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?
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As a toddler in the 50’s, my parents never had babysitters. We were rural people and lived on Old Hickory Lake in Middle Tennessee. Dad was a farmer and Mother cooked so much for hired help. After the noon meal, Mom would go fishing for relaxation. To keep me from falling in the lake, she would tie me to a tree with about 9′ of rope to walk around. You could call this “Mother Necessity.”
I have never made butter this way but I am going to try it with my 3 yr old niece. She is always wanting to cook. I have made ice cream in coffee cans with kids at Girl Scout camp. You take a 1 lb can and a 3 lb. can. Put ice cream mixture in 1 lb put in 3lb and add ice and salt. Wonderful ice cream.
So, how young is too young? I was making Kool-Aid for my grandson today, almost 2, and was shaking the Kool-Aid envelope to get all the powder at 1 end so it didn’t dust up when opened and end up tasting Kool-Aid in my nose all day. When I was shaking the envelope, he was shaking his hands for all his might.
I just made this for fun! Thanks for the idea. In case anyone has the same question, yes, it will work just fine in a small plastic tupperware if you don’t have any mason jars lids free. It took 18 minutes for me.
Same here… plastic tupperware, and about 15 minutes. Got it chilling in the fridge right now. Yum!
Christy,
I made butter with my grandmother when I was little, but she had her own cow.
I can’t believe I never thought of making my own butter from cream. This is great!
My grandmother also had a cow and made her own butter. It makes me sad to know that I will never taste that butter again. It was like nothing else. I know I can make butter with a jar and whipping cream, but it will never be like the butter she made with a churn.
So going to try this with my little boy! When I was in the 6th grade, we had a working dairy farm, a stones throw from school, and the lady, Mrs. Page, came and churred butter for us. We each got to take turns churring and after it was done, got to sample it on a Ritz crackers! So to all of the teachers that have said they have done this in their classrooms, your students will remember this!!
I use to make butter like this with my students every year. We would eat it with saltines or homemade sourdough bread and jam or honey. We also made ice cream, which none of them had ever done. My grandchildren enjoy making butter this way as well. Oh the fun times………
Anybody remember “sweeping” the yard with a brushbroom ?
Yes, I do remember “sweeping” the yards with a brushbroom. You had more dirt than you had grass back then and as a kid they would have us help sweep the yard and even the drive ways that were dirt with a brush broom. My how times have changed!!!
I’m from Robeline, Louisiana and yes I remember “sweeping” the yard with a brushbroom. We had black locust in our yard and they hard really pretty flowers in the spring but nasty thorns later in the summer, thus we had to sweep the yard. Of course shoes were unheard of in the summer in Louisiana. There was nine kids in my family and we used to think we were so mistreated because we had to work all summer. Of course, if we didn’t work we didn’t eat during the winter. Little did wI know that it would turn out to be some of the best memories of my childhood. Kids miss so much today.
Yes to the brushbrooms!!! Hadn’t thought of them in ages, but Mama always had a new one every year. Daddy would haul in sand to put in the yard around the house. It was so much cleaner than regular soil, so we didn’t track so much in the house. The brushbrooms were great for getting up the beechnuts. Stepping on those with our little bare feet was no fun at all.
Christy, is there a name for those of us who have a little ADD and OTATD both? Take care, and thanks for bringing back all the wonderful memories!
I thought I was the only slave that had to sweep the dirt yard with brushbroom. My grandmother lived in Great Falls, SC & when we spent weeks with her in the summertime, she kept us occupied by sweeping the dirt in the front yard about dusk dark & chasing lightning bugs when it got dark. Brings back so many wonderful memories.