In this post my friend Sharon Biggs Waller, a historical novelist, shares her recipe and method for making homemade butter. Rich, delicious butter can be made using heavy cream and a few simple kitchen items. No churn is required. Read on for the method, or watch the video for a tutorial!
Whenever I tell people I make my own butter they tend to look at me in wonder. “Making butter? Sounds like alchemy,” one person said. Invariably I’m asked if I use a butter churn. Although the idea of sitting on my porch using an old-fashioned churn appeals to my inner Little House on the Prairie, I don’t collect enough cream from my dairy goat to use such a device, nor do I possess the funds to buy one. The truth is, butter is a simple thing to make with ordinary kitchen tools, and you don’t even need to own a goat or a cow. You can make butter with store-bought whipping cream. But before we get into the details, let’s talk a bit about the history of butter.
People have been making butter for centuries throughout Europe and Asia. Humans initially used butter as a way of preserving the fat in milk. Butter rose to prominence as a spread and cooking fat in northern Europe during the Middle Ages, when it was eaten by peasants. The upper classes also ate it periodically, because it was the only animal fat allowed by Rome on days when meat was forbidden. In the 16th century it was allowed during Lent. In the early days, it took a little while to get enough cream to churn, and so it was collected over various days. Because the milk in these small old-timey dairies was not refrigerated, the lactic acid bacteria inherent in dairy would ferment slightly. This cultured butter has a very tangy and rich flavor, and is my personal favorite. Spread cultured butter on sourdough bread or a crusty baguette and you’ll know what heaven tastes like. Most butters made in Europe still taste this way, although they are made from pasteurized cream inoculated with lactic acid.
Uncultured butter made from straight-up pasteurized cream is called sweet cream butter, and is what we’re used to in the United States. Pasteurization of the cream kills the lactic acid bacteria, however butter made from such cream lasts longer. True cultured butter, made from raw cream, turns rancid after ten days. If you want your butter to taste cultured, Ricki Carroll, author of the book Home Cheese Making, advises using unpasteurized cream and letting it ripen at room temp (72 degrees) for several hours. Or use pasteurized cream, let it sit for 12 to 24 hours, add mesophilic starter and let the cream set out overnight before churning. If you’d like to taste European-style butter without making your own, try the brand Plugrá. Although technically not a cultured butter, Plugrá uses natural flavors from cultured milk.
At its very essence, making butter requires nothing more than agitation. What you’re doing is separating the fat from the milk. You can use a blender, a stand mixer or hand mixer, or just shake by hand (if your child has a lot of energy, enlist their help; kid-power goes a long way!). I usually use my stand mixer with the whip attachment for making butter. I’ve also used a blender in the past and it worked just as well. If you use a stand mixer, be sure to place a kitchen towel over the mixer and the bowl to stop the buttermilk from flinging all over your kitchen, which will happen when the butter globules form.
You’ll notice in the pictures below that some of the butter is white, not yellow. That’s because I have a herd of goats, so I usually use the cream we collect to make my homemade butter. Goat’s milk is white because it doesn’t have the beta carotene that causes the yellowish blush in cow milk. A goat turns the carotene present in her fodder into vitamin A, which is colorless.
Here is the process for making homemade butter, step-by-step!
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How to Make Homemade Butter
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- Large bowl of ice water
- Salt to taste (optional)
- Stand mixer, hand mixer or blender, or a jar with a tight fitting lid
Instructions
- Pour a pint of heavy cream or whipping cream into your device or into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. If using a machine, turn on low speed, then raise to medium speed. If you're using a jar, start shaking (you'll need some serious elbow grease if doing it by hand). First, the cream will turn into whipped cream with soft, then stiff peaks. Keep going until the cream breaks. If you’re shaking the cream by hand, you’ll hear a sloshing, then you’ll begin to feel something more solid hit the sides of the jar. If you’re using a stand mixer, you’ll see the butter clinging to the beater. This usually takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes -- by hand may take longer. In this process, you are separating the butterfat from the liquid.
- Once the butter has solidified, pour off the buttermilk and save it for baking (or drink it!). Scoop the butter into a bowl. Rinse the butter by pouring ice water over it and pressing the remaining buttermilk out with a small spatula or a spoon. Pour off the water and repeat the process. Keep rinsing and squishing the butter with the ice water until the water runs clear. Then add some salt if you like and work that through the butter.
- There you have it-- old-fashioned butter, no churn required! Spread on toast, corn on the cob, a baked potato, or whatever you like and enjoy!
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Research Sources
Belanger, Jerry (2001). Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA
Carroll, Ricki (2002). Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses. Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA
McGee, Harold (2004). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner, New York, NY
Karl says
I grew up on a dairy farm and usually twice a week ma had 2 gallon jars at the back door when we went out to start chores. We would skim cream from the bulk tank to fill the jars. When we were done with morning milking and headed in for breakfast we would shake the jars all the way to the house. By the time we came in the back door we had 2 jars of butter that ma pressed rolled and put on the table. She saved the buttermilk for cooking or drinking at supper. Great way to educate kids on how things used to be.
Janine says
That’s awesome. What wonderful memories that show how chores can be a blessing.
Tami and Lou says
Just made the first batch of butter. AWESOME AND EASY !!
Tami and Lou says
Just made our very first batch of butter…Thank you so much for the simple instructions! I think this is going to become a staple in our house.
Jenna and Dan says
My husband and I tried it won’t work we used a hand mixer what did we do wrong? Sounds simple is there something we missed will it not work if to much cream?
Dee Fryman Ryan says
I’m old enough to remember my uncle Roy and Aunt Helen on the family farm in Ohio. My favorite place to be was sitting on the kitchen steps by the old wood cook stove and churning butter from the fresh cream. It was poured into a large glass jar with wooden paddles attached to the lid and a crank on the side. I would sit for what seemed like hours turning that crank until it was finally butter. Fresh baked bread came out of that wood cook stove oven and the smell was out of this world. Fresh butter on fresh bread was so delightful and then we would pile homemade jams and jelly on it. YUMY! I plan on making some from this recipe and hoping it will taste as good as in the olden days.
Angelic Hamdi says
Just made this. Butter this morning it delicious used it to make brioche with chocolate chips will make this butter again thanks for the recipe
Amy says
Though I always bake for my kids I never make butter. This is such a great tasting butter, so clean and fresh. I am going to try this weekend. Thank you very much Tori.
Randi says
I have a question about storing the butter after making it. Can I leave it out in a butter dish or does it have to be refrigerated? I am excited to try this! It will go great on my homemade bread!! 🙂
Debbie Sansom says
I’ve made butter this way several times. Puts store bought butter to shame! Wonderful & easy, great kid project too!
john says
Be careful with ultra pasturised because it does NOT work you end up with like wipped cream.!
Susan says
I used ultra pasteurized cream – the only kind my store carries. It 45 minutes with the Kitchenaid on 7. When the butter finally separated, it only took a minute to have buttermilk flying everywhere. I’m certainly glad I was persistent!
ruth says
I made this this morning but did not know I needed to wash with ice water. Will what I made be ok or should I do something with what I got.
Ron M says
It it necessary to do the rinse? I don’t remember ever doing that when we made it in school.
Joann Ianniello says
Correction: We gave the families small containers of heavy cream with a pinch of salt!
Joann Ianniello says
I was taught how to make homemade butter at Columbia University Teacher’s College at a Cooking Workshop. The Workshop was presented by an educational group Friends of the Earth. The idea was to teach recipes to teachers that they would then share with their students. The goal was that children would eat what they prepared. It also gave students the knowledge from where their foods originated. After attending the workshop, each year I taught the students to make butter during November during a unit on the children’s chores in the Colonial Days. We also shared making butter with families at the annual Family Science Night. We gave the families small containers with some heavy cream and butter, telling them to shake until they would hear the solid lump of butter separating from the cream! Once the butter was created, we had them spread it on crackers to taste it! My favorite part was seeing their eyes light up because their homemade butter tasted so good! Thanks for posting the History of Butter. I enjoyed learning about it!
Tommygirl Lastovica says
I made my butter using the same basic recipe, only I didn’t know about washing it. I used my food processor ( I broke my hand mixer 2 days before Thanksgiving 🙁 , I know, horrible time. But the food processor worked fine. I just got a stand mixer as an early Christmas gift, so I will be trying the recipe in it as well, since the batch I just made is nearly gone after using it in recipes for turkey day. I used heavy whipping cream, but it does need a tiny bit of salt. Thanks for sharing your recipes and knowledge with us
Brenda Payne says
We bought a relatively inexpensive churn online from Lehmans. ( Less than $100) We have tried it twice and although it takes about 2 hours, it was worth it. I teach 5th grade and took it to school and my urban kids had a blast making butter, then eating it on bread. As a colonial history buff, I love doing things the “old-fashioned” way. Your recipe is great! Thank you!
Rachael says
So I tried making butter in the blender and I realize I took it too far. It had separated a bit but is now liquid again. Is there any salvaging it?
Rachael says
For what it’s worth, I refrigerated the overmixed cream/butter overnight and re-mixed it today. It worked just fine, and now I have my butter. 🙂
Jasmin Lee says
Is the whipping cream whipped cream or a different type of cream?
If so where can I find/buy it?
Tori Avey says
Jasmin, it is not “whipped cream,” it is cream that is not yet whipped. It is usually labeled “whipping cream” or
“heavy whipping cream” and sold near the milk and coffee creamers.
Barbara says
Can I freeze the butter and for how long?
Pamela Mugizi says
Hey, interesting article! By the way butter, what we call Cow Ghee, has always been made and is a delicay in EastAfrica’s cattle keeping regions especially Uganda & Rwanda. So, add that to Europe & Asia 😉
We go even further to ake a very yummy white source out of cow ghee called ‘Eshabwe’ that is served on special ocassions 🙂 🙂
Inbox.me for details.if you are interested!