We do have butter to talk about today, but first I hope you’ll indulge me in allowing me to write an open letter to my little sister Lauren.
Dear Lauren,
This afternoon I found a card that you wrote me on January 1, 2000. That’s right. I found a ten year old thank you note from you.
Here it is.
You open the letter by saying “Happy New Year!” This seems sweet and appropriate. Well played.
Your next sentence gets slightly strange. You write “Would you be surprised to know that this card was painted by a kitten?… NO!… a very small kitten? …NO!… 10,000? 5,000? 10,000 kittens?”
To answer your question, dear sister… yes, I would be very surprised to find out that this card was paw painted by 10,00 small kittens. Yes. That would be weird. Also, I appreciate you liberal use of punctuation.
I also found this picture with the card. This is about the age you surpassed me in cuteness, as I seem to be rocking a girl mullet and no teeth. So… that happened.
I just thought I’d take this opportunity to remind you of how awesomely strange you are. And to let you know that you’re still way cuter than me too… but I have more teeth and less mullet now.
I love you sister. Go make some butter.
Love,
Joy
We’re making butter? Why on earth would we do that when it’s so neatly packaged in the grocery store? Well… because we can, that’s why. We’re taking a few cups of organic heavy whipping cream and turning it into gorgeous butter… because we can and we should.
You’ll need a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment for this sort of adventure. Ready? Let’s make butter.
When we make butter we’re agitating the fat in cream so much that we force the fat globules in the cream to separate from their liquid neighbors, and clump together to form butter. It’s like making whipped cream… times 10.
Start with two cups of organic heavy whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on low and begin to work the cream. As the cream thickens, turn the mixer up to medium.
You will most likely recognize this stage of cream. Supe silky, stiff whipped cream. Don’t get distracted… we want butter not whipped cream. Keep mixing!
That is some gnarley looking whipped cream. Here you can see the fat globules starting to clump together to form a curdled looking cream. We’re halfway there. Keep that mixer on medium and watch science turn cream into butter.
After about 9 minutes of serious mixer action you might wonder if somehow you’ve messed something up. And then… you see clumpy curds in milky liquid. No no! This is a good sign! You might want to slow your mixer down a bit to prevent buttermilk from splashing all over everywhere.
Now is a great time to drain the butter curds from the liquid. Use a strainer and a mixing bowl and gently press some of the excess water out of the butter. Return the butter to the mixing bowl and whisk again on medium speed. You want to get as much of the water out as possible.
Once returned to the bowl for the second mixing, the butter really starts to come together. That’s some good lookin’ butter. Return to the strainer and press as much water out as possible.
** Here’s a note from reader Natalie. She seems to know what she’s talking about when it comes to this stage in butter making. Give it a rinse. I didn’t… but then again, I ate the whole thing in just a few days… Do. Not. Judge.**
My mother grew up on a farm and a trick that she taught me was that after you got all the excess water out if you will rinse it in ice water (I am talking about water that is so cold you can hardly keep your hands in it) and kneed it a little the water will normally turn cloudy and you can change the water once or twice until as you kneed the water stays clear. This way your butter will last longer in the fridge and wont get that sour milk smell. After that you can as salt or what ever you wish.
Now that you have butter, you can add all sorts of things to it. Start with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and add more to your taste. You might also like to throw in some fresh herbs. You’ll definitely need some fresh bread. Right away. Enjoy your butter. It will last for a week well wrapped in your fridge.
Nuri
I think I over whipped my whip cream. It starts to separate. So should I make it into butter which I have mixed with sugar? And Can I make buttercream of that butter for frostings? I google searched but couldn’t find the answer.
Kristin
I just made this and it turned out great! If you are mixing and mixing and mixing for a long time and nothing seems to be happening, don’t fret, just turn the mixer up to a little higher speed. It will do it’s magic eventually. :)
Jonathan Mizrahi
We made today Smoked Paprika and flur de cel butter and a Himilyan salted butter. Great recipe…
Norm Waldheger
Hello everyone!
Baby, our goat here in NM is producing half a gallon of sweet milk per day. Did you know that as long as you keep your milk goat away from any rams in rut, the milk will be as yummy as any organic goat milk? Its true. No GOATY taste at all.
So, now we are making butter. Thats for showing us how. For those of you who really want to save money, do the math. half gallon of organic milk per day, butter, cheese yogurt, all delicious and easy. One $14 bale of hay per month.
Chellee
Reading the argument on organic vs. not. I am a certified food inspector in the US and a past organic farm hand. I buy everything organic as what makes for example eggs organic is the hens are never given growth hormones and are free reign, as in not caged up. Not even fenced however they are aloud to be closed in a well vented chicken coop at night to protect them from fox and such on. Cows are aloud any antibiotics or medication needed. No growth hormones an “fake food” which means not growth hormones for the consumer as well! If you have not heard it before, “when diet is wrong medication is on no use, when diet is correct medication is of no need.” Organic animals suffer less from abuse as well as illness as they build antibodies from a heathy diet!
Janet W
I just made this, and it is AWESOME! My kids can’t get enough!
Alyssa
I just tried this and IT WORKED!!!
I used what we call “whipping cream” here in Canada, which is 35%. I also added the salt at the start. IT’S GREAT!
Why/how does it turn yellow like that?
So cool – thanks!
Kathleen
What uses can be made of the by-product of making butter, that is, true “buttermilk”? I use it for making pancakes, but are there other uses you would suggest. I have bought a very large quantity of raw cream this month to take advantage of the especially high nutrient value of spring butter, so I have a very large quantity of real buttermilk. Thank you very much.
saffy
omg, i made this today, i used double cream which i had bought reduced in the supermarket for 30p and now i have gorgeous homemade butter for 30p…….i’ll never buy butter again!!
Fionavar
I want to try making butter but I don’t have a fancy stand mixer like most people… could I do this with just a hand immersion blender, or a whisk?
joythebaker
You can put it into a mason jar and shake it vigorously. That would probably be better than a whisk.
Greg mcculley
This works pretty well with a mason jar as well. Takes some effort, about 7 mins. Just when you are about to give up, keep at it and suddenly ” bam!” Curds of butter appear floating in whey. Very neat experience. We mixed ours with honey.
Jonathan G
For the past month or so I have been making butter from raw cream. I think I am doing everything right…. it’s definitely all cream. I skim the milk and put the cream into another jar. I let the jar sit for several days and re-skim. I them let the cream warm up to room temperature before mixing. Anyway, it has been taking an average of an hour in my KitchenAid stand mixer, at full speed the whole time. Any idea what might be going wrong?
darcy
Just made this using a broken blender then a magic bullet. 3 versions, rosemary, garlic chive, thyme. So fun! Thank you!
Jazy Epskamp
Found you’re blog today while lamenting how the store bought butter is a bit of a downer with my made from scratch tomato soup and artisan bread! Had to rush into the store to get the cream and off I was!!
And hubby is already saying maybe we shouldn’t get store butter ever again! (What have I done! LOL)
Mary G
I was wondering if you could freeze the extra butter? I made quite a lot yesterday with my twins and I am afraid it will go bad before we can eat it all
joythebaker
It will lose it’s moisture in the freezer. So you can, but not forever. I would probably just try to use it up or give it to a friend in need. Does that help?
kaitlin
oh my god. you’ve got to be kidding me. i’m all over this :)
Ellen Samuels
I used my food processor and a pint of organic cream to achieve the prize. With my “winnings” I made breakfast. Buttermilk pancakes with blueberries, maple syrup, butter. The best.
Stephanie
I have a question. We live outside the country and the heavy whipping cream here is sweet. Although I know that might sound good, it’s not for everything. Can you use whole milk and get the same or similar results? Thanks so much!
Iris Hooke
I remember my Grandmama Hundley making butter using a wooden spoon to whip the cream. When it was nearly done she would sing “come butter come. Iris is by the garden gate waiting for some. Come butter come.” (Or she would use another grandchild’s name.) So butter can be made without a mixer. True that is a lot harder.
matt
I don’t have a mixer. I don’t want to shake. I will use a hand whisk in my cordless drill.
Cool. Cooking with Tim Taylor!
Eileen
Just tried this after coming across this page a few days ago. It’s amazing! I’m still working on getting the water out of the butter and I may have put in too much salt but I’m happy with my first attempt. At least I know (basically) what’s in it!
jeremy
yeah butter making is a great way to relieve stress and pull your joints out of their sockets … long story trust me ! well its good to know it will taste good my friend is still shaking the jar…
Regan
This was the second thing I did with my new stand mixer (after making bread) and I succeeded in making both butter and a happy mess. The boyfriend and I stood staring into the bowl for the whole ten minutes watching the science (magic!) of fat globules coming together.
Jillian
Thanks for this. I have never made butter before, but I needed to relieve some stress today so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I made it with rosemary and ate it with a fresh baguette. It was delicious and just what I needed. Once again I’ve come to you for kitchen advice, and I find myself very happy.
Sahar
If I have a cake recipe that calls for butter I’ll can I use this buttermilk for that?
eric m gilson
So i have a stand mixer that im going to make butter in
But i also have this a Nostalgia Electrics MSH-105R Retro Series Automatic 16-Ounce Martini Shaker Red lol i thought ill try it to
Nancy
I saw on another website where the person made butter exactly the same way, but just used a blender. So that would take care of “splashing”. Although probably is more of a pain to take out the butter to drain. A trade off….but if you don’t have a stand mixer you could use a blender.
Steve
Worked for me. $350 a pint for heavy cream got about 1/4 lb. butter. At $15.00 a pound, but it was fun.
Dawn
I made this over the weekend for a biscuit recipe and I am so thankful for your clear descriptions and photos of what happens, otherwise I definitely would have stopped!! Gnarly is the perfect word to describe what happened. I didn’t end up having to rinse mine very much at all.
Overall, I think it tasted more like heavy cream and not like butter, so I will probably stick to the store bought, but it was a fun science experiment! Thanks Joy!
Miranda Smith
Can’t wait to make this and the vanilla extract. Just curious how much butter does a container of heavy whipping cream yield? Thanks
Simona
Looks like in addition to baking something of Joy’s this weekend, we’re also making butter….oh dear….
Renu
This is how we normally make unsalted butter in India. What we do is collect the Cream that forms when you cool down milk, and after a few days, when you have enough, we “Churn” it into butter.
You can take this one step further, and heat the butter on low heat for about 10-15 minutes. You will now have “Clarified butter” or “Ghee”, which you can use for cooking Indian food. You may have to strain it as you may have some fat content that remains solid and would turn a deep golden brown.
P.S: Try adding drumstick leaves (you may find this in Indian Grocery stores) or fenugreek seeds before turning off the heat.
Karin Schubert
The liquid that is produced is, indeed, the original buttermilk. It is also called “whey”, as in “Little Miss Muffet sat on tuffet, eating her curds, and whey”.The cultured “buttermilk” that is now commercially availble is a different product, as is sour cream. While it may not taste the quite the same as the commercial product, try it as the liquid used to make bread, or pancakes or waffles, or as part of the liquid replacing regular milk in muffins, biscuits or even scalloped potatoes, or as part of the lquid in a soup that also uses milk, like a chowder. This only applies to the liquid which is collected immediately after the curds form. We also gave the butter several rinses in ice water until it was clear, and let it further drain in a strainer for a bit before it was packed into the type of wooden butter moulds now only found in antique shops (which pressed out more water), and then wrapped in waxed paper, and refridgerated. I also grew up on a farm where butter was regularily made from the extra cream, and my grandmother and mother also occasionally made cottage cheese,and a soft cheese as well.
James Brady
When I was a little boy we would set our milk out to sour
before we made butter.
Did we do it wrong?
Thanks JIm
nr
Jar with a screw-on lid. Marbles washed and rinsed. Cream. Shake shake shake. Drain. Refrigerate.
I remember that from Girl Guides. But one thing I don’t remember is if we make our butter with cultured buttermilk, will we get European-style cultured butter?
Paige C
That was so easy! And amazingly delicious! Thanks for the idea. :-)
Castal
I buy cream in large quart containers, so sometimes it starts to get old before I can use it. Rather than dump it down the drain I make butter with it–and then watch as my housemates all scramble to get some of it before it disappears.
Definitely wash the butter or it won’t last long at all. If you wash the butter till it runs clean it will keep for at least two weeks (even with using old cream) as long as you keep bread crumbs and such out of it and keep it in the refrigerator… not that I have had much trouble with it going bad with all the bread and butter lovers here!
(One easy way to “wash” the butter is to just keep dumping in clean ice water into the mixer and beating the heck out of it till it runs clear. Alternately I have used a silicone spatula to knead the butter in clean water and that works as well… just takes more elbow grease)
emily
i love it! i brought home my great grandmother’s table top butter churn a few months ago and have been using that sporadically to make butter. it takes longer than the stand mixer (which i don’t have), but there’s something wonderfully nostalgic about using the hand crank and seeing the butter come together through the glass. i agree with the rinsing stage of the butter; it does seem to make it last longer. and i’ve read that you can freeze the butter as well for future use.
is there anything specific to look for in choosing your cream to ensure your butter tastes great? does the level of pasteurization have any effect on how the butter turns out?
Castal
In general the pasteurized takes longer to churn than un-pasteurized, and the ultra-pasteurized cream takes even longer.
I find that the flavor of the ultra p. cream is less good than the regular p. cream. If I could get my hands on non-p. cream I would guess that it would have the best flavor (assuming that the cows were not eating anything nasty at the time). Cream, like all milk products, heavily rely on what the animal is eating for final flavor. If you could find some cream from sweet-clover-munching cattle (or goat or sheep etc) it should taste the best!
Happy Churning!
Trisha
I just made butter from “raw unpasturized” cream tonight from my cousin’s cows up the street. Talk about local! pure heaven :)
Dani
So funny story… I just got to read this today, and as it turns out, we must have the same brain. I had a quart of heavy cream in my refrigerator for a recipe that I later decided not to make… so I had to figure out what to do with the cream. I thought it might be fun to try my hand at making butter… So I did. (I used a food processor, though, not a stand mixer. Worked just as well, minus the possibility of being splashed!) So the funny part, I decided to embark on this delicious voyage the very same day that you posted this.
Weird.
Shauna
I just made some butter with my son – he loved it! We both think it tastes great, but we won’t know for sure until we use it for our homemade garlic bread this evening and the rest of the family has a chance to weigh in. Thanks for giving my son and I something to bond over! :)
Georgia
Yay! I just made butter!!! I’m so proud. I tried the ice-cold underwater kneading. It was unpleasant on the hands but seemed to work well!
Hey Joy – am I mistaken, or have I just made not only butter but also buttermilk? Can I use it like, um, buttermilk?
joythebaker
i’m pretty sure that buttermilk is usually made when the cream has first been soured before making butter. it’s not exactly the same thing.
Karis
It is buttermilk. The stuff you buy at the store is cultured buttermilk, so its thicker and they add cultures to it, so its a bit tart tasting…But the buttermilk you get from making your butter is great for making pancakes, biscuits, scrambled eggs, all sorts of stuff! Waste not!
Millys Mini Kitchen
Wow! This is great, never thought about making my own butter! And I love butter. Thanks for this!
Food Hunter
I want to try this!! thanks
olivia
In 5th grade we made butter! We shook it until our little arms nearly came off! I was surprised it only needed two and ingrediants… and how delicious it came out! LOVE MAKING BUTTER
Rose
You’re right about the buttermilk sloshing everywhere.
catherine
omg love homemade butter…its pretty damn good..and this is a whole lot easier than shaking the cr** out of it in a tupperware!!
christine yoo
if you put your butter in an airtight container and cover it with water, you’ve just made your own butter bell… and you can leave it out on your counter and it won’t go bad!!
Cooking in Canada
For those without a stand mixer, you can still make butter! Just put that cream in a large mason jar or pickle jar and shake the heck out of it! I usually get my husband to help as my arms get sore, but you could invite some friends over, drink some wine, and shake the heck out of some cream until you get butter. Sounds like a good party!
Carlie
My family makes butter every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas…so good over warm homemade rolls. YUM.
Brownieville Girl
I made butter last year – and my family keep asking me to make it again!
Too expensive to make regularly!!
Annem
Haha, this is perfect! I ran out of butter at home and had two pottles of heavy cream. I came here hoping for a butter-free but cream reliant dessert recipe. =)
Tis a gift from providence.
Kirsty
I just made this. Only 10 minutes. Magic. Thanks!
Meghan
I don’t have a stand mixer :(
hum..Christmas is coming.
Sandy
we put the whipping cream in a container with a strong seal and take turns shaking it but this looks much easier thanks Joy…we like to add honey and cinnamon to it at the end
Debra
When I was in 3rd grade, my class made butter. It was SO COOL! We put milk (of some sort) in cups with lids and shook them. I thought my arm would fall off from having to shake that little cup for so long. But happily, I had butter when I was finished. : )
Nicole
Good thing I only have a hand mixer, or I’d be eating fresh butter, garlic butter and maple butter for dinner (with some bread or other butter-vehicle, I guess).
Sunni
Trust me, you can definitely make butter with a hand mixer. It just takes much longer.
jackie
hi,
i make butter with a hand mixer. it usually takes 4-5 minutes for the cream to turn to butter. the trick seems to be to bring the cream to room temperature before you start to mix it. i set my container of cream in a bowl of lukewarm water for – i don’t know? half an hour? or so? that way it is not jsut sitting on the countertop, going bad, while waiting for it to warm up from the fridge.
then, of course, i wash it in ice water.
Cynthia Powell
I learned first hand how to make butter when I was about 14. My step-mother told me to whip the cream she had saved from the whole milk she bought from a man in the country with several cows. Well, it was hot in there when i got home from school and within minutes I had butter! I was horrified that she would be angry. She just laughed and laughed and said that’s how she learned. But the funniest thing was when she saved all this cream up and invited her Yankee mother from the city to come down and make butter since it was sooo….. easy. She had saved about 4 gallons. When we got home from school there was butter bits all over the kitchen, the walls, the floors, the cabinets and the ceiling! She did not think that was so funny but we laughed ourselves silly. The kitchen temp was about 110 and so was she. She ended up with two bowls of butter and announced we had to clean the kitchen. No more laughing.
This man must have had a Jersey cow that gave nothing but cream. We used to have to cut the cream off with a knife to get to the rich milk.
Allison
My God, this is amazing?! Who knew you could make your own butter?! You apparently…. thanks for sharing! Looks like I will be making 2 crusty loaves and some fresh butter this weekend!
Jamie
I. Love. Making. Butter.
You definitely do want to wash it so it will last. I made butter on a whim one day when I had made some fresh bread, and I am hooked! I even went out and bought a French butter crock to keep it in.
Love it!
Leona
AWWW-SOOMME!! :)
Linda A
Yum! Tomorrow is my day off. I’m going to make butter and bread, invite a few friends over for a “Butter and Bread and Wine party…sounds good doesn’t it? Might need to skip my weight watchers meeting on Saturday morning – ha!
Cheery
Fantastic idea! I think I might try that one too next weekend!
Sydney
My Granny was raised on a farm in Lucedale, Miss. and she taught me all about making butter. Except when we made it together, we’d have to shake it in a Mason jar for a long time. I’ll probably have arthritis when I’m an old woman because of it. I can testify that homemade butter is delicious.
Lori
I had no idea we were capable of butter! You rock!
Brittany
ahhhh that’s amazing! I LOVE BUTTER!
jordan
oh wow. i love this. when i move…i’m trying this.
Katy
I so want to make this!
Also, love the new banner/design. :)
Janna M
I love the step by step instructions with your photos. And the note from your sister reminds me of something I would have written to my pen-pals as a teenager. So beautiful!
Alex
I have done this a few times, when I can get fresh cream from the dairy. I wouldn’t recommend using it in a recipe for a few reasons. One the consistency is variable by how much kneading you have done, and that can affect baking. Two, cream is damn expensive to buy, and commercial butter is inexpensive. This is a rich, creamy butter made just for bread and toast and all things yummy!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking
Wow, this looks surprisingly simple. And seeing as I’m seduced by something as easy as a few hunks of French bread and butter, I just might have to give this a try!
Avanika (Yumsilicious Bakes)
Probably the best looking butter I’ve ever seen. Though I was hoping for a shortbread post :)
brandy
Wow! Thanks for sharing this amazing how to make butter! I’ll need to take a crack at it.
I’m just wondering how much butter did you get from two cups of heavy whipping cream?
Grant
I always wondered what would happen if you let the mixer run too long on heavy cream. Mom never let us do that! I won’t let my wife see this article, she LOVES butter! Straight up, I mean she’d lick it off her fingers straight up. Thanks for the rinsing tip too.
Radhika
Dear Joy,
I love reading your posts and enjoy trying out your recipes.
In India we make butter with something like a Mexican Molinillo. Everyone takes a turn and the cream turns to butter magically.
This butter has a high water content and results in the most awesome cakes. The texture is to die for. But it can’t be used for buttercream icing, for the same reason.
Nothing is thrown away. The drained liquid is used to knead our flat breads (chappatis/rotis).
As long as you refresh the water in which you store the butter, it keeps for about a week or so. And you can make the most amazing clarified butter (ghee) by bringing this butter to a boil and allowing the solids to settle in the bottom of the pan.
Thank you for sharing your recipes and great photographs with us all.
R
Fiona
WOW!!! butter never looked so good :)
Cannot wait to try this.
Panya
I always make butter with my leftover cream now. It’s usually only half a cup or so, but it’s so nice to make something delicious out of something that could have possibly gone rancid from lack of use. I just put it in a container and shake it. Seems to take forever, but it’s worth it.
Evina
hi
can i ask you for how long can we keep this butter in the fridge??
Kristen
I remember making butter in first grade! It was a somewhat traumatic experience for me, though, because when it was my turn to shake the container…well, somehow the lid had gotten loose. And since I had very long hair at the time, my mom had to come pick me up to wash all of the almost-butter out of it. Yikes!
I’ll be trying it again in my Kitchen Aid mixer. Sounds safer. =) Thanks for the tutorial!
Lauren
10,000 kitten paws. Truly. I love you, Sister of my Life.
The Cilantropist
Oh this is a great post, another blogger I read also recently posted about butter-making and although hers was also a wonderful post, I must admit that your step-by-step photos give me more confidence to give it a go. Thanks! :)
Caity
I love making my own butter, there is something so satisfying about it!! I don’t have a stand mixer, so I make mine in the food processor instead, works like a charm :) Heavy cream is defiantly my favorite, but I’ve also used whole milk and that turned out great too.
Nicole
What a great tutorial!
I’m game for anything made from scratch but butter??? Wow that would be the first for me.
Though I currently have no wish to do homemade butter it’s nice to know that when I’m stuck somewhere in the mountains with no butter, I would know I how to make some, considering of course I have some heavy cream with me ^_^
Memoria
I’ve yet to make homemade butter, but thanks to your great tutorial, I will try it out much sooner.
Kari
Joy… I love you… It had to be said so I said it..No I am not a weirdo. Last week I made butter with the kids in my reading group and was amazed by it.. So last night at dinner my family and I made butter while we ate.. I used a Tupperware hand mixer thingy and we all took turns between bites of dinner. It was so fun to see their faces when it suddenly turned into butter! We had it on warm bread right then and there and now they are hooked! Then today I sit down with a few minutes and YOU made butter too! Great minds! So, it had to be said.. I love you Joy! (in a non weirdo kind of way)
Kari
The Nerd
This is PORN! It should be illegal. We should have to pay for it. But it’s not and we don’t and that’s why Joy the Freakin’ Baker rules!
Sarah D
Ahahaha… more teeth, less mullet! I wonder if when we are old it will return to original, less teeth, more mullet.
Allison
I need to make this now! Fresh butter here I come!
Vicki b
This is amazing! Do you know if this would classify as that fancy high fat European type butter?
Brian
One of my favorite childhood memories is churning my own butter on a trip to a local farm.
“Why on earth would we do that when it’s so neatly packaged in the grocery store? Well… because we can, that’s why.”
Amen!
Tracy
FRIEND! This is awesome! Everyone always worries about turning their cream into butter and now we have permission to! Raise the roof! Let’s make some together ok? And then I will introduce you to the best garlic bread EVER using this stuff! hearts
Andrea
Absolutely glorious! Always the Kitchen Goddess , you are, Joy……..cannot wait to make this , will definitely hide bathroom scale for a month! Love, love , love U!!!!!
JLH
We make butter with our kids at school, they are pre-k age. We add the salt and heavy cream to a takeout soup container and they all take turns shaking it..then the teachers shake with…for about ten minutes, then we drain it and spread it on saltines. It’s heavenly.
Lisa
very cool. i used to do make homemade butter when i lived in BC about 12 years ago, on a daily basis…we did everything from scratch, it was fabulous, healthy, and created a feeling of pride! now that i have a kitchenaid i will try butter!
Ethan @ tastesbetterwithfriends.wordpress.com
Always learning something new here…I didn’t know that cats were that talented and I’m happy that you’ve lost the mullet-action, good call!
rachel
How fun! I remember making butter in kindergarten. We were very impressed. Butter=magic.
Marcia
I just made a batch this morning as soon as I read your post-I never knew it was SO easy! Thank you 1000 over! My kids loved watching the cream turn to butter…like magic!
Loreena Dickey
Does this butter work out be the the same consistency as store bought, aka I could use it in my favourite recipe of buttercream icing and have the same results?
p.s. I loved your letter to your sister, it made me giggle.
Stephanie
Joy, I love you. Really. You’re so awesome :)
Nosheteria
Oh! And the liquid that you drain from the butter makes the most delicious buttermilk ever. I guess that how buttermilk got it’s name. I like to use it in cold soups now that it’s almost summer. Sweet pea and mint anyone?
joanne
“I seem to be rocking a girl mullet and no teeth.”
OMG! too funny! i laughed so hard, i choked on the hard candy i was eating!!
wish i had a stand mixer so i could make butter and sooooo many other things!
Mellie
You really are the cat’s pajamas. :) I love this.
Drew
I have cream and sea salt. Why not throw a loaf in the bread-maker and some cream in the mixer. Wow. Simple life.
While I’m embroidering my new napkins I’ll have two other machines working at the same time. I LOVE TECHNOLOGY! Maybe I’ll throw a load of laundry in just to keep the juggling process even more exciting today.
The Duo Dishes
Mmmm, butter. It’s so easy. It’s a shame we don’t do it more often!
Swee San
I didn’t know that’s the way to make butter. Thanks for sharing :)
Noreen
That is seriously amazing!!! Will I ever be brave enough to try it..??? That is so cool!
Mika
Homemade butter is so delicious! I will eat with a tablespoon just like nutella…
Season
You read my mind. I have almost 2 cups of whipping cream that I need to use today, and now I know what I’ll do. But I do have some questions, How much butter does it make? And could it be used in a baking recipe, like cookies or cake, or is it best used more as a spread? Thanks!
JennEJenn
Wow! and double Wow! Very cool, definitely something to try!
thedelishdish
wow that is so cool!! i had no idea how butter was made but now i will def give this a try!
notyet100
wow,…home made butter…
Sheila
OMG! Joy your post is hilarious! I have not even read the making the butter part. Thank you for making me laugh and smile!
Joanna
Thanks for this great tutorial! I love to make everything from scratch and butter has definitely been on my to-do list!
Esther
WOW. That is awesome! I will need to make that sometime.
And I *love* that picture of you and your sister!
jenny
I do this alot!!! and love it, especially o your fab bread recipe. the best!!!
San
Omg I can’t wait to try this! I’m trying to trick hubbster into buying heavy whipping cream on his way home from work by making some homemade bread :D Now if I can just find a good bread recipe to use up all the buttermilk I already have, since this will be creating even more, lol!
mom
Cute picture of you and Lauren. Interesting to learn how butter is made. Butter is the best. Love the new look of your blog. Cute!
Laura Lee
Yum…
Jessica
Total made this in 5th grade learning about the Civil War oddly enough. Everyone used a pint of cream and a screw top jar. Just as others have said, wash wash wah the butter in cold water to get all the buttermilk out and your homemade butter will last as long as regular store bought. And if you’re careful to get as much water out the end butter, it won’t get so hard once you put it in the fridge.
Casey
Umm, how easy it that? I would totally go make butter right now except for the fact that I don’t have a stand mixer and I am pretty sure my arm would fall off with my hand mixer.
Alaina- The Fairhope Foodie
I am SO going to try this! I hate the photos that catch us in that “awkward phase”. My Mom still likes to pull them out an poke fun :) As always, enjoyed reading!
Maegan Marin
Hey Joy! You will be so totally proud of me: last night I came home from work and whipped up (although that phrase, ‘whipped up,’ implies that this happened quickly… misleading) a spinach, bacon and caramelized onion quiche WITH your amazing no-roll pie crust for my boyfriend and I. Dude. Your recipe is perfect, not only did I use the last remaining bit of our tub of cream cheese (score), it was just an amazing, super-perfect crust. We had a great dinner and now have tons of leftovers (double score). Thank you!
-The same girl who posted about the jean leggings :)
joythebaker
you’re a superstar maegan. for real.
JCS
We did it at home when I was a child. I showed it to my wife, she was amazed how easy it is.
We do have an extra step, after you drain the butter for the first time, you add some cold water and keep mixing.
This added water will again become white(ish), drain and repeat one more time.
The white stuff that attaches to the water (out of your butter) are milk deposits that are not really needed. They don’t add flavour and probably will reduce the fridge “life” of your butter.
As to the taste it might not be much better than the “industrial” organic, but you can add the salt you want and the butter will be a bit softer (i.e. easier to spread).
deb
Only you, Joy, could make curdled clumpy butter solids and slippery run off look so tasty. Must make.
Heather
So Awesome! I am going to make butter!!
Heather @ chiknpastry
also a good idea if you ever run out and happen to have whipping cream instead. which doesn’t really ever happen, but still….
did you save your buttermilk and make something fancy with that too??!!
Natalie
Joy,
My mother grew up on a farm and a trick that she taught me was that after you got all the excess water out if you will rinse it in ice water (I am talking about water that is so cold you can hardly keep your hands in it) and kneed it a little the water will normally turn cloudy and you can change the water once or twice until as you kneed the water stays clear. This way your butter will last longer in the fridge and wont get that sour milk smell. After that you can as salt or what ever you wish.
I hope that wasn’t rude of me to add but I know that I have done it without this step before and it went bad a lot faster.
Natalie
DessertForTwo
Did you use the buttermilk you pressed out for anything? I’m thinking scones…
Kim
We make butter at our school’s annual Pioneer Day by adding cream and a pinch of salt to a mason jar, then having the kids shake it as they walk around. After an hour or two there is a yummy glob of butter for their homemade cornbread muffins. They are always amazed that you can “make” butter!
Megan (megabite)
You have skillz. And since you’re a butter appreciator, I thought I’d tell you that my grocery store sells teeny containers of flavored butter called “Butter From Another Udder”. So there’s that! What do you think?!
Michelle
Old cards make cleaning out cupboards 100% worth the effort. I once found $30 past Michelle left scattered about in birthday cards for future me. I still tell people about it on at least a fortnightly basis.
When I was making your banana cream pie (omigoodness by the way) I got distracted and totally almost made butter out of the whipped cream, not pretty, very globular.
Sharlene
Wow! I had no idea making butter was this easy! When I gather up the courage to try yeast again (I’ve been killing and neglecting it left and right lately) I’ll make some bread and butter. Sounds delicious!
Kristin
We churned our own butter in Girl Scouts when I was a Brownie – yes I openly admit to the world of Internet that I am still proud of it.. But I never thought to try to do it in my stand mixer. Joy you are made of pure magic and for that I thank you :)
Jessie @ simplysifted
This might be a stupid question, but is it worth it? Does homemade butter taste dramatically better than store bought butter? Is it like the difference between fresh and canned whipped cream?
Silvia
Reminds me of my childhood: grandfather having cows, fresh fat milk ready to use at home and my mother shaking the cream in a huge glass bottle, it really works!
Besides I just love bread and butter with some sugar sprinkled on top!
Jen-
Lauren must be tickled pink that you have kept her card all these years. Ha! But even moreso to be associated with good butter. ;)
Kristan Roland
I don’t know what is crazier: the cat painting thing, the mullet, or the butter? I’m gonna go with the butter. How cool!! Like kitchen magic.
Sarah
Oh, and I I don’t mean hands with a whisk. I mean pouring the cream into the sink and using her fingers as a whisk.
joythebaker
are you kidding me!?!? that is seriously hardcore. i, clearly, would never survive on a farm.
Sarah
True story: My Grandma, back on the farm, would get up each day and milk the cows. Then she’d skim the cream from the milk, put some on the kids cereal (yeah, cream for breakfast, I know) and set about making butter.
Thing is, she didn’t like butter churns. She didn’t think that they did a very good job. Instead, she used her hands. HER HANDS.
Yes, my grandmother whipped butter with her hands. I think this is the coolest part of my family history.
SoupAddict Karen
I am SO doing this. Thank you for my favorite foodie blog post of the month!
nicole h
i feel inspired!
MrsDragon
I just fell even more in love with my stand mixer. Oh happy day!
One question though: how much butter does this make?
Wendi
Making your own butter IS as easy as that. I like your suggestion of a second go round in the mixer. Did you have to wash your butter to get the rest of the buttermilk liquid out?
Meredith
I made lavender butter last summer using the lovely lavender I grew in my garden and let me tell you, making butter is quite addicting.
Lauren @ Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.
Great post! I will have to give homemade butter a try!
Adriana from Baking Powders
whoa! amazing! joy the baker meets alton brown… well, more like turns into alton brown, for a day? nah more than one, I love these sort of nerdy posts! (i’m very geeky myself… chemist, sort of baker, very weird)
too bad i don’t have a standing mixer :( hopefully i’ll get to buy one soon and i’ll be able to make my own butter! sounds delicious!
once more, applause!
Aeshna
It’s nice to see that so many people make their own butter. Here in India it is a staple in the average household (we call it ‘makkhan’ or white butter) and its often preferred over the market variety. Plus it is much much better to cook with!
Jill in Atlanta
I used to do this yearly with preschool kids in a babyfood jar for each of them. Just takes a lot of shaking. One small lump of butter each. Yum!
Katrina
I like the look of that butter! I love knowing what’s in my food, so this will make me happy.
Estela @ Weekly Bite
I’ve never made my own butter before! It looks so easy too :)
Maria Trader
we made homemade butter in science class once. it’s so good.
Jackie
I bet back in the olden days, like last year, bakers had bad ass arm muscles from making this bad boy by hand. Thank god for modern technology!
Kendra @ My First Kitchen
This is one of my favorite things to make. Michael Pollan says that we can eat junk food as long as we make it. This means unlimited butter consumption, right? Awesome.
joythebaker
high five! we’ve found the loop hole!
Elisabeth, Greece
Really, how much butter did you end up with? It would be very useful to know. :)
Laura Emily
Just to say you can make butter without a stand mixer – I have accidentally whipped cream too far by hand, and then proceeded to turn it into butter curds and milk. A good workout for sure!
hannah @ thepastrykook
that photo is too cute! nothing beats family, huh. (: and those butter looks gorgeous. If heavy cream wasn’t that expensive here, my home would be a butter churning factory
Annie
I’m not sure what excites me more, the homemade butter or the homemade buttermilk. I guess a spoonful of yogurt, plus a little stir and a little wait, will make this homemade cultured buttermilk?
This means we can immediately use the buttermilk to make biscuits, and then promptly smother them with butter…?
Your blog is always a delight to read, and to eat.
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
Those pictures are too sweet. I love making my own butter and adding cinnamon and honey. So delish!
Wei-Wei L
Oh, my goodness! I always thought that butter was made from animal fat… well, I guess it is! This is more educating than anything else. What would you flavour your butter with??
Wei-Wei
The MuffinTin Post
*mixer, of course. We do have many standing mixtures, quite often.
Sidney
I have used a jar with good results!
joythebaker
the jar technique works. you can also try a food processor. and i think i’ve seen it done in a blender too!
The MuffinTin Post
I’m so excited! My roommate and I have been planning to make butter for weeks! However, big question – we don’t have a standing mixture. We have (sadly) a jar that can be shaken and an immersion blender. What do you think?
Rita
I’ve done this in the classroom before using a jar. Just drop a clean glass marble into the jar to aid in the whipping process.
Diana
Wow, awesome. I honestly had no idea this was how butter’s made. :o Interesting. May have to try this someday.
Also, cute photo of you and your sister. :)