# First attempt at making butter.



## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Well, that was a big FLOP. 
I read online to make it in the blender and pour it off in a metal sieve to rinse it. Either I didn't let it get far enough along or the mesh was to big in the sieve. Most of the butter ( i guess, it was very soft) went straight through the mesh and down the garage disposal. 
Does homemade butter get really thick and clumpy or is it supposed to be very soft and squishy? 
Guess it's back to the drawing board. Next time i will try a mixer and use ice cold water in the mixing bowl to rinse it. 
Hope I don't stop up the drain pipes in the kitchen. :bash:


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Was your cream warm? Try using cream right from the refrigerator and letting the blender run until larger globules form. Then try the strainer to drain and rinse the butter. You will still have to work the excess liquid out of the butter or it won't keep.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

The best results I've had making butter is when it is at room temperature and has been sitting out overnight. I use raw milk. I don't know if you can leave pasteurized milk out overnight without it spoiling. Use cold water for rinsing.

It sounds like you needed to keep going a bit more in the blender. It sometimes gets to a point where it looks like super thick whipped cream and you might think it's ready, but if you keep going it will finally "break" into butter grains that won't go through the sieve. Sometimes it happens in a few minutes and other times it takes a half an hour or more.

I invested in an old fashioned glass jar, crank handle butter churn to make butter. I've been very happy with it. I make a fair amount of butter though. Otherwise it might not be worth the expense. 

I've done exactly the same thing as you did and watched in wonder as all my beautiful butter went right down the drain! Keep at it, you'll get it!


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

I bought heavy cream, and I let it sit out on the counter for 12 hours. 
Yes, I think I didn't let it go long enough. Thanks, BlackWillow glad to know I'm not the only one to make that mistake. I will try again.


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

When I make butter...the break of butter from milk is very obvious. I use the paddle on my kitchenaide. I let it run a few seconds before I shut it off and the butter will collect in a ball.


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## barnyardfun (Mar 26, 2005)

I use my food processor.....some butter whipping up right now! Might need to go check it!

I have learned two very important things to success. The cream needs to be AT LEAST a couple days old and I set it out the morning I want to make butter and make it that evening. It hasn't failed me yet. The butter I have going right now was cream I was supposed to do last night, oops! It will just be a little more sour but still good. 

Good luck!


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

I don't have a kitchenaide. I do have a food processor. What speed do run yours on barnyard? Do you change speeds during different parts of the processing? 
I don't have access to fresh cream. I have to buy mine at the store. I do let it sit out for 12 hours before trying.
Thanks for the help girls. I will try again when I have the time.


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## barnyardfun (Mar 26, 2005)

My food processor has Chop, Shred, or Dough. I use the Shred since it seems to be the slower speed (although it is still very fast!) I just turn it on and go on about what I am doing. Usually you can hear the tone change a bit or you can look at it and tell it is splashing around differently. I don't know that you can overprocess it. I have let it go for quite awhile just to make sure I "got it all".

Good luck! Don't give up! It is extremely satisfying when you eat your first batch of butter!


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

Also my experience with butter making is that it changes throughout the milking season. sometimes it breaks faster then others. Last yr at the end of our milking season I noticed that the butter had more milk solids in it then it had previously. It looked more loke the stuff from the store. Now that she is refreshened that has changed. I always let the milk sit in fridge at least 2 days before I skim it off for butter


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Put the strainer over a large bowl or pot. What is going through the strainer is not to be discarded.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Yes, I have read you can use the buttermilk to bake with. We don't drink buttermilk and I don't bake from scratch enough to use it up Alice, or I would save it. Thanks for the suggestion tho.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Use it in the place of milk when making pancakes/biscuits with a mix. Seriously improves the flavor!!


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

How long will it keep in the fridge?


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## Joyfullyplain (Jun 18, 2008)

backachersfarm said:


> When I make butter...the break of butter from milk is very obvious. I use the paddle on my kitchenaide. I let it run a few seconds before I shut it off and the butter will collect in a ball.


I never thought of using my kitchen aid mixer to make butter...does it work well?


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

I tried my Kitchen Aid mixer but the cream splattered all over the place. I have a splash guard but it still wanted to sprinkle out somehow. Maybe it's just me?? I ended up with the old fashioned hand crank and I really like it.

As for the buttermilk, it's great in pancakes, bisquits and breads. It keeps for quite a while too, but I'm using raw milk. Maybe the pasteurized buttermilk will react differently. If you don't want your buttermilk, I'm sure your dogs or cats would appreciate it. Don't throw it away. Give it to them.


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## Mountain Mick (Sep 10, 2005)

Mountain Mick&#8217;s Home made Butter 
I make butter all the time and use the buttermilk to make sour cream , 

Making Butter/Buttermilk

600ml cream (1 pint)
Â½ to 1 teaspoon of salt
Churn butter (use a electric beater) works great 
Beat until butter fat and buttermilk separates drain of buttermilk I use cheese cloth and squzee the buttermilk and store in fridge for use in sour cream, scones & Buttermilk Bread etc. Them add salt to butter and them paddle in to block and set in fridge. Use on toast and in cooking it taste yummy, if it goes sour doing use. This will yield about 200g butter and about 100ml buttermilk.

It's fun please enjoy MM


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

I use a low speed and the splatter shield when using my KitchenAid to make butter. If you turn the speed up too high, too soon, then you will get splattered. You can also drape a large dish towel over the mixer when first starting the butter. That will keep the splatters to a minimum.


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## highlandview (Feb 15, 2007)

Here is a simple method for making butter that I do with my girls http://thehighlandviewpantry.blogspot.com/2010/09/making-butter-with-kids.html.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

No kids around to shake it here.


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## oth47 (Jan 11, 2008)

My youngest daughter and I made butter in a quart jar by rolling it back and forth across the floor..she was about 2 at the time.One of my favorite memories of her childhood.(she's 34 now..where does the time go???)


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

I used to end up with a mess from splatter...I finally took the lid that came with the Kitchenaide and cut the very center out of it. No more mess. It was worth the sacrifice. Now I can run it as fast as I want.


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## Rosepath (Feb 18, 2011)

I was doing a hearth-cooking demo at an 1811 historic event last weekend, and they wanted butter. We took two and a half pint containers of cream from the store, put it into a ceramic butter churn (not quite gallon sized), and gave it to the two teenage girls who were helping. Sat them on the porch, told them how to push the wooden churn dash up and down in the churn, left and went inside to make noodles.
They came back in, 10 minutes later, with a puzzled look on their faces, asking "how much liquid is supposed to be in this?" The churn lid was covered in butter, the churn dash was thick with butter, the butter was filling half the churn. They'd just never seen it made  Moral: hot day + cream room temp = really fast butter.
BTW, it was delicious and they want to try it at home with the jar-shaking method.
New converts, so much fun.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Put a large marble in the jar, works faster, less work. I use a quart of goats milk a week, all butter here, we use no other oils or spread. We love the buttermilk, pancakes, biscuits, and buttermilk cake with rasins, OH BOY....James


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## JulieLou42 (Mar 28, 2005)

What I do is skim the cream off the raw milk after 24 hours and let it come from 34 degrees to about 65-66 degrees...use any sort of food thermometer to determine temp. Churn using whatever method you have on hand...mixer, blender, food processor, butter churn, children...mine came to butter in 10 minutes yesterday. It was too soft to separate easily from the buttermilk, so I chilled it for an hour or two in the fridge, and was then able to get it into a rather large ball of butter, then was able to get most of it out of my gallon churn in one piece. Put it on a dinner plate and with a silicone spatula kept pressing it into itself, folding it in from the edges onto itself with the plate sloping so as to drain off the milk onto a paper plate or paper towel...whatever!...and when I figured I had most of the milk out of it, added the salt and worked that in the same way for about five more minutes. This time the milk removal part took about 15 minutes altogether, but it's better than paying the price for the best butters I can get at the market. I got near a pound of butter from 3.5 cups of heavy cream.

In winter months, I use my hands under the cold tap water from my faucet. Our water's in a reservoir in our basement, so it's not as cold as it gets outside here. But I couldn't do that yesterday, as the room temp was too warm.

Hope this helps.


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