The link below should help you out. I've made butter in a blender, food processor and mixer (stand mixer and hand-held electric mixer), so you shouldn't have any problem. If you have a large cotton towel, you may want to use it around the mixer to keep the splattering to a minimum. Have fun! ;-)

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: theKitchn - making butter

Yup. Protect yourself. There is a moment of spitting unexpected. I've only made it once after buying a vintage butter mold press at a yard sale.
Like with cheese making, find the best cream available, not ultra-pasurized.

Made butter in KA when niece was over for a "girls" weekend. She was mesmerized! Can't remember whether I used paddle or dough hook? It's "done"... well, when it's butter. Will go from soft peak to stiff peak whipped cream. Then there's a point of no return where it's no longer whipped cream. Haven't made it in a blender... thinking easier to get off paddle/whisk of stand mixer than out of blender!?!

Yes, I certainly have, both purposely and accidentally, by overbeating cream. I used the "whip" on the Kitchenaid and just the beaters on the handheld mixer. I've made it in the blender too, it wasn't as bad to clean out as I expected, most of it pours out along with the buttermilk. I made it in the blender after my cheesemaking class, because the instructor suggested it. The mixer was easier.

Sleevendog has a good point, make sure it's not ultra-pasteurized. And my Kitchenaid has one of those plastic guards for the bowl, that would probably come in handy for the point at which your whipped cream reverts to a liquid.

It's a lot easier than the way I did it when I was a kid on the farm. We didn't have a butter churn, Grandma put the cream in a 2 quart jar and we had to shake it!

Annie

Thanks to everyone for the replies.
Annie when I was a young fellow we churned butter just about every day also did it like you said in a jar. Tried that a few weeks back and found out real quick that I am not as young as I thought I was.

Two stupid questions:

Any benefit to making your own butter if you don't have a cow?

Is the resulting liquid useful for anything?

(Thinking of handing the kids a couple jars of cream.)

"Benefits" are subjective, like taste....to each their own. Ironically, we don't have many homemade traditional foods left in our diets.

-If you make your own butter you have the option of making sweet butter or (lovely, yummy) cultured butter. Cultured butter is high in enzymes which makes it easier to digest.

-If you can get cream from pastured (grass-fed) animals, grass-fed dairy products contain an increased amount of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). Nearly six times as much.

-The resulting buttermilk from making butter is a tasty by-product that can be used for drinking, cooking and baking. It's nothing like the buttermilk we buy at the store.

It's rather amazing how something that was a common practice (making your own butter) just a few decades ago, is now a novelty. I have butter paddles, butter molds and butter dishes I still use for making and serving butter for holidays.

For really yummy butter, use goat's milk cream :-)

-Grainlady

Eagle, it seems none of us are as young as we think we are. I remember that every time I get on a horse. Fortunately, the horse isn't as young as he used to be either. (grin)

FOAS, I agree with Grainlady. The benefits will depend on your circumstances. If you can get good cream from grass fed animals you'll have some outstanding butter. If you like cultured butter, that's under your control too.

As for the buttermilk that's left, I use it as a liquid in oatmeal to add some nutrition, I use it in baking in place of water or milk, depending on the recipe, and I've added it to gravy and sauces.

If you make it, don't forget to rinse it well, or it can go rancid very quickly. Rinse and squish until you get all the milk out, and then rinse it again!

Annie

This is a butter press/mold I made for my other "Super Woman" friend who has her farm and makes a lot of butter. All food-grade non-stick plastic, stainless steel, dishwasher safe parts.

The press makes butter in one-stick, two-stick and four-stick sizes.

Butter in stick shape saves room in the refrigerator, easier to use when recipes calls for a stick or half of a stick of butter. It looks better to give butter to others.

dcarch

How do you make cultured butter?

Non-ultra pasteurized cream is nearly impossible to find any more. I've looked, and haven't seen normally pasteurized cream in a long time.

When my kids were little and going to vacation bible school, I volunteered to teach a class. One of the activities was to have the kids to take turns shaking a small carton of cream until it turned to butter. It was fun. We had crackers for them to have with the butter once they made it.

Sally

Sally- Here's a link with a nice tutorial. Maybe others can weigh in on whether this sounds about right.

Seems like a lot of steps. I may try to find some to buy to see if I even like it before going on this endeavor. I have a feeling I will though.

Fortunately I can find non-ultra pasteurized creams readily.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cultured butter

This post was edited by foodonastump on Sat, Sep 28, 13 at 11:05

Meant to add, dcarch, nice mold. Did you make that out of a cutting board?

delete double post

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Sat, Sep 28, 13 at 11:24

Thanks FOAS. Yes, two boards, white and a green one.

Butter is very soft when it is first made. After the mold is filled with butter with the green plates on the bottom and pressed to minimize voids, it goes in the refrigerator. Then the stainless steel plungers push the green plates and the butter out.

dcarch

I just saw a picture from my friend.

Raw milk, the cream will separate and rise to the top just sitting there.

It is illegal to sell raw milk, but if you tell the farmer you are buying the raw milk for your pets, then it is OK.

dcarch

dcarch, here you can buy a "cow share", and you get a portion of the milk to do what you like with. However, you get milk every week.

I can easily buy cream that is not ultra pasteurized. There is a small local dairy, Hilhof Dairy, I can get their milk and cream locally at a convenience store that also sells gas and has a Subway. LOL, a little of everything. The big stores won't sell the local milk, there isn't a big enough supply.

I did buy butter from Country Dairy, but found it too salty, so I have to make my own using cream from Hilhof Dairy or revert to Land O Lakes...

The press is nice, I just squish mine into a container with a lid and put it in the fridge. I'm not very good at measuring minute amounts of everything, so I know my small Lock N Lock containers hold 8 ounces. If I need half a cup, I just remove what I think is about half and use it. (grin)

You still have to rinse well, though, by taking your chunk of butter and squishing the milk out, run water over it, squish some more. Rinse well.

Annie

Each state has different raw milk laws. Here in Kansas you have to purchase it from the farmer at the farm where it is produced. They can't deliver it and it can't be sold at a retail store. You can find more information at the link below for the United States.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Raw Milk Map

I've done it in the KA once, but usually in the food processor. Used a really high speed and the whip attachment....

The first time I made butter, I did it in the food processor and I put it in a large plastic tupperware container to "wash" it with ice water. Well, a few days before that I wanted to clean the screen protector for my phone, so I put it in that same tupperware soaking in water and forgot about it... the guy I was dating at the time decided to wash the dishes and thought that the tupperware was clean and empty (the screen protector was clear afterall)... I'll never forget pulling up the ball of butter with the wooden spoons and seeing the screen protector sticking out of the middle of it... what a mess! I think I laughed for an hour; of course the butter and screen protector were both ruined!

Thanks for the link, FOAS. It give good and clear instructions. I have to admit I couldn't imagine the squishing and rinsing that Annie said was crucial, but the photos and instructions in your link showed just how to do that.

Grainlady, your link is helpful, too. I thought it was illegal to sell raw milk in Texas, except as "pet milk." There's not a close place to buy it here, though, so I don't think it's quite worth traveling two or three hours just to buy milk. I may be wrong about that, though.

Sally