Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Butter making...

My KitchenAid mixer and wire whisk...
about 6 cups of cream saved over 3 days (give or take...we make butter twice a week)...
My 8 cup measuring cup and wooden paddle spatula (it's Paula Deen from Walmart and I need to whack off the handle as it's too long when pressing out the butter)
And ice cold water for washing the butter...removing as much of the buttermilk as you can, plus salting the butter (+/- 1 tsp per pound) helps keep it fresh longer...

We average about 22oz of butter, just shy of 1.5#, every few days. Judy is putting out a really nice, thick cream still. Not sure when that will decrease, but I've heard it varies based upon pasture/hay feeding as well as seasonal changes.

I would still like a manual churn, as I'd prefer not using the mixer all the time, but it works so much better than the blender, and with this quantity, jar-shaking just isn't in the cards.

I found some rubbermaid containers for lunch boxes that hold the amount of butter nicely and make a roundish 'pat'. I freeze the butter as soon as it's done in the container, then pop it out into a quart freezer bag, labeled with date so we can rotate it. We've been using a lot since getting Judy...I don't recall going through this much butter before! It's delicious, and butter is not the horrible health hazard we once believed it to be. Still, we do need to curb it some. I do still plan to stock store-butter for baking (the real stuff, not margarine) so we'll have ample fresh butter for eating.

No one around here is interested in buying fresh butter, but that's ok. We aren't stressing over that! LOL

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum. I switched the family over from margarine to butter earlier this year- margarine is so gross, we actually use less butter! My baked goods are so much better tasting, I honestly don't worry about my children eating too much butter - as it's not bad for you at all {well, I suppose if you ate pounds at time, that would probably be bad....} The price has gone up at the grocery store recently, I'm not switching back, no way- I actually noticed behaviour changes in the children also...

Good job making your own, use every drip of milk that comes from Judy.

Greg and Donna said...

Oh, I was hoping to see a pic of you on your front porch or step churning away! The butter sounds wonderful, lots of yummy baked goodies will be coming out of your kitchen!

Bean said...

Well if I live in MS instead of IN I would definitely pop on by to purchase some home churned butter - weird that no one wants to buy it. We NEVER use margarine-YUCKO - we are butter, butter, butter all the way :)

Bean said...

Well I don't know what is wrong that no one wants to buy your fresh churned butter - if I wasn't in Indiana, I would pop right over and buy some!!! Wow, all we eat is butter, margarine has not come over our threshold in years, it is so YUCKO! BUTTER RULES!!!

Intentional Living Homestead said...

If I lived close by, you could put me on a list for purchasing homemade butter. We NEVER use margarine.

“Old World Goodies” said...

I want to Thank You for posting this, I love to read about all the "old ways" of making things. I went on the search for how to make it with the KitchenAid and " I did it" ....thank you again for sharing ...I now have my homemade butter in the fidge.....

Plainlady's Ponderings said...

I use my blender to make butter. Beats shaking a quart jar full of cream for an hour.

Unknown said...

Hey there's an idea. I often make butter in my blender but I've not tried it in my kitchen aid.

Anonymous said...

I am still using a mixer for making our butter after a year. I would love to get a Daisy Butter Churn but I do what I can with what I have for now.

Yes, that butter is the best thing in the world when it is first made. When DS (11) hears me making it, he runs to the cabinet for crackers to spead it on. It is so addicting ;- )


I am getting about 1.25 lbs. of butter off of 1 gallon of cream. I like to let it sit for about a week and let it thicken up (in the fridge). It seems to make more that way.

Have a blessed weekend in THE LORD!

Amanda <><
Matthew 6:33

Jer.6:16

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

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