This is how I make butter. I've got it down to a fine art and can make a batch within 10 mins. It's probably not the 'correct' way so if the butter police are reading, I've not poisoned anyone yet!! I use my old mixer to whip the cream. I've had it for about 17 years. I really wanted a Kitchen Aid one back in the day but couldn't justify the cost so got this Kenwood Patissiere instead. It's a great work horse in the kitchen!
It takes about 9 mins of high speed whisking to get to this stage where the butter and buttermilk separate. I do use the splashguard but even then if you're not quick enough to switch it off, it splashes all over the place!
I strain the butter and buttermilk through some muslin over a sieve. Then I gather the corners and squeeze all the buttermilk out. You're supposed to now rinse the butter in cold water to get rid of the last traces of buttermilk so the butter doesn't spoil and keeps longer. I never do this! 😱😂 I just pat it dry and shape it into a block. I never salt it, preferring to leave it plain. Sometimes I freeze some of it if I know I'll not use much in the coming week.
My mixer copes with a 600ml carton so I did 3 separate batches yesterday. 1.8 litres of cream (3 x 600ml) made just under 900g of butter. I portioned the butter into 100g blocks and the buttermilk into 175ml portions as that's how much my scone recipe needs.
I froze 8 of the blocks of butter along with the tubs of buttermilk and the tubs of minced beef mixture. I also had some chicken stock to freeze as I'd poached some chicken breast in the Crockpot. I keep saying I need to run down my freezer to clean it out but I can't help filling it up when I get a bargain or two, or free!! 😊
In the days before you weren’t allowed to do anything fun in school, I used to make butter with my P3 class using fresh cream from the farm donated by a parent. We would put it into large screwtopped jars and the children would shake the jars until we were all dizzy! Spread onto oat biscuits or bread and it was a feast. Catriona
ReplyDeleteYep, I made butter in a similar way with various classes. Kids thought it was magic! I still do. Lol! :-) xxx
DeleteI keep thinking I have finally gotten everything used up in my fridge freezer only to keep adding more.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you make your butter and at a really good savings as well.
God bless.
Yep, I'm always adding more. I can't help myself! :-) xxx
DeleteYou Tube is so useful. I learnt to make butter in the same way. I got 300ml pots of flavoured, thick cream after Christmas for 2p each and made enough butter for several months. I chopped it up in bowls of cold water to remove the last of the sugar and alcohol, and froze it in small packs, rectangular to take less space. The buttermilk made interesting blancmange.
ReplyDeleteI looked for the flavoured butter when someone mentioned it in the frugal FB group but didn't find any. 2p is an amazing bargain! :-) xxx
DeleteI love this sort of thing and really admire you for looking after the pennies. I'm guessing it's lots cheaper if the double cream is yellow sticker.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Yep, yellow sticker cream makes it cheaper but I just love making my own now. For some reason (probably psychological!) it doesn't upset my tummy like shop bought butter. And even using full price cream is still cheaper than the goat's milk butter I was buying :-) xxx
DeleteWay back in 1986 in one hotel I was working in I remember the head chef shouting at J that the cream she was beating in the huge industrial mixer would turn into butter if she didn't keep an eye on it. Fast forward to 1987 and we got our first house; I picked up a Kenwood in a charity shop in Ringwood for £4, bought some cream and never looked back. I remember a couple of days after christmas one year I found large cartons on the reduced shelf at 5p - I bought 20 and spent two days making butter. I still make it, but not all the time. I have a different bargain Kenwood (e-bay £20), but have also invested in a small Kilner hand churn for when the shtf and the lights go out. The rinsing is less important these days with modern refrigeration. One of my favourite self-reliant skills I taught myself :)
ReplyDeleteI was recently in a rather nice cafe and had tea and scones. The cream was so overwhipped it was almost butter. I mentioned it to my friends and they genuinely couldn't see any issue. I guess I'm just fussy about how I like my cream whipped now. As I remove as many UPFs from my diet as I can, I'm really enjoying making almost everything from scratch. I'm at the point now where 'treats' (like the chocolate doughnut) don't taste nice any more. Which is a good thing :-) xxx
DeleteYep, I always find that trying to empty the freezer means it fills up with all the things I make from the ingredients I find in it and from sudden bargains from the shops. The butter and buttermilk is a great thing to have stashed for future use.
ReplyDeleteYou should maybe start a little notebook of things like this and what you are saving by making them yourself.
I should really but I'm not that organised, yet! :-) xxx
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