A neighbor of ours has a few dairy cows that he milks.He sells the milk and cream to a few people that prefer the non-processed and natural milk. The other day he brought us fresh cream. I've made butter with my grandma before, but this time I wanted to take pictures not only so I have it for years to come but also to share with those of you who may not know how the pioneers made butter.
First we poured the cream into a handheld mixer
We churned this for 15 min and then checked to see the progress.
NOTHING! Grandma said that the butterfat content of this milk was low and it could take hours. We decided for our sanity sake to use modern technology. The hand-held mixer.
Checked the process after 15 min
Peaks have started to form. This was a toward the end of the whipped cream stage. My grandparents said it was sometimes hard for them when they were kids to make sure they didn't turn their whipped cream into butter.
Getting closer...........
I found the Magic Bullet to work the fastest, about 5 min to take if from cream to butter.
Pour off the liquid and then run cold water over the butter
Keep working it with a butter paddle (this one was not my gma's fav, but it worked)
After working for a couple minutes pour off the milky water and add fresh. You will keep doing this step until the water is clear.
Then you will add salt, the amount will depend upon how much butter you have. Work the salt into the butter thoroughly.
Toward the end, my gma added ice cubes to the water. This makes the butter set up better.
When the water is clear pour it off and continue working until there is NO water coming from the butter. The next steps show water in the bowl. We just took these pictures to show you the steps. It started getting a little old and tiring.
We used an old butter mold to make personal butter pats.
I'm not sure how the pioneers and the ladies in the early 1900s did this all the time. They did make huge batches to last a while. It was fun, and I'm glad I refreshed my memory on how to make butter. Its something I will pass on to my children (when that day comes)
We used to make butter by hand when we were little- I remember that it took FOREVER- we just used the hand mixer, then we would sit across from each other on the floor and roll it back and forth to each other.
ReplyDeleteThose are the memories we will treasure forever.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories made with your grandma...love those times. Also I found the post interesting...I have also heard my grandma talk about when they used to do but the pics were very helpful actually seeing the process! Thanks!
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