Homemade Butter - Yes I Can!!

When my family went to North Carolina my husband and I visited the Biltmore.  It's a huge estate built by George Vanderbilt back in 1895.  As part of the experience there is a little village/farm that we also visited.  There they had a few different presentations of how things were done back at that time.  Metal working, spinning angora rabbit fur into yarn, and making butter.  They went through the history of how butter making has changed and ended with how it's possible to make now in your blender at home...  *Light bulb*

I love making things.  I make our laundry detergent, baby food, and I've tried others.  Sometimes it works and is less expensive than the store bought, sometimes not.  Naturally, I had to check this out.  I went to the store and bought some heavy whipping cream and prepared to be awed.

Regular whipping cream from the
grocery store.

 Now, the price of cream at a regular store is probably more than the price of butter.  Bummer for me since that means this isn't going to save me any money.  I decided to go ahead with it just to say I had done it at least once.  If you have a dairy nearby where you can buy raw milk then it might be cheaper that way.

The next step is to prepare for this little adventure.  I read several online articles on how to do this.  If you set out the cream and let it come to almost room temperature it will go faster when making the butter.  You'll need a blender, strainer, something to work the butter with, a bowl, and cheesecloth if you have it.

Pour the cream into the blender.  I used all 32 ounces of the cream I got.  Doing this in smaller batches is just as easy so feel free to try it with less at first if you prefer.  When you start your blender, use a slow speed. Once you get past the whip cream stage, then you can increase the speed and it will go a little faster to the butter stage.

Whipped cream stage



This isn't one of those processes where you have to guess when it's done.  You will know it's butter when you see butter.  I had an issue with having to stir the cream in the blender a few times because butter was forming at the bottom of the blender, but the cream was still sitting on top.  It eventually got there.  Once the butter and "buttermilk" separate, you can put it through the strainer.  The milk is really just milk with the fat taken out and not the cultured type you would find at the store.  I kept the

milk so I could use it for cooking. 

Ready to be washed

Now the work begins!  The butter has to washed, several times.  This can be done in the blender or in a bowl.  I did it with a bowl and it took a while.  Use cold water and swirl it around with the butter in the bowl, or use the slow speed on the blender.  This will probably have to be done at least 7-8 times.  It is important that it is done as many times as it takes for the water to run clear.  This is so important because if any of the milk is left behind the butter will go rancid quickly.  Thinking you are about to dig into some yummy homemade butter and getting hit with that spoiled milk smell is not pleasant.

Work that butter!

After the butter has been thoroughly washed, then it should be worked.  This consists of smashing the butter over and over to get all the remaining water out of it.  I did this in small batches and did it with a fork.  You could do all of it at one time using a wooden spoon that has been soaked in cold water.  Soaking it keeps the spoon from sticking to the butter.  Make sure to get all the water you possibly can out of it.

After all was said and done this was the fruit of my labor.  It didn't really take all that long to make.  This would be great for special occasions.  I added cinnamon and a pinch of sugar to one of the containers for toast.  I also read one article that suggested adding tarragon to the butter to put on steak.  Naturally, some garlic and salt would make some really yummy garlic toast to go with just about any pasta dinner.

All done!  :)