A number of years ago, my husband and I took a ‘Fresh Cheese’ course at Sur la Table. The class went beyond just learning how to make fresh ricotta and mozzarella, we learned how to make homemade butter too! Quick and simple, you’ll wonder why you ever bought butter at the store. Seriously, you can make your own butter in about 10 minutes! If that’s not enough to push you in the direction of making your own butter, consider this – it’s less expensive to make homemade butter! Even with a 40% yield of butter and 60% yield of buttermilk, the butter that remains is still cheaper than the equivalent weight you would purchase at the store.
Oh yeah, did I mention that the bi-product from making butter is buttermilk?! Nothing is wasted in the process – how cool is that?! Some great recipes to put that buttermilk to use are: Buttermilk Biscuits, Fried Green Tomatoes, or Oven Baked Chicken Tenders with Panko Crust.
If all of that wasn’t enough to convince you that you need to be making your own butter, think of how impressed your guests will be when you tell them the delicious, creamy butter they’re enjoying on their dinner roll, was homemade! And if you really want to get them going, don’t tell them how incredibly easy it was to make – let them think you spent the day churning butter.
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Wow, this is incredible. I didn’t’ know it’s so easy to make butter at home! I only have mixer at home. What speed should I use? or it doesn’t matter so much?
By the way, does the homemade butter taste better than the store ones? I used to buy several types of unsalted butter to compare. I found some tasted very milky and nice, while others was plain and without much flavor. The butter at some fancy restaurants tasted stand out and different too. Just wondering what makes the difference. Hope this question is not too nerdy…
Hi Maggie! Not too nerdy at all! I love knowing that kind of stuff too! The taste of butter can vary widely depending on the type of cream you use. Better cream = better butter. There is also cultured butters, that uses slightly soured cream that creates a butter that’s slightly nutty in flavor from the natural fermentation process. If you want to experiment with different flavors, try cream from grass-fed cows, or even cream from sheeps or goats! From what I understand, cream from Jersey cows produces the best butter because of it’s high fat content.
Oh and yes, any mixer on high will do! In fact, you can make butter by shaking cream in a jar – a far slower process, but kinda cool nonetheless 🙂
I remember when I was a child, I was whipping cream for my Mom and I accidentally made butter instead! Today I will do it on purpose! Thanks
I hope you enjoy! Thanks, Rosemary!
OMFG. I feel like you plan your posts just to throw me off and make me think “WTF didn’t I think of that?” I am sorry for the profanities. I have been out at a long lunch with too much wine and came home to read this and thought seriously, this chick is just GOLD. GOLD!! (bold, large font, big exclamation mark) PLEASE tell me that this will work using thick paper towels instead of cheesecloth?? If so, I can make this right now!
Lol! No worries, Nagi! I’m just so glad you enjoy my posts! If you don’t have cheesecloth on hand, I’d start by straining out as much of the buttermilk as possible with a sieve and then transfer to a clean tea towel. Then squeeze and press the remaining buttermilk out from the butter, as you would when using cheesecloth. Hope this helps!
Looks amazing, I love the pictures! Great idea to add herbs. Just like Helen, I’ve made butter by mistake a few times 🙂 My intention was to make whipped cream, but made butter.
Thanks, Mira! I think it’s safe to say anyone who’s tried to make whipped cream, has made butter 🙂
I once made butter by accident after I left my food processor on too long while whipping cream – oops!!! I think it might be time to make some for real. What a great idea – it would be so easy to impress your dinner guests with this!
Yes, I have accidentally made butter more than once with over zealous whipping! But, it’s nice to know that you can make something wonderful out of a mistake! 🙂
Growing up in England my dad was a milkman, so we had a lot of milk and cream. My mum used to make her own butter and what a treat that was. I’ve thought about doing it myself and I did not realize it could be so quick. Thank you for sharing.
What a wonderful memory! Yes, give it a try – it’s super easy!