Butter!

I ventured out to the co-op yesterday for dish soap and more butter. The butter we currently have at the apartment has this weird taste to it that I just can't stand, so instead of continually whining I thought i'd just get some new stuff. The best butter I have ever had is from Tempel Farms and I figured I would have to wait until Summer to get it again. None of the butter options at the co-op were local, but I eyed a bottle of cream from Kilgus Farmstead and thought, "why don't I just make my own butter?" so I bought it...

First I put the cream into a big jar and added 4 small nuts (in their shells) as agitators. Nuts are great because there is no chance of them breaking the jar or breaking apart.












Then I shook the hell out of the jar for what seemed like forever... It was hard work. I began wishing I had just bought some sticks of butter instead.















But then! The cream turned into WHIPPED cream! Halfway there. We took out half of the whipped cream because there was no room in the jar to get any good shaking in.














As we (Davis began helping at this point) kept shaking, a wad of thick cream formed.














We started giving the jar big shakes, whipping the wad against the sides of the jar, and suddenly the buttermilk separated from the butter! I poured the buttermilk into another container and added water to the little butter chunks, shook, then drained and repeated. I did this until the water was mostly clear. the clearer the rinse water the longer the butter's shelf life.

In this picture I'm reloading the jar with the other half of the whipped cream for round 2 of butter making. You can see the first round in the bowl in the foreground.














We pressed out the remaining water with a wood spoon, then worked some of it into the butter bell for storage.
















I felt really accomplished when it was all done. I would definitely do it again. There wasn't a huge cost savings, but it was fun to do. There was a lot of giggling and huffing and puffing; an unassuming neighbor might have wondered what we were up to.

Just making butter!