Now before you starting thinking I've put a cow on the lawn, am handmilking too and taking this challenge far too seriously, I haven't!
But I've been using the age old technique
of throwing some cream (from Leicestershire) into a jam jar
and shaking it all about
until the magic moment when hey presto!
It's butter!
I know it's not a huge pat of butter and I haven't got any butter patts or paddles, so I had to shape it by hand.
And there's buttermilk. well I wasn't going to waste that so I whipped up a batch of scones (Mary Berry's recipe) too.
I've still got a few jars of homemade blackcurrant jam too so all in all....my darling daughter and I had rather a nice Sunday afternoon tea, completely using local produce completely apart from a few ounces of sugar.
It did take quite a time to turn from cream to butter today and I'm absolutely cream crackered. Literally.
All that moving and shaking ...my arms are about to fall off!.I must have used hundreds of calories -so it 's a case of Hello home made butter - bye bye bingo wings! Result......(well I haven't got bingo wings really but making my own butter will prevent them from appearing!)
Should I buy a churn? In the meantime- I really would like to know where I can buy locally made butter. Fellow tweeters on twitter suggest there may be some one from near Hinckley, and someone near Melton.....
Do let me know and let me know. I shall be buying some soon,. I bet they've got really big biceps....
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteWe use a stand mixer with a regular paddle stirrer. Culture it with a tiny bit of yogurt or cultured buttermilk @ 70F for a day and then chill it. Comes fairly soon, so do it when you're in the kitchen & plan for some serious splashing when it separates, like covering the mixer, or setting it in a pan with sides. Drain the buttermilk off in a colander, putting any stray bits back in the stirring bowl & pour in some very cold water, stir gently, drain and rinse until the water's fairly clear. I use plain popcorn salt, a finer grind, to salt it a bit. Leaving a little milkiness in the butter seems to make it taste better, too. I leave mine out on the counter, since my house is pretty cool. We get cream pretty cheaply @ a local farmers, so check around & see if anyone can provide. Try making yogurt... Dead Easy! Susi Wilson, Laura's cousin
Hi Susi,
ReplyDeleteYour method sounds easier than mine! have a food processor but not a mixer....perhaps a churn may be the way forward!
Do you make all your butter?I'm very impressed if you do!
I love the taste of home made butter, and the texture too.
You can use a food processor... anything that keeps it moving. Keep a close eye on it though, so you catch it as soon as it turns. Otherwise you can stir lots of buttermilk right back into your butter. My DH wishes I made all our butter, but I can't, so I use some made from the dairyman, which is good, but salty. Sometimes I rinse the salt out of his. Find a source of cream and a way to make it easy on yourself. I'm @ VirginiaCountryLife.blogspot.com but most of that stuff is back in my archives. I've enjoyed your Blog! Best Wishes, Susi
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you did that! And then you made scones with the residue! My respect for you rises by the blog post! Yes, it was me who suggested Melton but I've looked and there isn't. Strange really, because there's local cheese but not butter. Maybe you could start up a second career as a butter-maker! Well there does seem to be a gap in the market.
ReplyDelete