Harris Teeter ~ Other: I made my own BUTTER for 19 cents!!

[thompson589741]

if you were like me, you bought some of the .19 organic valley whipping cream at super doubles. but the shelf life isn't so great, considering I don't use it but once a week anyways. I needed to figure something out.

tonight I made my own unsalted butter!!!!!! it is super easy. a perfectly timed show about dairy cows and how all the milk and cream is collected and processed came on the other day and I watched it. I learned that all you have to do to make your own butter (no butter churn needed!) is heavy cream and a food processer!! a smaller food processer is great because you need the cream to take up most of the room. then you run the processor for probably about 10 minutes total. scraping the sides every other minute or so, that way everything gets whipped. the byproduct of making butter from cream is SKIM MILK. Granted a small amount of cream will only yield a few tablespoons of skim milk (which was once thought to be inedible by humans). I drained it off and whipped it up a little more. then put it into a mini loaf pan that is lined with saran wrap and put it in the frig. once it firms up I will unmold and put it back in the frig.

this is so fun! I prefer the unsalted butter when cooking and baking, but the dang stuff (even store brand) is so expensive. so this is a great way to save and still have the kind I want. I always seem to find heavy cream for about $1 or so a pint, next time I will stock up on it instead of passing it by. butter can be frozen well too!!

[cpaige]

i would love the recipe!!! sounds pretty simple!

[gem7]

very cool!

[uummm]

I remember in grade school a zillion years ago (ok, 30 yrs ago) we just put heavy cream in a jar put on the lid and shook it....that will work too.

[Amalgamate]

Thanks for sharing! I had just read an article earlier this week in Organic Gardening about how to make your own butter but had completely forgotten about it until your post. The article said to use an electric mixer...glad to know a food processor would work too!

cpaige, Here's the article's directions:
Pour the cream into a bowl, set the electric mixer on medium, and blend as if making whipping cream. The cream will form fluffy cream "pillows" and then stick peaks. These break down into soft cottage-cheese-like curds as the butterfat and milk separate. It should take about 10 minutes.
Pour off the milk (can be refrigererated and used for cooking, baking, or drinking).
Use a spatula to press the butter to squeeze out as much milk as possible. Add about 1/2 cup ice water, and use the spatula to press the butter and water against the bowl. This step, called washing, keeps the butter from spoiling. Pour off the cloudy liquid. Repeat several times with fresh ice water until nearly clear. Then press the butter with the spatula to remove as much liquid as possible.
Pack the butter in containers, cover, and refrigerate. It will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week, or up to 6 months if frozen.

[jenjacobs]

Originally Posted by uummm I remember in grade school a zillion years ago (ok, 30 yrs ago) we just put heavy cream in a jar put on the lid and shook it....that will work too.

We did that too!

[NIGHTB1022]

You can make your own ricotta cheese too from milk, alot cheaper and tastes better too! I did that over the holidays for my lasagna and it worked out great. It is time consuming because it has to be done in small batches to get the most yield, but it firmed up so much better than the store bought ricotta cheese.

[mama2kangaandroo]

I've done that with the kids for fun, it's a great project! Easy to add herbs or honey, too, for different flavors.

Now I want to try ricotta! Off to google that!

[SgtAmi]

Ingenious.

[mrsefird]

Great Idea!!!! I love this forum! You chicks ROCK!!!!