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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => FRESH CHURNED - Butter & Ghee => Topic started by: SalMac on August 31, 2008, 08:06:45 PM

Title: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: SalMac on August 31, 2008, 08:06:45 PM
Having looked around self sufficiency websites, machine based butter making equipment looked very expensive (..00's of dollars) and the manual alternative looked plain hard (shake it for at least 30 mins).

Soo we decided to try an experiment with our ice cream maker (£17).... Its a very basic machine with a base that you freeze before use and a top that just turns a paddle whilst the base provides the freezing temp.

Figured that without freezing, just the paddle would do fine.

Small domestic ruck ensued after husband recounted his memories of family butter making.....

A small amount of money went down on the table and off the machine went.

30 mins later this is what we had....

Normally in the past you would have needed 'wooden hands' to beat the remaining fluid out but you can apparently also smack it around with a normal soup spoon until it achieves appropriate butter status :-)

Sal

Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on August 31, 2008, 09:18:29 PM
I just use my kitchen aide to make butter.  Do you wash the butter grains as you go?  The retention of the butter milk can cause off flavours to develop.  You can also make a cultured butter, which is supposed to be fairly popular in European country's.

I also experiemented preserving butter about 6-7 years ago.  If I remember correctly the butter was bought to the boil and the foam was scooped off. Boiled for about 5 mins I think, then put into a canning jar, and allowed to cool turning every now and then.  It has sat in the pantry ever since, and is still fine, even through our hot summers.

Just thought you might be interested in seeing.  The pop top is still depressed, and it still looks fine much to my amazement.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: SalMac on August 31, 2008, 09:34:44 PM
Hi Tea

That sounds like Ghee used in Indian cooking please see below, very impressive.

The buttermilk precipitating out as the butter just sat there was an education and it strikes me that there is nothing like doing it for yourself.

You can read a lot about how difficult stuff is to do which led to the difference in opinions between me and hubby...He said the agitation of the ice cream maker wouldnt be enough...the book said food processors agitated too much. To be frank we're both agreed its butter as anyone would know it lol.

>>>>
Ghee is made by simmering unsalted butter in a large pot until all water has boiled off and protein has settled to the bottom. The cooked and clarified butter is then spooned off to avoid disturbing the milk solids on the bottom of the pan. Unlike butter, ghee can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation and remains moisture-free.[1] Texture, colour, or taste of ghee depends on the source of the milk from which the was butter made. In India, Ghee made with water buffalo milk tends to be whiter than cow milk ghee.
>>>>
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on August 31, 2008, 09:49:47 PM
Something similar, but not ghee, as all this process does is separate off the impurities, which are mostly in the foam, then as the butter cools you are turning the bottles to reconsolidate the separated butter back into one mass.  Hope that makes sense.

Yes I know sometimes I find that people like to "mystify" these processes.  I just keep beating (not necessarily at high speed), and washing until all the butter milk is gone, and the water stays clear, lightly salt if I want, form into a pat and put in the fridge.  I really is as easy as falling off a log.  Great to see that you tried it.  I always think that home made butter is much sweeter than store bought stuff.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: chilipepper on January 06, 2009, 08:08:54 PM
Regarding making butter and primarily with raw cream, I had an interesting experience that I'd like to figure out what happened....

I've made butter from store bought cream numerous times with a really obvious separation after about 20 minutes in the mixer and it turned out great.  When I tried it with raw cream it never separated.  It kind of curdled but not very obvious. I had it in the mixer for about 40 minutes when I gave up.  Any ideas on what I may need to try next time for a successful butter making experience.  Thanks!
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on January 06, 2009, 08:23:09 PM
When you say, raw cream, do you mean scooped off the top of milk?
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: chilipepper on January 06, 2009, 09:33:24 PM
yep
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on January 07, 2009, 08:13:05 PM
I found that when I scooped off the cream, there was also a fair amount of milk that also ended up in the mix.  I too didn't think that mine was going to clump, until I started pouring off some of the excess milk.  Did that a few times and eventually the cream started to come together.  I have found the the raw cream does take a lot longer than store bought cream.
HTH
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: chilipepper on January 07, 2009, 10:21:32 PM
Thanks Tea!  I'll give it another go tonight and see what happens.  I think I'll try it in the blender rather than the mixer and see if that makes any difference. I think it would be fun to try an old butter churn but that may be a little more ambitious than I'm prepared for.  I'll let you know how it goes!
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Cartierusm on January 09, 2009, 09:19:27 AM
I've always wanted to make butter, but I've got so many things going on and I can't focus my brain on it right now. It's like anything else. Ask people who don't make bread all the time and to them its work. I make so much bread, and to me it's easy, I have all the recipes in my head and can whip up a batch quick...besides the actual times, but in thinking it's quick. So I'm sure it's the same with butter once I do it a few times it will be second nature.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: chilipepper on January 09, 2009, 04:21:28 PM
Ok well I made the second attempt at butter from the scream skimmed off of this raw milk.  Having a little more knowledge going in I had a lot more success going out! :)

I put the raw cream in the blender this time and in about 5 minutes on med/hi setting it did its thing.  It was certainly not a hard break like the store bought cream did where there were big obvious chunks.  What it did however is come up looking more like ice cream that is slightly melted.  Of course I didn't take photos..which I'll try and do next time.

I strained and washed through butter muslin and then lightly salted and shaped into blocks.  Very yummy.  Total process time about 10 minutes and roughly 1/2 lb of butter.

Next time I make it I'll take some pictures and document it in a new post.

Thanks for all the help.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on January 10, 2009, 08:22:43 PM
Chilipepper great to see you tried again.  I was making an alpine cheese which called for a low fat milk.  After culturing over night, I skimed off the cream the next morning and made butter with that.  Here are my pics and same as you, probably 10 mins from start to finish.

Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Cartierusm on January 10, 2009, 11:48:33 PM
You used milk skimmed from the cultured milk would that make the butter taste different?
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on January 11, 2009, 02:04:04 AM
No I used the cream skimmed off the top of the yoghurt cultured milk.  Yes the flavour is similar to that of a cultured butter.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: eclarke on June 24, 2009, 04:06:37 PM
I'm new here, but have had this interest a long time. I use my Kitchenaid for butter and knead the whey from it. I also have a 1 Gal. Daisy churn which works well but is so old and pretty that I hate to use it. Try this angle once, make creme fraiche and then churn IT. It makes wonderful, flavorful butter and this is the way I always make butter now..
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: slow learner on July 22, 2009, 03:05:45 AM
I'm sure this is a silly question but can butter be made from buttermilk? Is the process different?
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: MrsKK on July 22, 2009, 06:53:06 PM
Short answer, No.

Buttermilk is what is left over when cream is made into butter.  Churning separates the fat (butter) out of the cream, leaving behind buttermilk. 

Just gotta brag - I'm getting two pounds of really nice yellow butter out of every gallon of cream this summer.  Yum!
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: hplace on December 22, 2009, 10:08:49 PM
Does anyone use an electric butter churn? I'm considering getting one because of the quantity of cream I have. Looking for recommendations if anyone has some experience with one. The least expensive one I have found is from Glengarry and costs $190 plus shipping:

http://www.glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca/equipment.htm (http://www.glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca/equipment.htm)

Raw cream in the winter time does not churn easily unless it is cultured, so to get the sweet cream butter I was thinking of trying an electric churn.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Tea on December 30, 2009, 08:09:40 PM
No I haven't tried a butter churn.  I just just my Kitchen Aid, or Kenwood.   Are you intending to make large batches of butter?  Just wondering why you are looking at a churn?
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: FarmerJd on December 31, 2009, 02:34:41 PM
Squirrel.
I use one but I would not but a new one. I constantly watch ebay and buy backups there when mine burns up. I have gone through 3 or 4 in 10 years.


Here is one http://cgi.ebay.com/GEM-DANDY-ELECTRIC-BUTTER-CHURN-MOTOR-MADE-IN-USA-WORKS_W0QQitemZ370283085512QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5636977ec8#ht_3978wt_1165 (http://cgi.ebay.com/GEM-DANDY-ELECTRIC-BUTTER-CHURN-MOTOR-MADE-IN-USA-WORKS_W0QQitemZ370283085512QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5636977ec8#ht_3978wt_1165)


It is just like my last one. You can watch some of the auctions and find better deals but this one is a good example.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: kawatiri kaas on January 01, 2010, 08:19:29 AM
We make butter from 'home-skimmed' raw milk/cream. And the milk content (which seems inevitable, as DW prefers completely skimmed milk) does seem to slow the buttering coming. Temp is the other big factor, often we take our straight out of the fridge and it'll take a full 10 min. but if it's warmer the time certainly is pared back (20'C is the target). We use the kitchen whizz on the lowest speed, works ok, but personally would rather have a 'real' (hand operated) churn if I had the opportunity. Tried washing it in the whizz as well but figured I was wasting my time (as it seemed to continually smash more fat out), so I wash the butter by hand now.
Cheers,
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Michael_A on January 16, 2010, 08:55:35 PM
I got one of these (http://www.rubbermaid.com/Assets/images/Product/3064-xlarge.jpg)http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?spaceId=Kitchen%28RubbermaidSpaces%29&CatName=Beverage&SubcatId=BeverageStorage&Prod_ID=RP091197 (http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?spaceId=Kitchen%28RubbermaidSpaces%29&CatName=Beverage&SubcatId=BeverageStorage&Prod_ID=RP091197) at the thrift store the other day while I was looking for possible cheese molds.  I used it to make butter last night.  I used cultured cream at cool room temp and I had butter in about a minute and a half.  I then turned the top to strain and carefully poured out about 90% of the buttermilk with no loss of butter.  After that I chilled it in a pot of snow, which I am abundantly supplied with at the moment, for a half hour and then washed it by hand in the same pitcher.  Yielded a nice 1.5 lbs of cultured butter from 3.5 pints of cream.  Probably about 10 minutes of actual working time including washing the dishes.

A caveat:  about 4 strokes after it turned to butter it sucked the pad off of the rod, but that could be fixed by drilling a small hole through both and using a little stainless steel screw or pin to hold them together, but still be removable for cleaning.  Or you could use the loss to tell you when it was butter.  Otherwise, a very nice little churn.

Michael
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: MrsKK on January 17, 2010, 02:17:19 PM
I love thrift store finds!  If they don't work out, you haven't invested much money, but when they do work out, you can be really proud of your experimental attitude.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: hplace on January 18, 2010, 11:29:49 PM
I went ahead and ordered the 2.5 gallon electric churn for $229 from here:

http://www.wisementrading.com/butterchurns.htm (http://www.wisementrading.com/butterchurns.htm)

For some reason, the cream from my cow in the winter time in mid lactation is very slow to churn, especially if it is not cultured. I can't wait for it to arrive!
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: FarmerJd on January 19, 2010, 01:46:50 AM
I can relate to your excitement. Let us know how it goes. By the way I have the same problem with my butter in the winter even when cultured. Very frustrating.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: hplace on January 19, 2010, 05:03:10 AM
Yeah - I wish I knew what causes that. I have to culture mine or I run out of patience before it churns. I've found that if I pasteurize my cream at 145 F for 30 minutes, cool to 60 F, add Meso II culture and sit at 60 F for about 30 hours I get a firm curd and a pleasant sourness to the cream. When churned, it makes excellent tasting butter - no sourness, nice buttery flavor. In my hand-crank churn, this takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. I'll be happy to pass along this chore to the electric churn.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: FarmerJd on January 19, 2010, 02:36:19 PM
Twice a week we take a gallon of fresh milk from the morning milking and add the cream from about 3 gallons of milk from the previous day and then add half a cup of buttermilk. We let it set overnight by the woodstove and churn the next day. Sometimes it churns in minutes; other times it takes an hour. Very frustrating. I really don't know what is causing it. Some Oldtimers say add ice to it when it does that and others say add warm water. Tried both. Hard to tell if it helped.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: MrsKK on January 20, 2010, 12:55:55 PM
I think that winter cream is just tough to get to turn to butter because the cows aren't getting fresh food anymore.  Once the grass starts growing, the problem goes away, so there must be something in the fresh, green grass that isn't present in dried hay.

I'm not getting enough cream right now to bother skimming it for buttermaking.  I'll wait for the spring flush.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: Cheese Head on February 03, 2010, 04:33:49 PM
Farmer, you could make excess in summer and freeze for winter, if you had a large enough freezer?

When I used to work in Siberia in 91-93 after the breakup of USSR, the Russians had a hard time getting goods, so when they could, they bought lots. I remember a Russian friend in winter having 20 blocks of butter frozen on his balcony as his supplies (along with extra tires for car etc etc).
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: judec on February 04, 2010, 09:32:37 AM
Anyone just making a small amount for using fresh, I just use a 2 litre coke bottle to shake it up.  I also use raw cream, just scooped off the top after it has sat for a day in fridge, then leave the cream out on the bench for  a few hours to sour a bit and come to room temp and then shake shake shake.  Only takes about 5 minutes.   Then I cut the bottle and it comes out in one bit.  Put into iced water and wash it and vo lah, yummy fresh butter to eat.  Neighbours love it.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: hplace on February 05, 2010, 12:18:36 AM
I have used my new electric butter churn twice now. Once with 1.5 gallons of cream and again with about 3/4 gallon of cream. The first churned in 30 minutes. The second batch in 1 hour. Either way, the end result was some awesome butter and the best part is my hands and arms weren't tired at the end.
Title: Re: Butter Making Discussion
Post by: padams on February 10, 2010, 02:59:52 AM
WOW!  Really....an ice cream machine?!?  I never would have thought of that!  I can't wait to try it!  I tried to use my blender this weekend, but all I got was really great whipped cream ;)  And I can't wait to see if I can find one of those rubbermaid pitchers!