Thursday, June 26, 2008

Home Made Butter Sounds like Fun!




Article from ohdeedoh.com:

Can't wait to try this! Wonder if it stays fresh as long as store bought?


We found plenty of online resources for making butter and they all focus on one thing: shaking your groove thing. That's right, making butter involves lots of shaking which is really fun for kids. It can be tiring so the more kids you have on hand to share shaking duties the better. (If you're in a hurry, you can always use a food processor, but really now where's the fun in that?)

Okay, are you ready for the complex instructions?

  1. Find a jar with a lid.
  2. Pour in heavy cream and close lid.
  3. Shake
  4. Keep shaking
  5. Realize your biceps aren't what they used to be.
  6. Hand off shaking duties to a child.
  7. When the cream has thickened and become, well, buttery, drain off the remaining buttermilk (around 20 minutes depending on fitness level or number of child helpers).
  8. Refrigerate to harden a bit.
  9. Serve to friends and brag!

That's the basic gist of it. There are some variations (adding a pinch of salt for one) and you can find tons of instructions by plugging in "make butter" or "homemade butter" into any web search engine. Or, if you're lazy, you can check out Oishii Eats or Instructables.

and another recipe:

D.I.Y. Butter
about 1/2 cup
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)

Whir the cream and sour cream in a food processor for about five minutes. (Alternately: shake energetically in a Mason jar for about 15-30 minutes.) After the cream becomes thick and clotted like whipped cream it will suddenly start spattering against the top again as it clumps into yellow butter. Whip until the butter has formed a solid yet grainy mass.

Put a small mesh strainer over a bowl and pour everything into it. Refrigerate the liquid; this is buttermilk and it will last for several days. Use it for pancakes, or Pecan Cake, or Meatballs with Buttermilk Gravy.

Put the butter in a small bowl and rinse under very cold water until the water runs clear. You want every bit of the buttermilk removed; any left clinging to the butter will cause it to get sour and bad overnight.

When the water runs completely clear squeeze the butter inside a clean paper towel or cheesecloth until dry, then turn out into a crock or small bowl. Mash in the salt, if using. Refrigerate and use within a week.

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