Make Your Own Butter (Without a Cow)
When I was a girl, my mother was a saint. I was one of those children who talked contantly (Never saw that one coming, huh) and was always right up on her with questions and endless conversation. I can’t ever remember a time, even now, when I haven’t been trying to figure the world out, finding some new angle almost daily to view it through and gain a better understanding of the whys and what-fors of any given situation.
I was one to question, examine, and then declare my findings. Again, much how I do now. But folks, I can tell ya, My poor mama needed a break from time to time and she always came up with wonderful ways to keep me busy while giving me something else to figure out.
Most of these actiities have become habit for me now, ways I busy myself in the odd need to be doing multiple tasks in order to focus. My friend, Jyl is night and day different from me in this respect. She actually focuses on one thing at a time, just like my husband. Mama is like that, too, so I’m really surrounded by people who stand in place doing one appointed task while I buzz around them talking away with the speed of my thoughts. I imagine it leaves us both a little tired.
Recently I was on the phone with Jyl talking over some things I have coming up with Southern Plate and while talking to her, I walked into the kitchen and got all of the fixin’s out to make a little butter. I poured my cream into a mason jar, screwed the lid on good and began shaking away. ~swish swish swish~
After a few minutes of talking while I swished in the background Jyl asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m making butter.” I declared, as I continued swishing while I walked around the house talking on the phone.
Did you know I can’t stand still or sit while I talk on the phone? Doing only one thing at a time is very difficult for me and always has been. Of course it’s ADHD but it is certainly not a disorder, it’s a gift, a talent, and a blessing. The only reason it is called a “disorder” is because other folks beat us to the punch in declaring themselves normal and us abnormal. If we wouldn’t have been so busy up and leaving Europe and creating an entirely new country based on an entirely new governmental concept, we could have gotten to declare the rest of the world “OTATD” or “O-Tats” for short, One Thing At A Time Disorder. ~grins and giggles~ But that is a post for another day so back to what I was saying about butter..
Jyl sounded incredulous “You’re doing what?”
“I’m making butter, I’m going to spread it on some saltines.”
“Are you talking about actually churning butter?”
“Yeah, but in a mason jar. Haven’t you ever made butter?”
This is when it occured to me that Jyl, being the quiet person that she is, most likely never annoyed her mother like I did and therefore was never given the fascinating task of making butter in a mason jar. Since I can’t see her ever being able to annoy people to the extent that I do, I guess it is up to me to take the initiative and show her how it’s done so this post was born.
Tomorrow begins National Dairy Month and this is a great post to help us kick that off so yesterday, me and the kids made butter. This is a GREAT activity to do with kids, or to let them do on their own to buy you a few minutes of quiet in the kitchen while you cook. Even adults enjoy the “neatness” factor of making your own butter with just some whipping cream and a mason jar!
All you’ll need is: Heavy Whipping Cream and a jar or two.
I usually use the larger jars but these little eight ounce ones are easier for little hands to hold and do just fine.
Fill your jar 1/2 to 3/4 full, but no more than that. Your cream needs space to shake around a bit.
Put the lid on well and then start shaking!
This will take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes, but your butter will most likely be ready in twenty minutes or so. It all depends on how much you shake it. Little hands will take frequent breaks 🙂
Now let me tell you what is gonna happen here so you don’t think you’re shaking your arms off for nothing:
First, the liquid is going to completely coat the jar as you shake and you’ll hear it just a shaking back and forth
Then, the liquid is going to get really thick, still coating the jar, but as you shake you won’t really hear it shaking anymore and you’ll begin to doubt me. Hang in there, I promise there will be butter soon enough, just keep shaking on faith :). You can open the lid if you want and see that your cream is just really, really thick. Then…
After about fifteen or twenty minutes, you’ll notice the sides are no longer coated and it pulls away from the sides a bit.
You’re almost done!
A few minutes later you’ll feel solids shaking around in there and the liquid and solids will separate completely. Now your butter is ready.
When you open it up you’ll see this.
Pour that out into a strainer or colander so the liquid can drain out the bottom.
This is Brady and Katy’s jar both emptied.
Now adding a little salt is optional but I like to.
This is just a little kosher salt that I’m going to stir in.
You will need to add this to taste so start small.
Stir in salt, if adding it.
Spoon butter into small ramekin, cover, and refrigerate.
It will harden as it gets cold.
Enjoy!
Doesn’t this look good? I love it on Saltines!
Making Butter At Home (Fun activity for all ages!)
- Whipping Cream
- Mason Jar
- Salt (optional)
Fill jar 1/2 to 3/4 full with cream. Place lid on tightly. Shake for ten to thirty minutes, or until you hear solids shaking around and can see through the glass that the solids have separated from liquid (read up in post for more details of what the shaking stages will be like). Pour into colander to separate liquid from butter. Place butter in a ramekin or bowl and stir in salt, if desired. Refrigerate until hardened. Enjoy!
Did your Mama have creative ways to keep you busy as a child?
My Mama Reed used to have her grandkids shuck corn and snap beans on the front porch. They loved feeling needed!
I’d love to hear what your parentsand grandparents did in the comments section below!
We had a WONDERFUL time this past weekend when we got our own private tour of a working dairy farm in Alabama.
Stay tuned to my next post for details and photos!
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What you DO speaks loudly, I can’t hear what you say.
~A quote Nick Saban used in his book, How Good Do You Want To Be?
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How did Mama keep us busy as kid—well, mowing the yard, pulling weeds, hoeing vegetables, toting water to water stuff, picking peas, butterbeans, tomatoes or whatever needed picking, shelling said peas/beans, shucking and de-silking corn, feeding chickens, hanging out and taking in laundry, drawing water from the well, washing dishes, making beds, going to get watermelons out of the field and cutting them under the old shade tree, making homemade ice cream in the evening as a treat, sending me to the country store about 1/4 mile from the house on an errand, picking berries, watching the younger kids, making playhouses and mudpies, playing cowboys and Indians, helping pick cotton then jumping in it after it had been weighted, the list goes on…:)
I remember doing this as a kid but I got to use a table churn. It was a large glass jug that had a screw on cap with a hand cranked mixer attached. It was tiring work but worth it at the end. Left over whipping cream has many uses:) Homemade fettucine alfredo, over oatmeal at breakfast, whipped up to use with fresh berries. I understand the whey is very nutritious and surely can be used in cooking. As for the fly swatting, got that duty, too, but never got paid to kill flies.
My mom has one of those churns too!
My mum-in-law also has one of those–I’ve been *seriously* tempted to ask her to borrow it (so I can clean it up and do some nice unsalted butter) 😀
This is much better than the chore my family doled out; swatting flies for two cents each.
Once you make butter what do you do wtih the whipping cream? I am sure there is some use for it.
I drink it 🙂
Christy, I think we will at least need a cow to make the cream for us, lol! : ) I’ve done this a few times growing up, although we used a bigger jar. My mom has also made butter using the mixer. It’s funny you posted this, because every time we’ve had heavy cream recently, I’ve wanted to turn it into butter!
Oh, Christy, thank you for the reminder of making butter and the tips on how to do it. As I child, I churned it in the churn. I wish I still had the churn. Sigh. I am going to see two grandchildren who are old enough to do this so it is on my agenda to make butter with them.
When I was a girl, some of my favorite times were snapping beans and shelling peas on the porch with family.
When my children were young and we lived in the city, every Memorial Day, early in the morning, we would go out for breakfast (a rare treat in those days) and on to the farm in the country for crates of yellow corn and white corn. The three girls and their dad would shuck and silk it and I would wash it and prepare it for the freezer. Great fun then and great memories now. :-)))
This looks like a great way to keep little hands occupied! I’m going to be an elementary teacher and this would be a fun experiment to do with students.