I know several of you have been asking about how to make butter. Butter is truly the easiest thing to make and it really doesn’t take that long either. There is only one ingredient needed to make butter, heavy whipping cream. Yes, that is the secret ingredient in how to make butter. Since I was trying to buy more organic items, organic butter seemed a little expensive. I did some research to see how to make butter on my own. I was amazed I could turn my mixer into a butter churner and have butter in about 10 min.
You can watch the YouTube Video to see how to make butter yourself:
Ingredients for Butter
1 pint heavy whipping cream
Butter Churner Mixer
How to make butter:
1. Let the whipping cream warm a bit on the counter. Somewhere in the 60’s is a nice temperature to work with. But it really doesn’t matter. The warmer the whipping cream the faster the butter will happen.
2. Next pour the whipping cream into your mixer bowl. Turn the mixer on high with the whisk attachment. You may want to cover the bowl and the mixer with a towl. It gets a little sloshy. (if that is a word) Let this go for about nine minutes or so.
3. Occasionally turn the mixer off and scrape the sides once the cream gets really frothy. Usually about twice will do it after 7 or 8 minutes.
4. Then the mixture will break. Stop the mixture at the break. The break is a magic process where the solid fat of butter starts to stick together and the liquid (buttermilk) separates. There will be tiny little clumps of yellow in the bottom with some liquid when this happens.
5. Switch the attachment on the mixer to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer on a low to medium speed. The butter will start sticking together in a big lump. Once it is together, butter milk will be at the bottom. Turn off the mixer and pour the butter milk into a container and save it. We will use it for other fabulous recipes.
6. There is still butter milk in the butter. It is a good idea to get it all out. This prevents the butter from going rancid quickly. Pour ice water in the mixer bowl without getting any ice cubes in the bowl. Turn the mixer on slow and the water will draw out the butter milk. Pour out the water and repeat until the water is clear. This takes only a couple of times.
Now you know how to make butter. Wasn’t it really simple and easy to make butter. I found these little dishes at Ikea to store to keep my butter in the fridge. To whip the butter, simply leave it in the mixer and beat a little longer. This creamy butter is delicious on muffins, biscuits and just about anything. I now make my own organic butter this way. I buy a few pints of cream and set some time aside on a Saturday or Sunday. Butter freezes well, so I can make enough for an entire month in less than an hour. This is also a great science experiment for the kids to see how the fat parts of the cream start sticking together and the buttermilk is separated. You could do a science experiment on how to make butter for a home school project.
Now there is the by product of buttermilk that needs to be used, since I don’t throw anything away. Stay tuned for the awesome buttermilk recipes coming soon.
Erin Branscom says
January 7, 2013 at 9:30 pmI just fell in love without blog! So many neat I ideas. Stopping by from our blissdom page to say hi! Erin
Amy says
January 7, 2013 at 10:40 pmI am sure you meant to say “with your” blog. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Catherine says
October 15, 2013 at 2:59 pmThis is awesome! I am so glad I pinned your cream cheese post and came over to explore! About how much butter do you generally get out of a pint of cream?
Amy says
October 29, 2013 at 11:48 amFor one pint of cream you will get one cup of butter and one cup of buttermilk. Check out my buttermilk biscuits or pancakes for a great use of buttermilk!
Ambrosina says
December 29, 2013 at 9:03 pmI don’t have a stand mixer with paddle attachment. How do I make this with a regular hand mixer?
Amy says
January 28, 2014 at 9:20 pmI am not sure, since I have not made it with a hand mixer. I would guess just keep mixing with a hand mixer. I would think the fat would start to stick together and clump up. They made it in a butter churner in the old days. It just needs a good bit of agitation. It may take longer with a hand mixer. If you try it please let me know how it turned out.
Gin says
May 16, 2015 at 12:38 pmAs I was reading some of the posts asking about other ways to whip the cream into butter I decided I’d put my 2 cents worth in. As someone who lived on a farm and had fresh milk daily it was not a big deal to make butter I used an old paddle churn. In a pinch you can use an jar with a lid that will seal and not leak as you shake it. Place your warm cream in any sealable container that’s comfortable to hold and shake. This process is much, much slower and will give your arms a work out but will produce the same product. Once my butter was formed I strained it through cheese cloth to remove the excess buttermilk. We had a wood burning stove so I’d put my buttermilk in a quart jar add a bit of salt and sit in a warm spot near the stove and let it sit over night to sour. The next morning the buttermilk is shaken to blend well and refrigerated. This is the butter and buttermilk of my youth, that I now miss so greatly. Thank you for reminding people that we can so easily make our own diary products that are so much better than the processed “junk” that’s passed off as dairy now.
Amy says
May 17, 2015 at 12:18 pmThanks so much for sharing this story Gin. This is how my parents grew up as well. I love raw milk and all the wonderful benefits it has. Let’s get back to living simple again.
linda Duggan says
June 11, 2017 at 1:03 pmRaw milk is wonderful, why are we denied it? Amy yours is the first website I have found that is truly useful. Usually I just wander away and find something else to read or look at. You are invaluably informative and I thank you for that. Looking forward to all of your posts for sure.
Amy says
June 14, 2017 at 8:27 amThank you Linda. I wish we had better access. Living in the city it is difficult to find access to raw milk.