The Dairy Chronicle: Homemade Raw Butter

Raw Butter in all its goodness!

When my husband bought a cream separator, it was mainly for his parents, since they wanted skimmed milk. We get some cream for our cream needs, like for my coffee.  Until my brother-in-law mentioned making butter from the cream being easy using the blender. I asked him to demonstrate it to me. After watching him, I watched more methods on youtube -- using food processor, kitchen aid mixer (whip), and even a canning jar that is shaken for 30 minutes.   And when he demonstrated that to me, he also showed how to make a simple "cottage" cheese using vinegar.  That got me interested in books on dairy for home.
 After I read more about butter and corresponding with someone on yt, I learned that most of these videos were over-churning the butter, in effect, reincorporating the buttermilk into the butter.  Reading an old USDA bulletin I downloaded from the net, as well the the books I bought, the ideal temp for churning was around 50-55º F. I usually would just start the blender as soon as I pull out the raw heavy cream since the blades themselves will create friction and increase the temp closer to the ideal.  On the contrary, if left at room temp too long and temp goes down to 55, pretty soon the temp will be quite warm that butter would not really form (remain suspended as oil).

Gallons of fresh raw heavy cream from our pastured cows

Another important thing to remember is to stop while the butter is still quite granular...instead of waiting for the butter to form a clump.  The clump stage is overbeaten and has incorporated/trapped back the buttermilk into the butter. You cannot rinse this off easily, and it will cause the butter to go rancid quicker, especially for raw cream.

Butter still at its granular form

Now butter can be made using fresh cream (raw or not), and is called Sweet Cream Butter.  If you let RAW cream stand at room temp for 12-24 hours allowing it to ripen (or sour) naturally, then chilling it to the correct temperature, then the butter resulting is called Sour Cream Butter or Naturally- Ripened Butter. This has stronger flavor, and the buttermilk resulting has a more tangy taste due to the culture of lactic acid producing bacteria (acting as probiotics).  I actually prefer this if not for the hassle of letting it sit on room temp then chilling before churning.  Very good on breads! And the bread made with buttermilk is just out of this world! This "naturally cultured" buttermilk is easier to digest for those lactose intolerant (same with raw milk or soured raw milk ripened for 12-24 hrs). 

I use silicon spatula to squeeze out extra water after rinsing in cold ice water. Then I mix with 1 tsp sea salt per 1lb butter.

Never let pasteurized cream (the ones sold in the grocery stores) sour at room temp. It's original beneficial bacteria and enzymes are killed by pasteurization so the harmful bacteria can easily proliferate because they are unchecked.  The cream will just spoil.

I prepared the following video to demonstrate. I did not edit the part of churning (no speeding up, no cuts) because I wanted you to actually see and hear the differences in stages as the butter develops cream, loses body, and become sloshy as the butter granules start to clump together. 

Please note the amount of cream churned. If you put cream that fills up half of the blender container, it will not be able to churn uniformly because in the whipped stage, the volume has increased, and the upper part of the cream will remain trapped there, not sucked into the vortex. You might have to stop every now and then to mix manually then continue beating.  You might end up with butter all clumped up at the bottom, obscured by the whipped cream on top. Using the right amount, you will see exactly when the butter finally forms.




Now why even bother to make my own? Why not when I have access to fresh cream for FREE.  I also get the benefits of raw butter and buttermilk.  Read more on the benefits of raw butter here.

Extra are frozen for future use

And our source? Cows that were feeding on their natural food -- grass! More nutrients, probiotics. What more can I ask for? And yeah, it's fun to make. And I love the smell and feel of butter on my hands (that are softened and moistened).  The best part? It is soo good!

I use butter crock to keep the butter spreadable yet protected from getting rancid quickly because the water makes a seal preventing exposure to air which is responsible for oxidation and the resulting rancidity.