It doesn't take much to excite me these days, but I just can't get over how easy it is to make butter with a food processor (or mixer or even blender). All you have to do is process heavy whipping cream long enough to separate the buttermilk from the butter:



There's a little more detail here (link to my post):
http://followingmynose.blogspot.com...ade-butter.html

Even though I have to use HWC from the store that is pasteurized, I really like knowing there is nothing else in my butter unless I put it there!

Boy, my mom would have really LOVED having a food processor to make butter ... so would I have! I was usually the churn operator (unless I could plead a heavy homework load) and that really got heavy when the butter started to form. Then you work it in a bowl with a wooden spoon to work all the buttermilk out and to mix a little salt into it. You're right ... that's all there is to it!

There have been several people here over the years, who've asked if you can overwhip cream -- I usually tell them that yes, overwhipped is called butter!

My mother said the same thing Glenda. I almost feel bad...it feels like cheating. I made another small batch using a little cultured cream, and it was even better.

I see you have started a journal...yay, something to read when I get back in from cutting grass today!!

Does anyone know if butter is typically made from pasteurized cream or ultrapasteurized cream?

I have churned so much butter from a cow that we had when I was young.Had to milk her too. Let the milk set long enough for the cream to collect on top,skim off the cream and churn.Farm work is hard work.

Same here (3 cows milking, one of which I milked while dad milked the other 2). Then we used to let the separated cream sit out long enough to sour before we churned it. That made for really tasty butter and buttermilk to die for!

Just as an aside, I had the choice for the evening milking ... I could stay in the kitchen and help mom with dinner clean-up or I could help dad in the barn. I ALWAYS opted for the barn ... I still hate housework, except cooking (but not the clean-up)!

I am pretty sure the mass produced butter is made from pasteurized cream here in the states. i found this:

http://www.cowsoutside.com/butter.html

"Commercial butter production

Commercial butter is produced in a high speed continuous churn. Sweet, uncultured cream is subjected to high-temperature pasteurization, then pumped into one end of the machine, and butter and buttermilk come out the other end. The final stage of the continuous churn is where much of the damage occurs: water (and in most cases, salt, flavoring, coloring and preservatives) is beaten into the butter to dilute it down to the absolute legal minimum fat content. In Europe, the minimum is 82%; in the US it is 80%.

What's more, most commercial butter is made in what the dairy industry refers to as "balance plants", that is, plants that take up the slack when surplus milk is on the market. These plants buy milk and cream from the spot market by the 5,000 gallon tanker, truck it hundreds or even thousands of miles, repasteurize it, and then make butter. By the time the cream is churned, it may be a week old or worse, having been repasteurized several times!"

Glenda, I am the same here ,I had rather be outside doing something than in he house.I like farm work.Now not on a farm,but still have to have a few chickens.I do yard art now,just need to be outside,lol

The first time I heard of Yak Butter Tea, I thought it was really weird but now that I know what butter is, I think I would drink it!

I might have to give this a go and see how it tastes

I prefer salted butter - I'll have to have a google to see how much salt you add at the end.

DH prefers salted butter too, so I separated a small batch for him and added about 1/4 teaspoon to somewhere around a cup and he said that was good for him, but most of the recipes I saw when researching this said "salt to taste". It would be interesting to see what you come up with Krystair! I **really** like the batch I made with cultured cream. I hope I get the same results next time.

Yeah - salt to taste is what I've found as well.

I'm really looking forward to giving this a go today! It's my dog's birthday, so I'm baking her some pupcakes (come on, laugh it up...lol) and making my butter! I bet this would be WONDERFUL for some herbed butter for steaks, poultry roasting, etc.

the cultured butter at my grocery is less expensive than the whipping cream so I tend to just buy it but I'd love to do this once just to be able to say that I've made my own butter.

I did it and it turned out really well! A tad salty (I never start out slow...lol) so I made another batch to mix in with it. Letting it firm up now. So neat!

Oh yay Krys!! It is cool to watch the transition. I'm not saying I'll never buy butter again, but I am really looking forward to trying different varieties. And really hoping to find a source for raw milk.

And Happy Birthday to your 4 legged baby!