Making your own butter, doesn’t it sound interesting? It does. If you are one of those who believe in preparing everything at home and serving your family the best, then you have come to the right place. But if you feel you would save any money by this then this won’t be a good option. The retail price of butter you get in the supermarket is less or just as same as the raw material and effort required to prepare butter at home. I am thinking of preparing it once, for fun!
I have been told there are two methods to make a nice creamy butter at home. Though I haven’t tried any, I believe those sources and hence I will be trying out these soon. If you try it before I do, do let me know how the butter turned out!
Method I –
Ingredients:
250 gms low fat cream,
1/2 cup thick buttermilk,
1/2 tsp salt or to taste (Optional).
Combine all the ingredients, mix rigourously for few minutes and set it aside for 2 hours. Later add some water to wash this mixture and slowly drain off all the water. Repeat this process 2-3 times and remove all the buttermilk, until water is clear. Drain well. Add salt if you like. Mix and set it in the refrigerator.
Method II –
Ingredients:
250 gms low fat cream,
1/2 tsp salt or to taste (Optional).
An airtight container with a screwable lid or electric whisk.
Put the cream into the container. The capacity of the container should be double the quantity of the cream. Cover it tightly with the lid. Begin to shake the container and continue till you find a lump of butter and some liquid (buttermilk) formed in it. This would take good 45 minutes to an hour. Believe me your hands may start aching. Uncover and put the butter into a cheesecloth or muslin and drain the buttermilk. Do not throw it away use in different recipes like bread, cake, chicken or any marinade. To make sure you have drained off all the buttermilk wash it with cold water till water runs clean. If any amount of buttermilk is left in the butter, it would turn sour immediately. Then place the lump of butter on a wooden board, to drain off all the water. Use a spatula to press againt it to remove water completely. If you like you can add salt to the butter at this stage, mix well and store in a container in the refrigerator.
With an electric whisk, whisk the cream at maximum speed till peaks are formed. Later reduce the speed and whisk till lumps are formed and buttermilk is separated. Then drain the butter on a cheesecloth or muslin and follow all the instructions give above.