Making butter from scratch is a simple process that you can master in one day. This is a skill you do not want to be without!
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In a world full of shortages, who would have thought that butter would be the next on the list?!
Butter is an essential in my kitchen and I always make sure that I have at least 10lbs in my back stock at all times. But butter prices have sky rocketed and there seems to be less and less on the grocery store shelves these days.
When butter becomes hard to find, this is a skill you will want to have!
How do you make butter at home?
Making butter at home is so easy and takes almost no time at all! All you need is heavy whipping cream and a mixer.
There are many ways and equipment you can purchase to make your own butter. Amazon has some really cute, small scale butter churners but I actually prefer to make mine in my stand mixer. Churning butter can take some time and if you use a stand mixer, you can allow the mixer to do all the busy work while you spend your time doing something more productive. Like making some delicious sourdough bread to go with the fresh butter!
Is it cheaper to make your own butter?
Depending on where you live and your access to cream, making butter yourself may actually be more cost effective. Currently, where I live in New York, 1lb of butter is 10 cents cheaper than a quart of cream. One quart of cream makes roughly 1lb of butter.
When you make butter from scratch, you will also get a secondary product in addition to butter. Buttermilk. With this added product, making your own butter is definitely more cost effective than buying it from the store.
You can also adjust the level of salt in the butter to best fit your taste and lifestyle.
What Do You Need to Make Butter From Scratch
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Salt (optional)
How to Make Homemade Butter
Prepare your stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
Pour the heavy whipping cream into the bowl of your mixer and begin to mix on a medium to low speed.
It will take a while! Don’t worry, eventually you will see the cream begin to thicken.
Allow the mixer to do all the work. It may take some time but you will start to see the cream thicken and then eventually see the butter separate from the buttermilk. Strain the buttermilk from the butter and set that in your fridge. You can use the buttermilk for baking or using in waffles or pancakes!
Rinse the butter by running it under cold water and squeeze out any excess buttermilk. If there is any leftover buttermilk in your butter, it can cause the butter to turn sour quicker. Continue rinsing until the water runs clear.
Pat the butter dry and then transfer to a bowl if you are adding additional salt to your butter. If not, you can skip the salting step and move onto storing the butter.
Add in your desired amount of salt and use a rubber spatula to knead the salt into the butter.
Move the butter onto a sheet of parchment paper and roll it into a log or whatever shape you desire for storage. You can also purchase butter molds to shape your butter into sticks, similar to what you would find at the grocery store.
How to Store Homemade Butter
Homemade butter stores best long term in the fridge or freezer but you can keep small amounts out on the counter for daily use.
Butter will store at room temperature on the countertop for 2 to 3 days. 2 weeks in the refridgerator and 6 months or more in the freezer.
Homemade Butter
Making butter from scratch is a simple process that you can master in one day. This is a skill you do not want to be without!
Ingredients
- 1 quart Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 tsps Salt, optional
Instructions
- Pour the heavy cream into a mixer.
- Turn the stand mixer onto medium to low speed and mix until the butter solidifies and separates from the buttermilk.
- Strain the excess buttermilk.
- Rinse the butter under cold water to remove remaining buttermilk.
- Pat the butter dry with a clean cloth and then transfer to a bowl.
- If salting, add the salt to the butter now and knead it into the butter with a spatula, spoon or hands.
- Transfer the butter to a sheet of parchment paper, shape into a log and wrap it up for storage. Alternatively, you can use a butter mold to shape into sticks.
- Store on the counter, in the fridge or in the freezer. See below for storage tips.
Notes
Storage
Homemade butter will keep on the countertop for 2 to 3 days. It will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer.
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