As a low carber who has a completely new take on nutrition, I feel free to eat butter with abandon. But I do worry some about all of the chemicals and hormones in standard storebought butter, as many toxins taken in by animals store primarily in the fatty tissues. So I make an effort to use organic, and when I can get my hands on it, grass-fed butter. Now that stuff tastes like heaven!
But the idea of making my own butter started when I received a cookbook I’d won on another blog, The Whole Family Cookbook. It’s a cookbook devoted to whole foods for kids, and it employs a lot of fun ideas for kids to help out in the kitchen. The cookbook ended up buried under a mountain of other books and magazines on my bedside table, but the idea of making butter stayed with me. And when I finally made it out to a creamery that sells un-homogenized whole cream (pasteurized still, but none of the fillers that keep it from separating), I bought a half-gallon with the specific idea of making my own butter.
There are a number of ways you can beat your cream into butter that don’t involve having an old-fashioned butter churn (remember those things? The sort of wooden barrel with a handle that you inevitably see in places like Colonial Williamsburg or Black Creek Pioneer Village!). I know you could probably do it in a stand mixer or a food processor. But I decided to have fun with it and do it the way the kids’ cookbook suggested, which was simply to pour some cream in a jar, put on the lid, and shake the heck out of it for 20 minutes or so. Turned out to be great exercise for my arms, too! I tried to get the kids involved, but they are a little young for being able to sustain that kind of constant shaking motion for very long.
I’ve now made my own butter several times and it’s absolutely heavenly. Freshly churned butter has no equal. I’ve learned a few things along the way, so here are a few quick tips to help you out:
- Don’t fill the jar more than half full. The cream needs room to whip and expand and take on air and it can’t do that if you fill the jar to the brim.
- You will be able to tell when you’ve got whipped cream, because suddenly the cream is no longer sloshing around in the jar. Keep shaking after that if you want butter.
- You will be able to tell when the butter is starting to form, because the buttermilk comes out of the cream and starts sloshing around again. Keep shaking for a bit longer to really bring the butter together and get out all the buttermilk. Once you have one smooth lump of butter in the bottom, you’re done.
- If you like salted butter (I do), a little pinch of salt will be enough. And don’t bother drinking the buttermilk if you salt the butter…it gets REALLY salty and tastes awful.
- Consider adding some fresh chopped herbs to the freshly churned butter…the butter is really soft when it’s first formed, and you can stir in anything you want very easily (I did one version with cilantro). It will harden when you put it in the fridge.
- The more cream you put in the jar, the longer it will take to become butter.
Homemade Butter
Ingredients
- ½ to 1 cup whole cream preferably non-homogenized, but if that's not available, just be sure it has no fillers like carageenan
- Pinch salt if desired
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped herbs to add at the end if desired.
Instructions
- Pour cream into a clean jar with a tight lid (for ½ cup, use a half-pint jar, but for any more cream, use a larger jar)
- Add salt, if using.
- Seal the jar and shake the heck out of it until it stops sloshing (has become whipped cream).
- Keep shaking until it starts sloshing again (buttermilk has come out of the cream).
- Keep shaking a bit more until the butter is one smooth lump at the bottom.
- Pour off buttermilk.
- Add any herbs and stir.
Liz says
You made your own butter???? I’m high fiving you all the way from Indiana…I have been having a love affair with butter my whole life and need to make my own, too.
Lisa | With Style and Grace says
I never even thought to make my own butter, what a great idea! Thanks for all the tips.
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious says
Yes I love my butter! I ate at a place recently where they served amazing crusty bread and bright yellow butter alongside some smoked flaky sea salt. Sprinkling the salt onto the butter and then with the bread was so good it should have been illegal…I’m digging making my own butter!
Nikki says
My son and I just made this–we had a great time. He is 8 and had fun making the butter. Our reward was our fresh butter on low carb toast. YUMMY!!
I read the other comments about washing the butter…i did that, but really don’t think it will last long enough to spoil.
Thanks for a fun, simple, tasty idea.
Karen LowCarbOneDay says
Neat! And a good arm workout! LOL
Angela says
I am soooo going to try this.
Rachel says
Too funny–I was just telling my son last night that we could make our own butter, and he got super-excited about the possibility! I did not know that once salted, the buttermilk is no good–I would’ve saved it to use in baking. I also didn’t know you had to rinse it for storage, so thanks for all the tips!
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
I make my own butter quite often, but I do use my stand mixer for the process. It takes just a few minutes. I also do the old-fashioned final step of washing the butter which helps it last much longer in the refrigerator. There’s an old post about it on my blog: http://www.lanascooking.com/2009/04/02/make-your-ownbutter/
Lisa Hiatt says
This was a great article. Thanks for showing the instructions! I didn’t know about washing the butter either. I only made a tiny bit to try it out, but I’ll remember this when I make a real batch.
Sawsan (Chef in disguise) says
I never knew it was that easy!
I will have to give this a try
Kathy - Panini Happy says
My kids are going to have so much fun with this!
Lisa Hiatt says
OK I just couldn’t stand it, I made the low carb “popovers” and NEEDED butter. I literally whipped up a little bit using a hand mixer. It worked!!! Thanks for the directions!!! It was SOOO YUMMY!!!!!!
Sarah @ Will Run for Pasta says
It’s your very own shake weight, LOL! Can’t wait to try this!
Paula Lynch says
If you intend to store homemade butter, it should be rinsed under cold water first or it will turn rancid in a few days.
Carolyn says
Great tip! Mine never lasts long enough to worry about it, but I will keep that in mind.
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
great idea! I haven’t seen this for a while! Must share
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says
I did this once when I was in grade school and I still think of how delicious that butter tasted. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make it again. Maybe I’ll make 2 big jars and shake them at the same time and tone both of my arms. 🙂
Dawn says
We did this in a jar a while back and found that the kids could just slide the jar across the table to one another. It works, it just takes longer.
Carolyn says
Hey, that’s a good idea. Another idea from the book was to wrap the jar in a towel and put the whole thing in a big coffee can. Let the kids kick the can around in the yard for a while!
Lisa Hiatt says
Glad to see you can use a mixer or food processor. I think I’m definitely going ot give this a try this weekend! I LOVE butter!
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
This is great, Carolyn! I was lazy and used my KitchenAid mixer to whip it, but I’m always so impressed to see that it can be done in a jar! YAY BUTTER LOVE!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
That’s just so cool! I am totally going to try this!
Judy says
This is a great intro to making homemade butter, but it doesn’t make much. I think you’ll get a lot of folks to try it. It looks like fun! But if you want more finished product, i.e. more butter, and easier, use a food processor with more cream. And if you make homemade creme fraiche with the cream first, you can make cultured butter, which is a step up on the dreamy scale, lol! Here’s a link to how to do it: http://lifeonthefoodchain.blogspot.com/2012/02/dairy-in-your-kitchen-cultured-butter.html?spref=bl