Did you know you can make your own butter at home? Without a butter churn? And you don’t have to visit ye olden days to do it?
But really, how many of us have actually thought about making our own butter? I know before I learned this, I had visions of Laura Ingalls and the butter churn and it just sounded awful. With modern tools and technology, it’s really not that hard at all!
I’m going to recommend you have a stand mixer for this. You can do this by hand, but it will take a lot longer and you will get tired. Very tired. Having a stand mixer means you can walk away and let it do all the work for you. I have read that you can also use a blender or a food processor, but I have not personally tried either of those. Feel free to try it out and see how it works!
We are going to start with heavy cream. Pour it into your stand mixer’s bowl. Using the whisk attachment, start mixing. Pretty soon, you will get nice fluffy whipped cream. (Keep this technique in your pocket for the next time you need fresh whipped cream!)
And then keep going. It will start to look, well, gross. The fat molecules will start to separate out from the water molecules. This is normal, so don’t freak out. Keep going. Eventually, the fats will clump together into one solid ball and the liquids will be left behind. This is what you are wanting to see. And the solid will almost certainly get stuck in the inside of the whisk attachment.
Remove the solids from the bowl and/or whisk. This is your butter. We need to wash it to make sure all the liquid is out, so place it in a bowl of very cold water. Knead the butter inside the bowl until no more white liquid escapes. It might take two or three water changes, and that’s ok. Remove the butter from the water and knead on the counter to remove any excess water. This is where you can add in whatever you like, such as salt or other seasonings. Mix them in thoroughly, and then shape the butter into a useable shape (such as a log).
Refrigerate your butter until ready to use. I find that this butter doesn’t last as long as commercially made butter, but your results may vary.
Have you ever thought about making your own butter before? Are you interested in trying it now?