To Make Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the churn
Scald the churn.
Cool the churn with ice or spring water.
Pour in the thick cream.
Churn quickly at first, then more slowly as the butter forms.
If in warm weather and butter forms slowly, add a little cold water.
If in winter and cream is too cold, add warm water.
Collect the butter
Rinse the churn with cold water.
Use a perforated dasher or wooden ladle to collect the butter.
Plunge the dasher into very cold water to release the butter.
Gather the butter with a wooden ladle.
Drain off the water, pressing the butter to remove milk.
Salt and shape
Sprinkle salt over the butter.
Work the salt into the butter.
Set the butter in a cool place for an hour to harden.
Knead until smooth and no water exudes.
Shape the butter into rolls, balls, or pats.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Thick cream
- Its fat content forms the butter as churning breaks the emulsion and fat clumps together.
- Coarse sea salt
- Adds flavour and helps preserve the finished butter.
The step that matters
Knead until smooth and no water exudes. Leftover buttermilk and water left in the butter can turn sour and shorten shelf life. Thorough pressing and kneading removes it, so the butter keeps better and has a firm, even texture.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.