Butter: Homemade butter: How to…

I’m not gonna lie; I kinda felt like a magician. Just for a moment. It was so cool…I mean after all, I MADE BUTTER! How awesome is that? I’ve never made butter before. I don’t know why. Maybe because I was afraid. Perhaps I thought it would be too hard. And worse, maybe, I’d fail at it. There was always an excuse; I will do it on the weekend, next week, after… I decided no more saying later…It was time.  What I found out…Making butter is easier than I thought! You know how you felt after knowing how a trick was done? Almost like the “magic” had gone out of it…well, this is NOT the case! The magic was still there. I knew how the trick was done and it’s was still incredible! “I MADE BUTTER!”

This is how I did it…

I used a 1/2 quart–(a pint) or (2 cups) of whipping cream. Bought from the store. (Next time I will make this using the thick cream at the top of my raw milk.)

Pour the entire 1/2 quart of heavy whipping cream into mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment (kitchenAid) I started out at medium speed and gradually increased the speed so as to not splash milk everywhere!

It will seem like you are whipping forever! Your whipping cream will start to become beautifully “whipped” cream and then from whipped cream to small bits of…well like the picture you see below.

The beautifully creamy whipped cream is looking rather grainy! 😛

Then you will need to change your attachment to the paddle attachment. And continue whipping.

Looking a bit more like cottage cheese!

You will start to see liquid forming. That is buttermilk! Abracadabra, more magic! 😀 With this buttermilk you can drink it, add it to your pancake batter or biscuit recipes. There are many recipes that call for buttermilk. (My pets love it too!)

More of the buttermilk is released.

Keep whipping to get as much buttermilk out as possible.

Even more buttermilk, YUM!

You will have a good idea when to stop whipping.  The butter will clump together. Scoop out all the butter solids and give it a good squeeze to release any buttermilk trapped between the folds. You can squeeze with bare hand or put the solids into cheesecloth and squeeze.

Pretty butter!

Next, I poured out the buttermilk into a glass jar and returned the butter to the mixing bowl. I added ice water and continued to squeeze the butter, thus washing it. (This washing method helps to keep the butter from spoiling.) I repeated until the water ran clear. The ice bath helps to keep the butter a solid.

Giving butter an ice bath!

After the water is clear, empty out all the water, dry bowl or put the butter into a dry dish…this is where you can salt and “season” the butter to your desired taste.  Garlic butter and chives! Honey butter! Possibilities are endless. For this butter I just salted it with Himalayan salt. I sprinkled it on and used a spoon I had set in ice water to help keep the butter from melting.

This will save for a week in the refrigerator and about six months in the freezer.

Shape the butter and enjoy!

And there you have it…butter! Wah-lah!

Some fun facts:

Buttermilk has fewer calories and fat than regular milk.

Buttermilk is soothing to the stomach.

Buttermilk is soothing to the skin and makes a fabulous face mask! (Use 1 teaspoon of french clay to 1-2 tablespoons of buttermilk.  Mix and apply on face. 10 minutes or so, rinse and pat dry. Follow up with your favorite moisturizer. If you don’t have french clay (you can use most facial clays), or use ground oatmeal.)

Buttermilk has many beneficial nutrients and probiotics.

Butter made from grass-fed cows has high amounts of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid)–basically a beneficial fatty acid that helps the body protect against some forms of cancer!

Did you know it’s the beta carotene in butter that gives it the yellow color? And by using milk from grass-fed cows depending on what they are grazing on, the color of the butter can change! Pretty neat!

Butter made from grass-fed milk has a high content of vitamin K2 which is incredibly important for your heart. It De-calcifies your arteries!  Amazing…kinda like magic. Looks like I will be picking up an extra gallon of raw milk in my weekly visits to the farm. Did I mention I own part of a cow?!

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I hope this tutorial gets you excited to make magic!  Have you made butter before? I’d love to hear from you and how you seasoned yours.

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Here’s to you finding magic in the simple things around you. Have a beautiful day everyone. Hugs, Koko 😀