Tips for Making Butter at Home

Buttering up the staff!

We held a day-long butter making session in our office break room/kitchen. Not only was it very well attended (nearly 100% staff involvement), but the resulting meals involving butter and buttermilk were much appreciated.

What’s it take to make your own?

Contrary to popular belief, you need neither Popeye’s forearms or a wooden churn to transform cream in butter and buttermilk. All that’s needed is a little time, some elbow grease and a kitchen friendly butter churn. If you want to do more than butter, The Home Creamery Book provides a lot of information on what you can do with milk and cream.

We’re able to create our small batches of butter with the Hand Butter Churn and some heavy cream from the local grocery or dairy.

How is butter made?

1. We start with whole cream that is at warm temperature, or at least 50°F. We’ve found that warm (not cold) cream works best.
2. Pour the cream into your churner of choice. Volume used depends on the capacity of each butter churn.
3. Begin churning.
4. Keep churning.
5. The cream will shift from liquid to whipped. After further churning it will thicken prior to separating into buttercream and butter. The butter will appear as granules in the buttermilk.
6. Pour out the butter milk, use a strainer to keep any butter.
7. Place the butter in a bowl with cold water. Squeeze and knead the butter to remove the buttermilk. Change out the waterer from time to time until is stays clean after kneading.
8. Dry with a celan butter cloth, dish towel or even paper towel.
9. Add salt to taste for salted butter.
10. Form into a mold.
11. Use a butter keeper, refrigerate or freeze for storage.