How to Make Easy Homemade Butter - wikiHow Preparing the Cream 1 Start with fresh, heavy cream. Heavy whipping cream has the highest fat percentage, making it easier and more productive to turn into butter. For a more unique flavor not available in stores, try buying raw cream from a local dairy. If this is not available, vat-pasteurized cream will produce the best flavor, followed by ordinary pasteurized cream, with ultra-pasteurized (UHT) cream a last choice option. [1] [2] Avoid cream that contains added sugar. The fat percentage listed on the cream tells you how much of the cream will end up turning into butter. A minimum of 35% is recommended. In the US, you can search Real Milk Finder for local sources of raw milk. 2 If using an electric mixer, chill a large bowl and a container of water. A colder bowl will prevent the butter from melting. Chilling a second container of water may also be useful at this stage, especially if your tap water tends to be on the warm side. 3 Pour the cream into the bowl. Don't fill it to the brim, since the cream will expand with air before it turns into butter.

4 Add cultures for a stronger flavor and easier churning (optional). If you skip this step, you'll be making sweet cream butter, a mildly flavored variety that includes almost all commercial butter sold in the United States and the United Kingdom. [3] If you want a more complex flavor, similar to butter sold in continental Europe, introduce a slight, acidic fermentation to make "cultured butter" instead. This acid also speeds up the breakdown of fat and liquid, shortening the churning time. One easy option is to add either buttermilk or plain yogurt with added cultures. Use one tablespoon (15 mL) of the sour addition for each cup (240 mL) cream. [4] [5] Alternatively, buy mesophilic cheese culture online. Mix in ⅛ tsp (0.6 mL) for every quart (liter) cream. 5 Let cultured cream stand at room temperature. If you added cultures, leave the cream out for between 12 and 72 hours, checking every few hours. The cream is cultured once it is slightly thick, foamy, and smells sour or tangy.

[6] For sweet cream butter without culturing additives, just leave out the cream until it reaches about 50–60ºF (10–16ºC). This will make it easier to churn, but is still cold enough that the butter should be firm and easy to handle during the later stages. [7] Part 2 Turning the Cream into Butter 1 Churn or shake the cream. If you have a butter churn, churn the handle for approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Churning is very easy and efficient with a well-built butter churn. If you have an electric mixer, use the whisk attachment and start it on low to prevent spatter. Otherwise, seal the cream in a Mason jar and shake it. Mixing typically takes 3 to 10 minutes, while shaking takes roughly 10 to 20 minutes. To speed up the shaking method, drop a small, clean, glass marble into the jar before shaking. If your mixer only has one speed setting, cover the bowl with plastic wrap to catch spray. 2 Watch the cream change consistency. The cream will go through several stages as you mix it: [8] Frothy or slightly thick cream. Soft peaks.

Raising the mixer will leave a standing peak with a drooping tip. You can now increase the speed of the mixer. Whipped cream, forming stiff peaks. The cream will start to look granular, and become very pale yellow. Reduce speed again before liquid appears, to prevent spatter. Break down: Finally, the cream will suddenly separate into butter and buttermilk. 3 Pour the buttermilk into a separate container, and save it for use in other recipes. Continue to mix the butter and pour off more liquid as it appears. Stop churning once the solid looks and tastes like butter, or when almost no more liquid is coming out. 4 Wash the butter in cold water. If any buttermilk remains with the butter, it will spoil very quickly, so this needs to be done unless you eat the butter within 24 hours. Pour ice water or chilled water into the butter. Knead it with a clean hand, or use a wooden spoon to press the butter. Pour out the ice water through a strainer. Repeat until the water is mostly clear. This takes at least three washings, and sometimes several more. 5 Press out the remaining liquid.

Use your hands and the back of the spoon to press any water remaining in the butter. Strain this out of the butter. 6 Mix in salt or other ingredients (optional). Add sea salt to taste if you prefer salted butter; try ¼ tsp (1.25 mL) per ½ cup (120 mL) butter. [9] Homemade butter is delicious by itself, but you can try all kinds of additions for variety. Consider dried herbs or finely minced garlic. You can even make a sweet spread by mixing in honey until smooth. Be aware that the added flavors may taste significantly stronger after freezing and thawing the butter. 7 Store in the refrigerator or freezer. Homemade butter typically stays good in the fridge for at least a week, and up to three weeks if you thoroughly pressed out all the buttermilk. [10] In the freezer, unsalted butter will stay top-quality for about five or six months, while salted butter can last as long as nine months before taste is affected. [11] Unlike many foods, tightly wrapped butter will not suffer in texture when frozen. Community Q&A What do I do if it won't turn into cheese?

wikiHow Contributor If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Video Tips If you use a stand mixer, don't use more than a quart of cream. With practice, you'll be able to hear the change in the mixer motor when the butter is done. Make sure to shake vigorously. It is also fun if you have some friends to do it with. Put salt into the butter for a different taste. You can speed up the washing step by combining the butter and water in a blender, but this risks melting your butter. If you have access to raw milk, you can leave it out for about a week, checking daily to skim the cream off the top. This will be slightly soured cream with active cultures, and can be made into cultured butter without having to add any other ingredients. [12] Things You'll Need Updated: Views: 544,530 "Wash butter? I thought it was a joke the first time I read the phrase in an old cookbook, but it makes perfect sense. I've been making my own bread for several weeks and this is the next logical step.

The only observation I have to make is that homemade butter has a harder texture to it than store-bought. Maybe add a bit of olive oil?"..." more - Karin Ball I loved this article. It taught me a lot of things. Thank you very much and keep up the good work. - Hodan Abdullahi Good information and directions, thanks! - Phyllis Strutman Great learning experience for my kids. - Holly Reese Churn | Define Churn at Dictionary.com churn a container or machine in which cream or milk is agitated to make butter. 2. any of various containers or machines similar in shape or action to a butter churn, as a device for mixing beverages. 3. British. a large milk can. 4. an act of churning stocks by a stockbroker. verb (used with object) to agitate in order to make into butter: to churn cream. to make (butter) by the agitation of cream. 7. to shake or agitate with violence or continued motion: The storm churned the sea. 8. to turn over and over in the mind: His brain slowly churned all the choices and possibilities. 9.

(of a stockbroker) to trade (a customer's securities) excessively in order to earn more in commissions. verb (used without object) to move or shake in agitation, as a liquid or any loose matter: The leaves churned along the ground. 12. to be changing rapidly or be in a confused state: Her emotions churned as she viewed the horrific photos. 13. to have a queasy feeling, as from anxiety or disgust: My insides were churning at the thought of being on stage. 14. (of a stockbroker) to engage in the practice of churning. Verb phrases churn out, to produce mechanically, hurriedly, or routinely: He was hired to churn out verses for greeting cards.

Origin of churn Old English 1000 before 1000; Middle English chirne (noun), Old English cyrne cyr(i)n; cognate with Middle Low German kerne, Old Norse kjarni, kirna Related forms unchurn, verb (used with object) unchurned, adjective Examples from the Web for churn Expand Pennywise David Frum April 2, 2012 The clock is relentless as they churn out dish after dish, being judged on creativity, taste, and presentation. The Glories of Ireland Edited by Joseph Dunn and P.J. Lennox If the butter did not form from the milk, some witch was in the churn. British Dictionary definitions for churn Expand (Brit) a large container for milk 2. a vessel or machine in which cream or whole milk is vigorously agitated to produce butter 3. the number of customers who switch from one supplier to another verb to stir or agitate (milk or cream) in order to make butter to make (butter) by this process 6. (sometimes foll by up) to move or cause to move with agitation: ideas churned in his head 7.

(of a bank, broker, etc) to encourage an investor or policyholder to change investments, endowment policies, etc, to increase commissions at the client's expense 8. (of a government) to pay benefits to a wide category of people and claw it back by taxation from the well off 9. to promote the turnover of existing subscribers leasing, and new subscribers joining, a cable television system or mobile phone company Derived Forms churner, noun Word Origin Old English ciern; related to Old Norse kjarni, Middle Low German kerne churn, German dialect Kern cream Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for churn Expand n. Old English cyrin, from Proto-Germanic *kernjon (cf.

Old Norse kirna, Swedish kärna, Danish kjerne, Dutch karn, Middle High German kern); probably akin to cyrnel "kernel" (see kernel ) and describing the "grainy" appearance of churned cream. v. mid-15c., chyrnen, from churn (n.). Extended senses are from late 17c. Intransitive sense is from 1735. Related: Churned; churning. To churn out, of writing, is from 1902. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Slang definitions & phrases for churn Expand churn verb To artificially increase the level of activity in a law firm, insurance company, or other enterprise in order to increase commissions, feign busyness, etc: Policyholders have launched class-action suits alleging churning (1940s+) The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D. Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.

churn - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com Random Word churn A churn is a container that you fill with cream and then agitate until the cream becomes butter. You may have only bought butter at the store, but your ancestors probably used a traditional plunger-type churn to make their own. The verb churn means to mix cream until it turns into butter, separating out the buttermilk. You can make your own butter by churning it in a jar if you don't have a churn, shaking heavy cream until it becomes solid. To churn can also simply mean to agitate, like a boat might churn in a turbulent ocean, or your stomach might churn with anxiety about your big test the next day. Making Better Butter at Home in Your Kitchen A good thermometer A knife to cut the curds, and a spoon or ladle to stir the curds with. A Blender, Food Processor, old fashioned butter churn, or even a willing child ready to shake the jar full of cream until the butter forms. A bowl to wash the butter in and a wooden or plastic spoon or spatula to press the butter during the final stage. Everything needs to be clean and sanitized . The Cream to use: The better your cream tastes, the higher quality your butter will be.

Heavy cream is 40% butterfat and 60% milk solids and water. The cream from Jersey cows produces the best butter because of its higher fat content milk, plus the fact that their fat is dispersed in larger globules than milk from other types of cows and tends to churn into butter more easily. This cream is deep ivory to gold when it is from pastured cows because the plants they eat have higher beta carotene, which colors the cream more than grain. Can we use pasteurized or even ultra pasteurized cream for this? Yes, But the quality and flavor of the butter will not be the same as using fresh cream. You will probably find it to be better than what you find in the store but fresh cream is always better. The high temperature treatment, while making normal cheese making next to impossible does not affect the butter process as much since the process involves the fat and not the proteins which are damaged by heat. It may affect the flavor and yield though. Fresh Sweet Cream The ideal cream is non-ultra pasteurized, high butterfat content (36-40%), organic, and from pastured cows. Jersey cream makes churning faster, due to larger butterfat globules.

Just using run of the mill cream from the store probably means that you are starting off with better ingredients than the average butter. But if you can find non-ultra heat treated cream from pastured cows, that will vastly improve the flavor. The hardest part of making good butter is finding good cream. Most of the cream sold in this country is ultra heat treated (UHT). The best pasteurized cream is vat pasteurized cream, which is heated to only 165F for 30 minutes. But vat pasteurized cream is harder and harder to find. Cream Skimmed from Whey As I travel to visit cheese makers in Europe, I often see the whey being diverted to a separator to remove the cream for butter making. This is done before the whey is heated for Ricotta. Nothing is wasted there ... First to the cheese, then to the butter, then to Ricotta, and finally to the pigs. Nothing is wasted. This is especially true in the Parma region and in the Fontina area of Aosta in Italy.

Here, since I often use fresh Jersey milk, my whey is always rich in butterfat so I make sure the whey goes into a sanitized container when removed from the curds and then allow it to sit overnight at a cool cellar temperature. In the morning, the cream has risen plus the bacteria from the process has ripened for a cultured cream. I can then carefully skim the surface and cool to my butter making temperature. The result is a fabulous cultured butter that goes to my neighborhood "foodie" friends. Now to make Butter: Making butter is super easy! Essentially all you need is cream and a jar. Of course you can make it in the mixer or the blender and here I usually make it from ripened cream in the blender. Just pour the cream in, hit the stir button and wait to hear the "chugging" sound. Start with the cream at about 50-60 degrees to make butter. If its too warm, the butter will be very soft and will be more difficult to rinse and knead later on. If too cold, the fat will have difficulty consolidating. You can start with fresh sweet cream or culture your own cream for more flavor.

Culturing the Cream (optional): Commercial culturing is a superficial affair, so don't imagine any brand you have purchased isa model for cultured butter. Industrial butter is cultured in a matter of hours. At home, you can do much better. Unlike factories, you don't need to consider the cost of waiting for cream to ripen. And that's the secret to making extraordinary butter. Raw cream is naturally full of desirable dairy bacteria and ferments and sours on its own, without the addition of a bacterial culture. Fermentation by lactobacillus bacteria changes the chemistry of cream, making its flavors more complex. Among other changes, it produces lactic acid, making the cream less “sweet.” Culturing helps make churned cream “break” faster into the two products of butter making: butter and buttermilk. To culture your pasteurized cream simply add a packet of our buttermilk culture to a quart of cream (adjust proportionately if using more/less). Butter cultures are “Mesophilic,” meaning the bacteria thrive in moderate temperatures. “Thermophilic” yogurt cultures require higher temperatures so are not so effective here. Pasteurization kills all bacteria, even the beneficial natives.

So, if you were to let pasteurized cream just sour naturally, you would be allowing any ambient bacteria that might be lurking, without the natural defenses to control it and the milk would simply "spoil." Bring the cream to 68-70F (Do not let it fall below 68F or above 78F), add the culture and keep covered and warm for the next 6-12 hours. This will totally depend on how much character you would like to see in your butter. Let your taste buds guide you on this. After this ripening, the cream should be noticeably thicker and have a well developed aroma (buttermilk culture is often called an Aroma Culture). It should taste delicious, slightly sour, and have no aftertaste. If the cream is bubbly, or smells "off", yeasty or gassy, you have a contamination problem: throw the cream away! The problem was probably caused by one of the following: The milk was contaminated with other bacteria that are not of the friendly dairy types. The area in which the butter has been made is contaminated with yeast from baking etc.

The cream had been stored near other items in the fridge that impart an oder that is not welcome in the butter (onions, garlic, etc) Separating the butter: If using a jar: Fill your jar 25-50% full of cream. The more cream you have in the jar the longer it takes to form butter because there's less movement of the cream and that's what makes the butter. If using a blender, food processor, or mixer only fill 25-40% full (otherwise life will become messy). Turn it on at a moderate speed and watch the cream change to thick cream and then begin to separate. I use my blender on "stir" here. It really doesn't take long, between 10-20 minutes depending on, cream, temperature, how long you let it ripen, and type of "churn." You will next notice the sound of the moving cream changing as the cream turns from liquid to whipped cream. You will eventually notice that it will "break" as the butter separates from the buttermilk. As this happens, notice the color of the cream as well, it will start to turn more and more yellow as the butter comes together.

The butter will start clumping together. Rinsing the butter: This part is super important- to keep the butter fresh. The final butter may have some lactose and milk proteins remaining in the liquid and if this is allowed to ferment, the butter may become rancid in a short time. The washing and folding is what removes most of this. Cultured butter lasts longer because this lactose has been mostly fermented out to lactic acid. When the butter clumps well, pour the liquid off (make sure you keep your buttermilk) and move the butter to a bowl. Add some fresh cool water and rinse the butter by pressing and folding in the bowl, do this two or three times until the water is just about clear. Pour off the final rinse water and continue to knead with a spoon until it forms a nice ball, you'll notice you'll be working water out of the butter. If the butter is too soft, put in the fridge to harden a bit before continuing. You can add salt to your butter as your taste prefers during the final kneading. You will notice more liquid coming off if you do.

The butter you just made can now be pressed flat or rolled into a ball and wrapped or pressed into a special butter mold -for the esthetics. But first, cut your self a nice hunk of that great bread you have in the pantry and smear a good sized portion of this butter on and enjoy. Is that a smile I see? My opinion: After reading through this somewhat lengthy history and process of butter making you might be thinking, "Wow, I think Jim is pushing the "cultured" butter thing!". Yes, Yes, and Yes again .. for the little bit of extra work and the response I get from my friends who really know food, I do prefer the cultured butter. Storage of Butter The Northern countries such as Ireland and Norway have been found to seal their butter in wooden tubs and then bury them in the bogs where it was cool and without air. Some of these are being found even today. When migrants from Britain and other northern Europeans cooler climates arrived in warmer countries such as America they resorted to keeping butter down a well or in the "spring house" where cold ground water and evaporation kept things cooler.

Today you can simply refrigerate the butter or for larger batches you can freeze all of the butter that exceeds a few days' supply. Freezing butter does it no harm because butterfat crystallizes at about 60F, so taking it from 35F in the refrigerator down to -20 in the freezer does not change its texture. Freezing butter will forestall the absorption of other flavors from the refrigerator and keep the butter flavor much cleaner. In really hot countries where butter is made in quantity, like India, use clarified butter (ghee), with the last traces of water and milk solids removed to help preservation. Finally clarified butter, or ghee, is butter from which all milk solids have been removed through cooking. The resulting product is clear, rather than opaque, and it can be stored for longer periods of time than butter. Ghee is very popular in India. This can be easily made by gently heating the butter and allowing the solids to settle out while still warm. The clarified butter can then be poured off of the solids. This will also not burn when heated.

A Note on Butter and your Health From " Butter through the Ages ": "Scientists now know that, except in rare individuals, dietary cholesterol does not influence blood cholesterol, and fat from ruminants (animals that chew their cud) contains valuable nutrients that maintain health and prevent disease. It is important to remember that every cell in our body needs fat, and that dietary fat is a cornerstone of good health. Our brain and hormones rely on fat to function, and fat supports our immune system, fights disease, and protects our liver. Fat promotes clear skin and healthy hair, regulates our digestive system, and leaves us feeling sated after a meal. Fat is the body’s preferred fuel, providing us with more than twice the amount of energy as the same quantity of carbohydrates and protein. It helps the body absorb nutrients, calcium, and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat and protein are found together in nature because it's the fat that helps us digest the protein. So, it makes good sense to eat a well-marbled steak, or a roast chicken with crispy skin. Because fat is digested slowly, eating it leaves us sated and less likely to snack between meals.

When you eat a moderate amount of good fat, you'll probably lose weight, but when you replace fat with sugar and carbohydrates, you'll likely gain weight. Humans have been eating butter and animal fat a lot longer than they have been abstaining from them. Good animal fat, like butter, plays an essential role in maintaining our health, as do quality ingredients and moderate consumption" Muller Lane Farm ~ Churning Butter (stuff I didn't know where else to put) Custom Furniture Making Butter Many times I worry about where our culture is going; head long into the future so fast it is near impossible to keep pace with the technology. In this modern world I see the vast majority of people have lost touch with the low tech skills of not that long ago. I would bet most kids couldn�t play a phonograph record or would stare blankly at a rotary phone. It is very understandable and not anything to be embarrassed about, heck, my whole family is very adept on the computer and I stare at it in amazement and appreciation (and can�t even turn it on�but I�ll learn� slowly.

It tickles me the questions asked by folks, mostly adults, like �What do you put in the milk to make it white?� or �You make butter? What do you put in it?� or my favorite dialogue , �Is that real butter�. �Yes�, �No, I mean like in the store?� My step-daughter was showing her teenage friends around the farm and one of the girls looked me in the eye and asked, �Is that the cow?�. THE MILK Start with fresh whole milk. If you don�t own a cow there are always dairies near by and you can get a gallon or two there. In a pinch, you can use whole whipping cream from the store. 2 or 3 gallons of milk can yield � to 1 pound of butter depending on the butterfat content of the milk. Our cow is a Jersey and thereby has a high butterfat content in her milk. Holstein milk has a lower butterfat content. I suggest using 1 gallon glass jars with wide mouths for holding your milk. COOLING Let the milk set in the refrigerator over night until the cream comes to the top.

Keeping the raw milk cold is very important if you want to drink the skimmed milk. SKIMMING Skim the cream off the top of the milk with a dipper, putting the cream into your churn. We use glass Dazey churns. Once the skimming is done, cover the churn and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours. This allows the cream to sour a bit and gives the butter that sweet flavor and helps the butter to �come� faster. CHURNING After the cream has warmed to room temperature, place the churn top on and start turning the handle. If the cream is cold or too cool (or even too warm), churning can take a while. Cream that is 55-65�F will �come� in 20 to 30 minutes, give or take. As you turn the handle or however you do your churning, the cream goes through stages on its way to becoming butter. First it is frothy like �whipped cream� then the foam settles into a thick pudding like state. Finally as the fat globules join together making the butter, the cream gets watery. Soon the butter will �come� and the cranking of the churn handle will be hard.

In a dash churn, the butter will form around the dash. You�ll know when you see it. Be sure not to over churn your butter as this will only force more buttermilk into the butter. On our farm tours, we give the kids small plastic jars of cream and they shake the jars as we tour. In 30 minutes there is yellow butter in the jars surrounded by buttermilk. WASHING Pour off the buttermilk and put the butter into your butter bowl. Some folks drink the buttermilk or use it in baking. It is not the same as the cultured buttermilk you buy in the store. Using a butter paddle, which is a wide wooden paddle, press the butter together to press out the milk and mash the clumps of butter into a mass. Once you have pressed it a minute or two, run cold water over it in the bowl and keep working the butter until the water runs off clear. Now keep paddling the butter to work out as much water as possible. Salt can be added now to taste. Keep paddling the butter to distribute the salt evenly and the water is out.

You won�t get 100% of the water out, but it won�t be hard to know when to stop. Now your butter is finished. Freeze or refrigerate it . Homemade butter will spoil faster than store bought because there are no additives. Note: Sometimes the butter comes out white instead of yellow. Don�t panic, it is the cow�s butterfat and nothing you did wrong. 3-Ingredient No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream - The Roasted Root 3-Ingredient No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream June 25, 2016 By [Julia Mueller] The easiest homemade vanilla ice cream recipe you’ll ever make. Just three ingredients and no ice cream maker necessary! High octane dairy + sugar alert! Fair warning, this fully-leaded recipe contains all the dairy and sugar. For those who follow a dairy-free and/or sugar-free lifestyle, avert your eyes now, lest you get hooked into the cosmic tractor beam of creamy bliss and faceplant into a vat 3-Ingredient No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream before you even know what hit you. For everyone else: Oh, momma.

I had a hot debate with myself regarding whether or not to post this recipe since I tend to shield you all from the magical ways of heavy duty dairy and refined sugar, but in the end, the recipe won. It’s simply too good not to share. Kind of like when you go out with your friends, and you’re all, “I’m JUST going to have ONE glass of wine.” and then one turns into two, two turns into three, and all of a sudden you’re all downtown eating a pile of the best chicken wings EVER at 2am purely by your own suggestion. That’s what this ice cream is like. It sucks you in. It makes you naughty. It may be plain vanilla, but you guys: it’s filthy. All that said, here’s the dealio: THREE ingredients: condensed milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract (or vanilla bean) Egg-free Literally takes seconds to make The fluffiest, most succulent homemade ice cream It’s the condensed milk and heavy cream combo that eliminate the need for egg yolks or churning. Sometimes with homemade ice cream, you get those random little hunks of ice or icy texture…yeah, that doesn’t happen with this recipe.

It’s basically the best old fashioned vanilla ice cream you could possibly lay mouth on. If you’re wild and crazy about vanilla bean ice cream, you can replace the vanilla extract with the scrapings of two vanilla beans. The way this goes down, you simply pour all three ingredients into a blender, blend and viola – there’s your ice cream base. You can still use an ice cream maker for this recipe if you have one! Pour this vanilla ice cream base into the frozen bowl, flip the switch, and watch magic unfold. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, transfer the base to a freezer-safe container, and freeze. That is all. I will say, you’ll 200% get a creamier dreamier result if you use an ice cream maker, but heck, you’ll be satisfied without as well. My primary reason for posting this recipe is it’s basically your gateway to all no-churn ice creams. Simply add your flavors (like peppermint extract, rum or other booze, peanut butter, caramel, cocoa, fresh fruit, etc), and you can prepare any type of ice cream you desire. One recipe is the gateway to all the fun. Plain vanilla, whaaaaaaa?

Shaking for Butter Shaking for Butter No issues Abstract Hot pancakes with butter running down the sides, freshly baked biscuits and pastries with butter, hot flaky potatoes with melted butter. Yum! It seems like everything tastes better when you add butter. But what is butter and how is it made? In this food science fair project, you will find out, and you will test different conditions for making butter and determine the best method. Objective Determine how temperature affects the process of making butter. Credits Michelle Maranowski, PhD, Science Buddies Teisha Rowland, PhD, Science Buddies Cite This Page MLA Style Science Buddies Staff. "Shaking for Butter" Science Buddies. Science Buddies, 4 May 2015. Web. 18 Jan. 2017 < APA Style Science Buddies Staff. (2015, May 4). Shaking for Butter. Retrieved January 18, 2017 from Share your story with Science Buddies! I Did This Project! Please log in and let us know how things went. Last edit date: 2015-05-04 Introduction Did you know that butter is actually an ancient food?

Records show that butter was being manufactured at least 4000 years ago. Originally butter was likely made from sheep or goat's milk. The earliest recipes for the manufacture of butter, which are thought to have come from nomads in the Middle East, call for the use of a vessel made from the skin of a goat. The skin was sewed together tightly, leaving only a small opening to add the milk, which filled the container half full. The vessel was then suspended from wooden poles and swung until the butter formed. In the earliest centuries, butter was made and shipped from India. By at least the 12th century C.E., the Scandinavians made butter and sent it to the rest of Europe. (The cooler climates in northern Europe, like Scandinavia, helped the butter keep longer before spoiling.) For the last century butter has become progressively produced in factories and is now used in many products, including cake batters and pastries, usually to produce a flaky or creamy texture and a delicious, rich flavor. Butter has long been made by shaking a container of cream. How does this work? The traditional process begins with making cream.

When milk is allowed to sit for a while (up to a week), tiny particles of fat from the milk float to the top, forming a visible layer of fat. This fat is called cream. The cream is continually skimmed from the surface of the milk until no more separates from the milk. To make butter from the cream, the cream is agitated (stirred up) so that the fat particles get shaken out of position and clump together with other fat particles. The clumping first allows tiny air bubbles to be trapped in the cream, forming a light and airy product you might have had, called whipped cream. But if the agitation is continued, the fat particles start to clump so much that the air can no longer be held by the cream, and butter forms. As you can probably see now, butter is basically the milk's fat. By time the butter forms from the cream, the fat particles have clearly separated from the liquid in the cream. This liquid can be removed and made into buttermilk. This entire butter-making process is called churning. Overall, depending on the type of milk used, it can take about 21 pounds of fresh milk to make just 1 pound of butter!

In this cooking and food science project, you will make your own homemade butter and investigate how the temperature of the cream used affects the butter-making process. Some homemade butter is shown in Figure 1 below. When something is heated up, the tiny particles within it move around faster. How do you think a factor like temperature will affect how cream turns into butter? If the fat particles in the cream are moving faster, how will this affect the butter-making process? Grab a jar and some cream and get ready to find out! Figure 1. This is an example of the butter you can make. Terms and Concepts What is fat? What does it have to do with butter? How can cream be turned into butter? How does heat affect the movement of particles? How do different cultures use butter in their cuisines and their traditions? What kinds of milk do people use to make butter? Bibliography The following websites are great for all kinds of information about butter: Webexhibits. (n.d.). Butter Through the Ages. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Wikipedia Contributors. (2013, April 23). Butter. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

Retrieved May 6, 2013, from This website has images that show the progression from cream to butter. Chu, M. (2005, June 3). Making Butter. Cooking for Engineers. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from This science fair project is based on the experiment found at the following website: Science Kids at Home. (2008). Making Butter. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from News Feed on This Topic , , Note: A computerized matching algorithm suggests the above articles. It's not as smart as you are, and it may occasionally give humorous, ridiculous, or even annoying results! Learn more about the News Feed Materials and Equipment Table 1. In your lab notebook, create a data table like this one to record your results in. After the cups of heavy whipping cream have sat out for 5 hours, pour one of the ½ cups of the room-temperature cream into the 1-quart (qt) clean glass jar. Tightly put the lid on the jar. Start shaking the jar. At the same time, start the stopwatch or timer. Shake the jar until butter forms.

Note: This could take between 5 to 20 minutes. Initially, you will see and hear the cream slosh around. Keep shaking! The cream will gradually thicken as the jar is shaken. Eventually, after several seconds (but less than two minutes), the cream will get so thick that it will not move much as you are shaking. At this point the cream has likely turned into whipped cream. Keep shaking the jar, even if you do not hear any sloshing! Once you have shaken the cream enough (after around 5 to 20 minutes), the liquid (which can be made into buttermilk) will separate from the butter. This change happens very suddenly, over a few seconds. The butter will be a pale yellow color, while the liquid will be thin and milky. At this point the bottom of your jar may look similar to the one in Figure 2 below. Tip: Previously the cream may have coated the sides of the jar, but at this point a semi-solid lump (which is the butter) will form in the jar and a liquid will probably wash off the jar's sides. You will probably hear the lump hitting the sides of the jar as you shake it.

Stop the stopwatch when the butter and liquid separate. In the data table in your lab notebook, write down how long it took the butter to form (in minutes) for Trial 1 of the room-temperature cream. Tip: If it took a certain number of minutes and seconds for the butter to form, convert the seconds into minutes and add this to the minutes. You can convert seconds into minutes by dividing the seconds by 60 (since there are 60 seconds in one minute). For example, if it took 7 minutes and 30 seconds for the butter to form, you would write down 7.5 minutes (since 30 divided by 60 is 0.5). Alternatively, if it took 7 minutes and 20 seconds, you would write down 7.3 minutes (since 20 divided by 60 is 0.3). Record any other observations about the butter in the data table in your lab notebook. Figure 2. When the jar of cream is shaken long enough, the butter (the yellow clump) should separate from the milky liquid surrounding it. Carefully pour the liquid out of the jar.

You can store the liquid in a cool spot and later turn it into buttermilk for use in other recipes. (Tip: You will want to look more into how to do this, but making buttermilk from this liquid is often done by getting some cultured buttermilk from the grocery store, adding a small amount of this to the liquid, and then letting the buttermilk sit on a counter at room temperature for about 12 hours.) Replace the lid and shake the jar for about another 10 seconds to smooth out the butter and to separate out any more liquid. Pour out any remaining liquid. Remove the lump of butter from the jar and place it in a bowl of cold water, as shown in Figure 3 below. Wash your hands and gently knead the butter to remove any extra liquid. Use your fingers to drain the liquid from the bowl. Figure 3. Place the butter in a bowl of cold water. Remove the liquid by kneading and rinsing the butter. Repeat step 9 two more times, using the same bowl but with fresh cold water each time. If all the liquid is not removed, the butter will go rancid faster. Transfer the butter into a sealable plastic bag.

Use a permanent marker to label the plastic bag with the initial conditions of the cream (room temperature or refrigerated). Clean the jar, its lid, and the bowl. Repeat steps 3-12, with the room-temperature cream, two more times. You should now have three batches of butter made from room-temperature cream. When you repeat the process the second time, in step 5e record your data as Trial 2, and when you repeat it the third time, record your data as Trial 3. Try to shake the jar as similarly as you can between the different trials. Repeating your results like this helps show that they are accurate and reproducible. Repeat steps 3-13, but this time in step 3 use ½ cup of cold cream straight from the refrigerator. Do not bring the cream to room temperature. Always remember to record your data in your lab notebook. If you would like, you can take a picture of each type of butter to include on your science project display board . Your data table should now be all filled in. Now that you have a complete set of data, it is time to analyze it.

Using your data, make a bar graph of how long it took the room-temperature cream and the cold cream to turn into butter. You can make a graph by hand or use a website like Create a Graph to make a graph on the computer and print it. Make a bar for each trial. Put the trial number and condition name (i.e., "room-temperature cream" or "cold cream") on the x-axis (the horizontal axis going across) and the time until the butter formed (in minutes) on the y-axis (the vertical axis going up and down). Based on your data, does it look like the temperature affected how quickly the cream turned into butter? Why do you think you got the results that you did? What does this tell you about how butter can be made more quickly from cream? Hint: For help figuring out why you got the results that you did, try re-reading the Introduction in the Background tab, focusing on how cream turns into butter and the section at the end about heat. Share your story with Science Buddies! I Did This Project! Please log in and let us know how things went. Variations Compare the taste of your homemade butter to store-bought butter. Can you see and taste the difference?

Weigh the amount of cream that you start with. Weigh the amount of butter that you end with. What percent of cream turned into butter? In this food science project you investigated how temperature affects turning cream into butter, but you did not quantify the temperatures you used. You could try this science project again but this time use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the heavy whipping cream when you put it into the glass jar. You could even try some different temperatures and see how they affect the process as well. You could try culturing the heavy whipping cream with yogurt before you turn the cream into butter. To do this, try adding a few tablespoons of yogurt (that has live and active cultures) to the heavy whipping cream and let it sit out for about 12 hours in a warm room. This should thicken and ferment the cream. (After sitting out, if it smells yeasty or bad, or is bubbly, then do not use it to make butter.) How does butter made from cream cultured with yogurt compare to butter made that is not cultured with yogurt? Butter is often made at home using a food processor or mixer. Look into how to do this and have an adult help you try it.

How does making butter using a machine like this compare to making butter by shaking cream in a glass jar? Ghee is a product that is made from butter and is also known as clarified butter. Look into how ghee is made and try making ghee from your butter. Explore how making ghee extends the shelf life and extends cooking temperatures. Share your story with Science Buddies! I Did This Project! Please log in and let us know how things went. If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers: Food Scientist or Technologist There is a fraction of the world's population that doesn't have enough to eat or doesn't have access to food that is nutritionally rich. Food scientists or technologists work to find new sources of food that have the right nutrition levels and that are safe for human consumption. In fact, our nation's food supply depends on food scientists and technologists that test and develop foods that meet and exceed government food safety standards. If you are interested in combining biology, chemistry, and the knowledge that you are helping people, then a career as a food scientist or technologist could be a great choice for you! Read more Biochemist Growing, aging, digesting—all of these are examples of chemical processes performed by living organisms.

Biochemists study how these types of chemical actions happen in cells and tissues, and monitor what effects new substances, like food additives and medicines, have on living organisms. Read more Food Science Technician Good taste, texture, quality, and safety are all very important in the food industry. Food science technicians test and catalog the physical and chemical properties of food to help ensure these aspects. Read more Agricultural Inspector Who works to protect the public health from food-borne illnesses? Agricultural inspectors. Everyone needs to eat, and agricultural inspectors work to ensure the quality and safety of the food supply to determine if they are in compliance. They also inspect farms, businesses, and food-processing plants to determine if they are in compliance with government food regulations and laws. Read more News Feed on This Topic , , Note: A computerized matching algorithm suggests the above articles. It's not as smart as you are, and it may occasionally give humorous, ridiculous, or even annoying results! Learn more about the News Feed Looking for more science fun? Try one of our science activities for quick, anytime science explorations. The perfect thing to liven up a rainy day, school vacation, or moment of boredom.

How To Make Butter (and Cultured Butter!) — Cooking Lessons from The Kitchn | The Kitchn Email When was the last time you made your own butter? Was it in kindergarden when your teacher poured cold cream into a jar and every kid in the class got a chance to shake it? If it's been a while since you've tried this DIY treat, then read on for our easy, no-shaking-jars method for making your own. And if you've never tried cultured butter — the more sophisticated, deeply-flavored version of butter — then this post is especially for you! But First, Why Bother? You may be wondering why you should bother with making your own butter. There are actually several reasons! First, it's really easy and a lot of fun, which is why kids like to do it. But you also end up with a superior product, especially if you choose quality cream and take the time to culture it (more on that below). Making butter is a great way to use up any cream you have leftover from a recipe — don't you just hate it when a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of cream and there you are, left with practically a whole carton?

One of may favorite reasons to make my own butter is that it produces another great DIY: buttermilk! This is the true buttermilk, not the thickened stuff we're used to buying in the stores today. It has a clean, fresh, tangy taste (especially if you cultured your cream) and it can be used in most recipes that call for buttermilk. DIY butter also makes an excellent gift. Just pack it into a pretty jar or roll it into a log and wrap it in waxed or parchment paper. It freezes beautifully, so even if you don't think you will use it right away, you can still whip up a batch and have a nice stash. The Cream Be sure you use quality cream for your butter. Since it's practically your only ingredient, you will taste the difference. I purchased a local, organic, homogenized "whipping cream" from my supermarket for this post and it worked beautifully. If possible, avoid ultra-pasteurized cream as the super-high heat used to in this type of pasteurization destroys much of the cream's flavor. Many people swear that raw cream as the best choice for making butter and I'm sure it's delicious.

But since it is hard to come by for many people and expensive to purchase, I did not experiment with it for this post. Do you prefer to use raw cream? Tell us about your experiences in the comments! Culturing the Cream Culturing the cream before you churn it is really the way to go, in my opinion. You don't have to do this to make good butter, but you do have to do it to make great butter! Transcendent butter! Back before refrigeration, all butter was cultured as a way to keep it from spoiling. It's super easy to do, but you do need to allow for some extra time for the culturing (usually 12 to 24 hours), so you can skip this step if time is not on your side. There are butter cultures you can purchase from cheese-making suppliers, but I simply use yogurt since it is so readily available. My local dairy (Strauss) makes an excellent yogurt and this is what I used for this post. As with the cream, try to avoid an overly processed yogurt. My yogurt contains milk and yogurt culture and nothing else — no stabilizers, flavorings, or other additives.

Culturing Temperatures The cream will need to sit at a slightly warm temperature to culture, about 70°F to 75°F. Once it's cultured, it should be chilled to about 60°F to churn properly. Personally, I never measure temperatures when I make butter: after culturing, I pop the bowl into the refrigerator for about 1 hour to chill it. If I don't think I will churn it right away, I leave it in the fridge for longer and then let it rest at room temperature for about an hour to take some of the chill off. What About Salt? Since I use my home-churned butter for spreading and cooking, a little salt is a nice addition. It improves the flavor and contributes to its shelf life as salt is a natural preservative. But it is optional and if you're not sure how you will be using your butter, you may want to leave it out. If you do add salt, be sure to add it at the very end so you don't rinse it away in the final washing process. What's With the Washing? Even after the butter has been drained and pressed, it's still holding onto a lot of buttermilk.

You want to rinse out as much of this as possible as the buttermilk will contribute to early spoilage. Some people like to squeeze the butter in their hands under cold running water, but I prefer the ice water in a bowl method (see recipe). Baking with DIY Butter Commercial, store-bought butters are carefully made to produce a specific ratio of butterfat to solids to water. Your DIY butter will vary in this ratio depending on the cream you use, how much you wash it, and how much you press it. Since nearly all of today's recipes are developed with commercial butter, it's a little risky to trust your baking recipe to homemade butter. I know some people do use it for this and I'm curious how it works for you since I haven't always had consistent results. Tell us in the comments! Delicious homemade butter and buttermilk! How To Make Butter and Cultured Butter Makes about 1 cup of butter and 8 ounces of buttermilk What You Need ZOOM . activities . sci . Butter | PBS Kids Skylar, age 7 of Washington, D.C. wrote: I turned into butter.

Eric, age 5 of Winchester, MA wrote: My mom and I tried the cream cheese from the fridger. We microwave it for 15 seconds to make it warm and soft. And we add a table spoonful of water in the jar too. After shaking it for a while, we only got white liquid at the bottom of the jar looks pretty much like milk. There was some globby things sticks to the wall of the jar, but I don't think thar's butter. Faith of Hawkinsville, GA wrote: That was the most fun and delicious thing I have done with food in a long time! Right after we finished making the butter we had whole grain toast with the butter. It was SPECTACULAR! Highly recommended! Sid of Long Beach, CA wrote: I remembered this experiment back when I was in the 2nd grade. I had some bagels I wanted to eat but I had no butter or spread! So I remembered the milk shaking experiment and tried it out. in about 10 minutes I got butter! I also added sugar and salt for more taste.

It was great:) Katy, age 10 of White Water, WI wrote: i made butter for my class as a demenstration speech and they all loved it. the first time I did it the butter didnt get thick enogh so I tried it again it worked! Mallory, age 9 of Colorado Springs, CO wrote: i did this in class and the butter was good. Sam, age 10 of FL wrote: The thing that happen was the butter was not good to eat becaese I forgot to put somethine of mine. Tessa, age 11 of Falmouth, ME wrote: I loved it and it was fun. The shaking took a little extra time, but it was awesome. I didn't really think it would work. Claire, age 6 of Hollis, NH wrote: Our milk came from grass-fed cows at the farm. We skimmed the cream off the top and then shook it and rolled it in a jar for less than ten minutes. Before it turned globby, we added a little sea salt. We've decided to do this every Friday (milk pick-up day) and each week add a different ingredient (honey, herbs, etc...).

Thanks for the idea! ZOOM Fan, age 9 of Jersey City, NJ wrote: it actually worked! I did it when I was in kindergarten and it tasted great! Felicia, age 4 of Schenectady, NY wrote: when I excperimented on butter it melted into oil. Charles, age 8 of Dallas, TX wrote: I shook it for a while and it clumpped togather and made butter. Maci, age 10 of Folsom, PA wrote: it turned into butter. when I went to school we did the experiments and it was fun! Alisa of Clinton, IN wrote: The cream needs to be at room temperature. Mikayla, age 10 of Independence, MO wrote: first it was out. next it was all melted. last it was butter water. Cheyanne, age 10 of Ashland City, TN wrote: the butter did nothing. Danielle, age 9 of Salisbury, MD wrote: We shook the jar and it only took 5 minutes and VALAAA!!! Butter! It was so tasty that we ate the whole jar! Jacynth, age 8 of Victoria, TX wrote: It melt down when its hotter.

Keegan, age 6 of Dahlonega, GA wrote: We shook the jar and then rolled it on the floor to each other when we got tired. It turned in to butter and we added a little salt and made toast. IT WAS AWESOME! Isabel, age 9 of Austin, MN wrote: it was cool I never new that you could do butter in a jar. Taylor, age 11 of Greenville, SC wrote: IT was very hard to do it for me so mke some more easer things to do Lilli, age 8 of Dayton, OH wrote: I shook it and rolled the jar around on the floor and it really worked! My mom made home made bread and we put my butter on it and it was YUMMY!

Question: Churning cream turns it into what?
Answer: Butter