Making my own butter! (merged)

meritaten

I can remember trying to make a bit of butter during a snow storm when I had run out! I used the cream from FOUR bottles of full fat milk, put them in a plastic lidded cup and me and OH took turns shaking it. and shaking it. and shaking it - I ended up with about a half a tablespoon of real butter - it tasted superb, but was not nearly enough - The buttermilk got used in scones tho - and they were lovely!

So I have just contradicted myself really! but, I think if I had had some real cream to add to the milk I would have got more butter! to make enough for a cake I would have needed gallons and gallons of doorstep milk, and a huge barrel to churn it with! no wonder butter was a luxury in the olden days!

WeegieWumman

I well remember some of the farmers' wives churning their own butter in Ireland. I could never drink buttermilk, although years ago, I used it for baking scones.

I was also given homemade cheese from Shetland on several occasions. It was lovely

meanmarie

You can still buy 'country' or homemade butter here....not so sure how it tastes.

Years ago when my parents had a cow, my mother used to make butter with her food mixer....might be an idea for anyone lucky enough to have access to woopsied cream

Marie

BitterAndTwisted

Meanmarie: please do us all a favour and find some of this home-made country butter and try it, then get back to us about how it tastes. If it's prohibitively expensive we can have a whip-round for it. I'm sure I've got some Euro notes kicking around here somewhere from my last trip to the Netherlands.

ragz_2

My kenwood chef manual says you can use it to make butter, but you need double cream. I will be on the lookout for mountains of it reduced after christmas (don't think you can freeze cream, so never made use of it before). Anyoen know if you have to add salt for it to taste 'normal'?

mardatha

Weegiewumman where in Ireland was that ? My mum was from Galway but grew up in Glasgow

thriftwizard

don't think you can freeze cream, so never made use of it before

Ragz, I've frozen cream - often do, in fact, when it's on a good offer - & it's been absolutely fine. And yes, you'd need to add a dash of salt if you prefer salted butter.

mardatha

TW, I like your sig

freyasmum

Rachbc - you, quite literally, cream it off the top of the milk. It's the thick, really fatty (and scrumptious :drool:) bit that you see at the top of Jersery gold milk.

However, as already said further up by the time we get the bottled milk from the supermarket, the remaining fat and milk has been homogenised and the rest of the cream has been repackaged separately.

Then some of the cream goes to make butter and the buttermilk remaining from that process is also sold on its own. It's all quite ingenious really

ragz wrote: »

My kenwood chef manual says you can use it to make butter, but you need double cream. I will be on the lookout for mountains of it reduced after christmas (don't think you can freeze cream, so never made use of it before). Anyoen know if you have to add salt for it to taste 'normal'?

Ice cream......!

It's better to whip cream before you freeze it so you'd be better making your butter and freezing it in that state.

rosie383

I'm another one here who is looking forward to all the whoopsied double cream after Christmas to make my own butter. Made it for the first time this year just in the FP and it took just minutes! I will add salt to some to make salted butter, and leave some as unsalted. The it will go in the freezer.