Make Your Own Butter Recipe

How to make it

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• This recipe came from my wife's aunt who was part of a farming community in the North East of Scotland.
• Butter Making - Equipment
• You do not need much equipment to make butter at home, a bowl and large jar with a lid being the minimum. If you have a food processor or an electric whisk then the task will be much easier.
• Butter Making - Method
• Let the cream reach room temperature, around 20 C (68 F) is ideal – this is critical. Don't heat it but leave the pots out of the fridge for a good few hours to warm up. If you have a cold kitchen, put them into the living room to warm up.
• Now we are ready to make butter....With the Large Jar method you need to half fill the jar, put the lid on and shake it for anything between half an hour and an hour. This is hard work, especially for any quantity and I've not tried it myself, and nor do I intend to. But this is how she used to make her butter on the farm using a proper butter glass jar which had a wooden paddle fitted inside.
• With a food processor or an electric whisk, proceed as if you are making whipped cream. In the processor, use the plastic blades if you have them. I used my Kenwood 'K' beater and is the best tool.
• It will go through the usual stage of starting to form firm peaks and then it becomes quite stiff. At this point you might like to reduce the speed of your whisk because when it goes it happens very fast.
• Quickly the cream goes a bit yellow in colour and then little bits of butter appear and a thin liquid, the buttermilk. Just seconds later, the butter seems to clump and is separated from the buttermilk. If your whisk is on high speed you are now redecorating the kitchen, hence my suggesting you reduce speed to a minimum.
• Buttermilk
• Drain the buttermilk off – you can use this in baking or cooking.
• Washing the Butter
• You need to get all the buttermilk out of the butter or the butter will quickly go rancid. Add clean cold water to the butter in the blender and operate on low speed for a minute. You need the water to be cold or you melt the butter, which will then run off with the water.
• Repeat the washing process until the water is really clean, this can be seven or more times but I can't emphasise enough how you do need to make sure the water is clear. I found this depended also on the make of the cream but don't understand why.
• Pressing the butter
• You now need to get the water out of the butter. In the old days they had special wooden paddles to press and shape the butter but you can use your hands and the back of a spoon to do this. When you have the water out you are ready for the next stage.
• Salting or Flavouring the Butter
• Homemade butter can be stored for at least three months in a freezer. I do know that commercial butter stores for much longer but they add stabilisers or preservative to it, which enables longer storage.
• If you are going to freeze the butter, don't salt or flavour it. The freezing process enhances the saltiness or flavour and you may well find it tasted fine on the way in but is too salty after freezing.
• To salt do not add more than a small half teaspoon for each half pound (250 gr) – half that amount suits me but I don't take a lot of salt.
• You can also add crushed garlic or dried herbs to make flavoured butter if you wish at this stage.
• Shaping the Butter
• If you have salted or flavoured the butter, you will need to mix it thoroughly and then you can shape it. I prefer a roll of butter rather than the traditional box shape. You can then wrap the butter to keep in the fridge or to freeze if you have a lot.
• I find cling film ideal, but I've been told you can use greaseproof paper.

2 rolls of butter. 1 salted the other unsalted   Close