Making Your Own Butter — A How To
The world economy is ever-changing, and seemingly never in favour of the working class. Therefore, Homesteading – or elements of that lifestyle – is making a big resurgence. What better place to start thinking about that, than with making your own butter? It is genuinely one of the easiest things you can do for yourself at home, and depending on the prices in your area it can be much cheaper too!
So, below we have a step-by-step guide on what you are going to need, and how you can use it to make your first batch! Let’s get started!
What You Are Going To Need
Effectively, you only need a couple of things;
- A mixing bowl
- Any form of mixing whisk
- Your preferred amount of Double Cream (500ml as a suggestion)
- Baking paper
- Salt
- Possibly some unflavoured/neutral oil
- Preferably a Fridge or Freezer to store it in
- A Sink/Water Source
That’s it! Yes it really is that easy! If you like, you can grab some muslin cloth to help with the draining process, but your bare hands work just as well!
Instructions on Making Your Own Butter
So there are 10 short and simple steps, which are very easy to follow. The biggest trick is in making sure you have whisked enough to get all that buttermilk out.
Step 1 – Add and Mix Your Butter
Add your Double Cream and Salt to the mixing bowl. Take your manual/electric whisk, and get whisking. First it will become whipped cream, but keep whisking past that. After a while, it will begin to separate into the Butterfat, and the Buttermilk.
Step 2 – Separate Buttermilk from Butter
Drain away the Buttermilk into a sealable container, if you want to keep that for other uses. Keep whisking to make sure that you have all the Buttermilk out of the mixture, or as much as you feel you can. Squeeze out any remaining Buttermilk from your Butterfat, as it will sour the batch, and cause it to go off faster. Really be sure you have all the Buttermilk out of your Butterfat!
Step 3 – Rinse Your Butter
Rinse off your Butterfat, gently, 2 or 3 times, or until the water remains clear.
Step 4 – Shape and Store Your Butter
Shape and spread your Butterfat into portions out on your Baking Paper. Fold, Pack, and store away your Butter in the fridge, so that it can cool and firm up. Alternatively, it can be frozen.
Tips To Keep In Mind
Whatever amount of cream you use – you can expect to get about half of that in butter after you have finished mixing it.
There are all sorts of ways you can use the Buttermilk too – check out some of our other guides on ideas for how to make use of that!
You can even flavour your butter however you like! Try experimenting with different variations, and see what kinds of seasoning make for your favourite butter! Whether you like Cheese, Herbs, Spices, whatever you can think off, you can try it!
If you aren’t freezing your butter, avoid making too much at once – as the butter will not last forever, even if refrigerated. Depending on the amount of buttermilk left in the mix, your butter may last anywhere between 3 days to 3 weeks. The more buttermilk you can remove from your butterfat, the longer it will last.
If you want your butter to be a little more spreadable, then adding some neutral flavoured oil to your mix can help keep it from being too hard after refrigerating.
Final Thoughts
And that’s that! Have any suggestions? Feel free to leave a comment!
If you found this article helpful, why not check out some of our other pieces at showingyouthewhey.com