One of the most empowering moments in any home cook’s life is when he or she realizes how self-sufficient he or she can truly be. Especially when circumstances call for it.
Most people I know are in lock-down due and stores are bare so finding ingredients that are necessary for cooking and baking. Butter is one of those. I use it for almost every meal I cook; unmatched flavor and far better for you than seed oils.
On my recent trip to Walmart, all that was left was margarine and Land O Lakes. And god forbid I ever use either one of those! I was a bit frustrated until I walked past the milk and cream and remembered that duh, I know how to make butter.
And now you can too:
What you need:
2 ½ cups of organic heavy cream
mixing bowl
strainer
kitchen towel or cheesecloth
electric hand mixer or stand mixer
Cold water
Salt (optional)
1. Pour the heavy cream into the mixing bowl. You want a mixing bowl that's large enough for the cream to only go up to about halfway so it doesn't overflow (later on).
2. Turn mixer on to medium-high speed. Get comfortable, because this will take a while.
3. After about 5-6 ish minutes the cream is going to get really thick and turn into whipped cream.
KEEP GOING
4. After about 5 more minutes, it's going to get denser. I would switch the mixer on a higher speed at this point and your notice the hard whipped cream is now yellowing. This is great.
KEEP GOING
5. You're going to get yellow clumps forming now. That's the fat aka butter separating. It'll get messy, which is why ire recommended getting a bigger bowl.
KEEP GOING
6. Now that you have your butter extracted after blending for about a minute more or so, strain it. Once strained, but the clumps of butter back in the bowl.
7. Now going to pour it in the ice-cold water and wash it. Yes, you're washing your butter. This is to get the rest of the liquid out because if any extra remains in the butter, it'll go rancid. Fast. So pour some water in and just beat the butter and strain it. Repeat this process until the water runs clear.
8. Strain. I like to take a clean rag or cheesecloth and squeeze the butter dry.
9. You can now add salt. I don't because I think the butter tastes amazing on its own due to freshness. But ½ tsp is a great place to start.
10. Store in the refrigerator*.
Enjoy your fresh butter!
*The fresh butter should be good for about a week,