Making butter is simple.
It’s really just very agitated cream.
The craft of making butter seems to have been lost. In past centuries, most butter was made by hand using methods similar to this. These are forgotten skills now, so much so that actually doing it yourself by hand and seeing a pat of butter form before your amazed eyes has something magical about it.
All you need are three things:
- double cream, about a pint
- a large jar with a tight fitting lid
- a little salt, to taste
Pour the cream into the jar and fasten the lid.
Shake the jar.
Shake it some more.
And some more.
Keep shaking it for what will seem like an eternity. The cream will thicken and cling to the sides of the jar. Don’t worry, just keep shaking.
Eventually, you’ll feel a weight slopping around in the jar with a satisfying thud. The cream will have separated into butter and buttermilk.
Drain the contents of the jar through a seive and swill it out with cold water to remove any bits that were left behind. Shape the butter into a block, squeezing out as much liquid as you can, and dry it with a cloth.
You could beat in some salt at this point, or just leave your butter unsalted.
This method is centuries old, and it’s difficult to see how a recipe that involves only one ingredient – a carton of double cream – could be attributed to any specific person. Despite this, I got the idea from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s excellent The River Cottage Family Cookbook, a superb book full of simple and easy recipes that are perfect for kids to help out with.
Hugh writes that people sometimes used to make butter by giving their grandma a jar of cream and letting her rock it into butter on her rocking chair. If you have access to a suitably equipped pensioner, by all means strap a couple of Kilner jars to her chair and see what happens.
Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe to more from them apples
PDF Related posts:
RSS
Newsletter
Twitter
Facebook
NetworkedBlogs
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Aw, I remember making this as a kid when we went on a field trip to a dairy. I need to do this again! Thanks for reminding me of a good memory.
This is the perfect project to do with little ones!
wow I’ve never thought about making this at home…i bet its amazing!
Wow, impressive!
My kids have made this at school and then enjoyed it on some freshly baked cornbread. They loved the experience. Of course, 20 kids taking turns to shake the jar isn’t quite as much work as doing it yourself, but it would be a great way to get them to burn some energy.
I will strap some jar to my dog and go for a walk. do you think that would do it?
Good exercise of the whole arms, elbows and hands and at the end is a double win as to taste the lovely butter on toast…. thanks for the wonderful post….
I remember doing this at my grandmother’s church. Can you do it with, say, a food processor? Seems like a lot of work to me.
Fun way to put the kiddies to work in the kitchen. Or get a workout of your own. Easy easy!
I am trying this at home.
Wow this looks so easy, I must do it
This sounds like an awesome weekend activity
Thank you for this post. I never thought about doing this!!
Your daughter is adorable!!
Very cool! I must try this… even through curiosity alone. Thanks!
Ha ha… I’ve made butter at least once with a blender and I loved it. Plus you can use the buttermilk for some bread, cake or pancake. It’s really nice to watch it forming, I agree with you that most people nowadays have no idea of this kind of basic skills and it’s a pity.
Brilliant, except all my kilner jars are now filled with sloe and damson gin (shame) and I dont have access to a hyperactive 4 year old. Ill get Liam to do it!
Fresh butter and great exercise too. Lovely post.
excellent recipe on making homemade butter. this is one project I need to try, I’m sure it is a lot of work but totally worth it
Ah its been years since I did that. if you want to be lazy just use an electric mixer…..same thing. Thanks for sharing
I love to make things myself, so this is great!!
This is extremely helpful! I didn’t realize it was so easy to make your own… beats paying someone else to do it.
I’m gonna make some this weekend.
Very satisfying. Do you think the butter tastes better than the stuff you buy in the shops? You could also add herbs (such as tarragon) or garlic at the churning stage.
That photo is priceless!
There’s really nothing like the flavor of homemade butter. Great milk = great butter. And it’s so easy!
Thanks for the comments
Denise – yes, try it again, and you’re welcome.
joie de vivre – the kids do love this. It’s the combination of furious shaking and an end result that does it.
Cookin’ Canuck – ah, you’ve spotted the flaw. It is very tiring. it’s a full upper body workout before you’re done. Using a whole class of kids is clearly the rather cunning answer.
Junko – a dog? that’s genius
Vegetplotlot – the end result is what it’s all about
JD – a food processor would be OK if you use a whisk attachment – the normal blade probably wouldn’t work. Best of all, use a standup mixer with a whisk fitting.
Miranda – she is adorable, isn’t she, but you should see her when she’s in a mood…
Miriam – my buttermilk went into a loaf o bread.
The Greasy Spoon – it did taste better than shop-bought butter, very natural and clean, and not over salted. Certainly worth the considerable physical effort.
Lo – that’s the core of it all – use fantastic cream, get fantastic butter. The photo? I know, it makes me smile every time I look at it!
I’ve made butter using my food processor, but this would be fun with my 3 year old! thanks!!
Wow! I had no idea it was that easy, and I was just telling my husband that it was a little disappointing to find that we’ve been eating butter-flavored butter all these years.