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Farm Kitchen:  Home churned butter  |
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lareyna
True Blue Farmgirl
242 Posts
Arlene
Valley Ford
Ca
USA
242 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 07:50:21 AM
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| Ok I have a new bee up my bonnet, I want to make my own butter, I live in dairy country so I have access to fresh milk and have a few antique churns, any tips? |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 5:53:03 PM
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Here's how I used to do it when I had my sweet Jersey cow.
We'd milk, of course, each morning and night. After straining the milk through a filter, we'd put it in flat Rubbermaid pans with tight lids that fit well in the bottom of the refrigerator. At night, we'd pull out that morning's milk and skim the cream into quart jars. That cream was so thick you could stand a spoon in it! We'd do this every milking, as well as rotate the drinking milk. The freshly skimmed milk would go into pitchers for drinking. Oftentimes we had so much excess milk (and this is even feeding some feeder pigs) that we'd have to throw it away. We always drank our milk raw, washed our equipment each time in a five percent bleach solution, and never ever had any problems.
Anyway, after accumulating about four quarts of cream, I'd dump it in an electric churn. It was basically a big glass jar with a motorized paddle in it. I'd watch closely, and soon I'd see the little beads of butter coming together. When the milky part got a clearish-blue quality (like store bought skim milk sometimes has) then it was generally time to work the butter. I'd drain off the buttermilk (didn't need to save it; we had so much milk coming at us!) and work the butter with a wooden spatula into the side of the bowl, pressing, turning, pressing, draining out the accumulating buttermilk I was releasing, and then pressing folding until I had a gorgeous big blob of butter.
I'd do a last work with my hands, doing a sort of kneading motion, and then divide and press into one pound containers. Some we froze for when our cow was waiting to freshen. Some we gave to my parents, and some my parents gave to their friends from Europe who longed for fresh sweet cream butter like they had back home. I never salted it; that's creepy to me.
And we also made lots of tiny butter cookies, shortbread, etc. 
I hope this helps! |
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lareyna
True Blue Farmgirl
242 Posts
Arlene
Valley Ford
Ca
USA
242 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 8:58:26 PM
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| Thanks so much Mary Ann, I am going to give it a try, my hubby thinks I have lost it though. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 9:18:54 PM
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OH my word! Fresh butter sounds heavenly! I wish you were close to me so I could buy from you!
Ciao
Alee |
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Bridge
True Blue Farmgirl
814 Posts
Bridgette
Southern
Indiana
USA
814 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2005 : 3:39:14 PM
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I have been entertaining this idea foe weeks now!!
My mom has a old Daisy churn she is giving me!
Do you know if you can make butter from Store boughten cream? |
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Thistlewoodmanor
True Blue Farmgirl
51 Posts
Deb
Geneva
IA
USA
51 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2005 : 6:50:16 PM
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I was wondering the same thing......the grocery store had heavy whipping cream for 10 cents each as they are on the experation date. I bought 3 of them.....and my mom just gave me her antique butter churn. I know my kids have made butter in school by shaking whipping cream in a jar....
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~annavon431/ |
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FloralSaucer
True Blue Farmgirl
156 Posts
Australia
156 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2005 : 7:13:34 PM
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Whoops, lost my post. The answer is in the Prairie Primer homeschool book I can post a link to where I saw this if you like.
Mary Ann makes butter the same way my Mum did. She also fed the excess milk to the chickens, they loved it. |
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lareyna
True Blue Farmgirl
242 Posts
Arlene
Valley Ford
Ca
USA
242 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 07:57:01 AM
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| Seems we are if the same mind,,,,,,I have an antique churn, but no kiddies around anymore who think the turning sounds like fun, guess I will have to "borrow" some grandkids for the weekend lol |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 10:31:53 AM
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I don't know if it'd work very well with store bought; and it seems like it'd be pretty spendy.
I know the idea of crafting your own is appealing, but be aware that the slightest odor or off smell can be absorbed by the cream, and give you funky butter. And it varies with what the cows have been fed, and color depends on what time of year, whether the cow has had fresh pasture or not. Summer butter is more yellow.
After having my own fresh sweet butter for so many years, store bought butter was rancid tasting and nasty. It even smelled bad! The brand I've found to most resemble my own is Land O' Lakes Unsalted, in the blue box. It's sweet and delicate, and devoid of that nasty salty rancid flavor that many store brands and even premium brands have. In the old days, many dairymen would disguise the age on their cream by salting their butter. Ugh; no excuse for it, but I suppose people get used to the taste.
I use this butter or olive oil, and not much else. I can get it for about $3.97 a pound at the Super Walmart. It'd take a lot of cream to make a pound of butter. |
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FloralSaucer
True Blue Farmgirl
156 Posts
Australia
156 Posts |
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Farm Kitchen: Home churned butter |
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Home churned butter
