in a pan, to save for some homemade biscuits later.  Once all the initial buttermilk has drained through, rinse the butter under cold water. Stir with a fork, rinsing out any remaining buttermilk, until water turns clear.



Once all the milk and water has drained out, put in container of your choice (I used an old Tostitos salsa jar).

The result? About one stick of rich and creamy butter.  Yum!

I poured the buttermilk into a clean pint jar and refrigerated until I am ready to make my biscuits.

*Note: This is not a frugal choice of butter.  It cost me $2.18 for the heavy cream (16 oz container), and it yielded about a stick of butter and a cup of buttermilk.  Perhaps combining the two is worth it, but if you just want the butter it is not worth it financially. Still, it is neat to know how to make it!