Butter.
I know. It kind-of has the same effect on a person as the word “bacon” does. It just makes my mouth water.
First of all, if you are reading this post and are a margarine lover, you absolutely must read this article and stop right now. Please! Then come on back and read through my simple tutorial and get back to eating natural, okay?
It is so easy to make your own raw butter that there is no reason everyone shouldn’t try this at least once.
You will need either (1) raw cream in any amount from a dairy, or (2) raw whole milk from a dairy that has been poured into a clean container, allowed to chill in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, at which point you should be able to scrape the cream off of the top.
Additional Supplies:
– a tool for mixing your cream: standing mixer, hand mixer, blender, or even a jar to shake it in!
– ice cold water
– cheesecloth, jelly bag, fine mesh colander, or flour sack towel
– container to hold buttermilk (jar, etc.)
Step 1:
I used my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, but you can use whatever mixing tool you have. Just pour your raw cream into your mixing bowl and mix on high (I set my mixer to speed 8). I used a quart of cream (you can use whatever amount you like, but there does need enough to get a good whip on it). If you are using a jar, you can follow instructions here over at Mother Earth News.
Step 2:
Mix until a sudden change occurs. Your whipped cream-like substance will suddenly turn into a hard scrambled eggs-like substance and buttermilk will go flying! There really is no question of this occurrence- you will know it when you see it. So don’t stop mixing until this happens. Let it set for about a minute or so.
The liquid, which is raw buttermilk, can then be poured off into a jar to save for later use (banana bread? pancakes? yum!).
Step 3:
You will now need to wash your butter of any remaining buttermilk, otherwise your butter will taste sour and won’t keep very long. Simply pour some cold water over your butter, mix it for about 20 seconds or so.
Then put your butter in a jelly bag or other straining device (fine mesh colander, flour sack towel laid over a bowl, etc) and squeeze out the excess liquid. You can continue to pour cold water over the butter while in the jelly bag and strain until the liquid runs clear.
The finished product is beautiful and rich, yellow, natural raw butter!
Nice tutorial Erin! I used to make it years ago when I had access to creme but No raw creme in my neck of the woods so have to buy organic grass fed from the health store.
We’ve, personally, never worked with raw milk, but the first time I showed, in our daily home schooling, how to make butter was a dreary morning of Little house on the Prairie. The power went out and just when we got to the making butter part.. I went and got four jars and the cream. We finished reading by rocking out jars and everyone was thrilled when their little turn had a clump in it!! Schooling at home had so many ups and downs and this was a big up for us to share together. the science parts were lots of fun. ~Heidi
I need to check out local laws and suppliers again to get on the raw bandwagon again.