This wasn’t really part of any plan, but there’s a Smart & Final next to our local pet store so I popped in and scored a half-gallon of manufacturing cream. Um, okay. I guess I’m making butter. Which I’ve had in mind as a project to do for a while, but I don’t know why I decided to do it when Larry’s out of town and we’re about to go on vacation.
I couldn’t believe how easy this was. I settled on a food processor method in order to contain any mess. Pour the cream in and press the on button until the butter separates out. Drain and knead, and that’s pretty much it. The bonus is fresh buttermilk. I left the salt out of my butter, which tastes just like fresh cream, since I figure it can be added later. A chunk went into the freezer and I kept some out for spreading on fresh bread. The rest went to a couple of coworkers (who loved it).
If you’re interested in the technique I used, it can be found at Have Knives Will Cook.
- Homemade Butter (The Home Creamery, p. 28)
We used to make our own butter all the time! But….it would often go bad before I could use it. Sooooo…. gave up on that one except for special occasions. :)
I made a note to check out this post when you mentioned it on Twitter & finally got around to it this morning! I know, I’m slow. I was wondering: what’s the difference between manufacturing cream & regular cream? I’ve often assumed that if I wanted to make butter I could use the raw cream available at the market. I’m sure any cream would work but just curious about the differences & their effect on the final product.
Isabel: exciting! I love the idea of making my own and then adding Maldon salt to taste.
I’m not sure you could tell the difference between the two creams, but maybe. Manufacturing cream is at least 40% butterfat and regular heavy whipping cream is 36% at the most. I’d be interested to try it out with raw cream, I’ll bet it’s delicious. My standard butter is high fat, low moisture, so I wanted something with more fat for baking.