Make Your Own Butter (Without a Cow)
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When I was a girl, my mother was a saint. I was one of those children who talked contantly (Never saw that one coming, huh) and was always right up on her with questions and endless conversation. I can’t ever remember a time, even now, when I haven’t been trying to figure the world out, finding some new angle almost daily to view it through and gain a better understanding of the whys and what-fors of any given situation.
I was one to question, examine, and then declare my findings. Again, much how I do now. But folks, I can tell ya, My poor mama needed a break from time to time and she always came up with wonderful ways to keep me busy while giving me something else to figure out.
Most of these actiities have become habit for me now, ways I busy myself in the odd need to be doing multiple tasks in order to focus. My friend, Jyl is night and day different from me in this respect. She actually focuses on one thing at a time, just like my husband. Mama is like that, too, so I’m really surrounded by people who stand in place doing one appointed task while I buzz around them talking away with the speed of my thoughts. I imagine it leaves us both a little tired.
Recently I was on the phone with Jyl talking over some things I have coming up with Southern Plate and while talking to her, I walked into the kitchen and got all of the fixin’s out to make a little butter. I poured my cream into a mason jar, screwed the lid on good and began shaking away. ~swish swish swish~
After a few minutes of talking while I swished in the background Jyl asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m making butter.” I declared, as I continued swishing while I walked around the house talking on the phone.
Did you know I can’t stand still or sit while I talk on the phone? Doing only one thing at a time is very difficult for me and always has been. Of course it’s ADHD but it is certainly not a disorder, it’s a gift, a talent, and a blessing. The only reason it is called a “disorder” is because other folks beat us to the punch in declaring themselves normal and us abnormal. If we wouldn’t have been so busy up and leaving Europe and creating an entirely new country based on an entirely new governmental concept, we could have gotten to declare the rest of the world “OTATD” or “O-Tats” for short, One Thing At A Time Disorder. ~grins and giggles~ But that is a post for another day so back to what I was saying about butter..
Jyl sounded incredulous “You’re doing what?”
“I’m making butter, I’m going to spread it on some saltines.”
“Are you talking about actually churning butter?”
“Yeah, but in a mason jar. Haven’t you ever made butter?”
This is when it occured to me that Jyl, being the quiet person that she is, most likely never annoyed her mother like I did and therefore was never given the fascinating task of making butter in a mason jar. Since I can’t see her ever being able to annoy people to the extent that I do, I guess it is up to me to take the initiative and show her how it’s done so this post was born.
Tomorrow begins National Dairy Month and this is a great post to help us kick that off so yesterday, me and the kids made butter. This is a GREAT activity to do with kids, or to let them do on their own to buy you a few minutes of quiet in the kitchen while you cook. Even adults enjoy the “neatness” factor of making your own butter with just some whipping cream and a mason jar!
All you’ll need is: Heavy Whipping Cream and a jar or two.
I usually use the larger jars but these little eight ounce ones are easier for little hands to hold and do just fine.
Fill your jar 1/2 to 3/4 full, but no more than that. Your cream needs space to shake around a bit.
Put the lid on well and then start shaking!
This will take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes, but your butter will most likely be ready in twenty minutes or so. It all depends on how much you shake it. Little hands will take frequent breaks 🙂
Now let me tell you what is gonna happen here so you don’t think you’re shaking your arms off for nothing:
First, the liquid is going to completely coat the jar as you shake and you’ll hear it just a shaking back and forth
Then, the liquid is going to get really thick, still coating the jar, but as you shake you won’t really hear it shaking anymore and you’ll begin to doubt me. Hang in there, I promise there will be butter soon enough, just keep shaking on faith :). You can open the lid if you want and see that your cream is just really, really thick. Then…
After about fifteen or twenty minutes, you’ll notice the sides are no longer coated and it pulls away from the sides a bit.
You’re almost done!
A few minutes later you’ll feel solids shaking around in there and the liquid and solids will separate completely. Now your butter is ready.
When you open it up you’ll see this.
Pour that out into a strainer or colander so the liquid can drain out the bottom.
This is Brady and Katy’s jar both emptied.
Now adding a little salt is optional but I like to.
This is just a little kosher salt that I’m going to stir in.
You will need to add this to taste so start small.
Stir in salt, if adding it.
Spoon butter into small ramekin, cover, and refrigerate.
It will harden as it gets cold.
Enjoy!
Doesn’t this look good? I love it on Saltines!
Making Butter At Home (Fun activity for all ages!)
- Whipping Cream
- Mason Jar
- Salt (optional)
Fill jar 1/2 to 3/4 full with cream. Place lid on tightly. Shake for ten to thirty minutes, or until you hear solids shaking around and can see through the glass that the solids have separated from liquid (read up in post for more details of what the shaking stages will be like). Pour into colander to separate liquid from butter. Place butter in a ramekin or bowl and stir in salt, if desired. Refrigerate until hardened. Enjoy!
Did your Mama have creative ways to keep you busy as a child?
My Mama Reed used to have her grandkids shuck corn and snap beans on the front porch. They loved feeling needed!
I’d love to hear what your parentsand grandparents did in the comments section below!
We had a WONDERFUL time this past weekend when we got our own private tour of a working dairy farm in Alabama.
Stay tuned to my next post for details and photos!
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What you DO speaks loudly, I can’t hear what you say.
~A quote Nick Saban used in his book, How Good Do You Want To Be?
Submitted by JoAnn. We have a great collection of positive and uplifting quotes which I’d love for you to read through and enjoy, or add your own! Submit your quote by clicking here!
When I was 12 and my brother was 10, we had moved to Oklahoma to live with out grandparents. My brother learned how to milk cows and I could never get the hang of it. Grandma would take the milk and put it into large jars and set on the kitchen counter to let the cream rise to the top of the milk and then
scoop out and put into another large jar and then hand it to one of us to shake
back and forth and when I got tired of shaking I would hand it to my brother to shake for awhile and we felt so proud of ourselves when we saw that butter for
the first time. We were so excited about that. Grandma would plant a large
garden and then have my brother and I go to the chicken coup to shovel
chicken manure to bring up to the garden and that’s what grandma put on the garden as fertilizer. I also loved gathering the eggs and also finding some of
their hiding places as those eggs were fertile and grandma taught us how
to know if they were fertile. I remember when some eggs hatched one time
that out of all those little baby chicks a black one was in the mix. That became
my pet. I thought of the ugly duckling and I wanted that chicken to know it was
loved.
What wonderful memories!!! What did you name your pet chick?
MY LITTLE BOY AND I SAW THIS DEMONSTRATED ON ROMPER ROOM AND TRIED IT OUT IN OUR KITCHEN. HE’S 40 NOW. AH, SWEET MEMORIES! CONGRATULATIONS CHRISTY ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY AND THANKS FOR ALL THE NEW MEMORIES YOU ARE HELPING US TO MAKE.
Thank you for considering ADHD a blessing. I was recently diagnosed at the age of 51, am now on meds and have finally kicked anxiety attacks and a very deep depression. It took 51 years to feel happy with who I am and why I do the things that I do.
Thank God for that!
Blessings!
Can remember as a child sitting under my Grandparent’s willow tree with my cousins and making butter. My Grandfather would milk the cows in the morning and my Grandmother would separate the cream from the milk. She would tell us stories as we rolled, shook and banged the jars of cream to butter. Then we would get to help her put the soft butter in the molds. Great memories.. I have her butter mold and always think of her and those good times when I look at it.
How about that?! Looks so fun..maybe I’ll try that soon, too. 🙂
oh how I remember when my mama would get bushels and bushels of corn, green beans, black eyed peas and aunts and cousins would come over and we would all work on putting up all the food bounty. when we would start to complain they would just tell us that we would like the food we put up in the winter. now that I’m grown , every time I shuck corn or beans I thank my mama for teaching me how to do this. I now wish I could have learned all I could about canning, my mother was a firm believer in it. mama is gone now but these memories are mine forever.
I have a dumb question. Would this butter be good to bake with? Now sit down Christy because I am about to give you the shock of your life, are sitting? ok here goes I don’t eat butter I hate the taste of it my family thinks I am crazy because I will only eat margarine, but I do bake with butter so that is why I asked and Yi am always running out of butter but I will have heavy cream in my fridge because I make homemade ice cream. As always thank you Christy.
This brings back lots of great memories. My children and I made butter like this at Thanksgiving. It’s really fun and the butter is delicious.