Homemade Butter and Buttermilk
(from ileanaespinoza’s recipe box)
also a good link: http://www.blueeggkitchen.com/seasons/homemade-butter/
Source: http://www.petitekitchenesse.com/2010/11/20/homemade-butter/
Categories: butter
Ingredients
- 1 pint of heavy cream
- a 2-pint* or larger container (I used a 1-liter bottle)
- cheesecloth (I use a gold filter)
- salt
Directions
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First, you’re going to want to bring the heavy cream to room temperature.
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Once the cream has warmed, pour it into the empty container and seal with a secure lid. Shake the container steadily but not too rapidly.
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If you shake too violently, you risk reincorporating the buttermilk and over-churning the butter, which cannot be undone. As you shake, you’ll feel the cream begin to thicken, like whipped cream. Next, it’s going to start to feel like a big dairy rock. It will seem like your shaking isn’t doing anything at all.
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And then, like magic, things will start to separate! I switch to a slower and more emphatic shake at this point in time—forcefully inverting the bottle one way, then the other. Continue shaking for a few more minutes, or until a good amount of buttermilk has separated from the butter (around ¾–1 cup)
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Remove the top from the container. Place the cheesecloth or gold filter over the opening and strain out the buttermilk. (Reserve the buttermilk for delicious pancake- or biscuit-related uses.) Now, you need to rinse the butter to remove any lingering buttermilk, which can cause your butter to spoil quickly.
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Fill your container with very cold water until it just covers the butter, then drain out through the cheesecloth. Repeat this process a number of times (around 7), until the drained water is clear. Remove the butter from the container (if you’re using a bottle, just cut the top off) and transfer it to a large wooden cutting board. I actually used a plastic cutting board, which was a mistake. You want to use something semi-porous that’s capable of absorbing a little liquid.
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Using a wooden spoon, press your butter down into a large, flattened pancake. As you do this, you’ll notice liquid oozing out from the butter. Your cutting board should absorb some of that, but you can also use a paper towel to lightly dab away any excess. Gather butter back into a ball and press flat again. Continue to do this until you have removed most of the liquid. Before you gather up your last butter pancake, add some salt to it (about ¼ teaspoon). This will also ward off spoilage.