…… Does anyone make butter?

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bluelady

Veteran Member
I got a Kilner butter churn for Christmas, something that had been on my wish list for decades. I used it once using store-bought heavy whipping cream. Did it with 6 year old granddaughter and it worked perfectly. Today I'm trying it with raw cream that we get from a neighbor. Half an hour later it doesn't even look thick. I've been googling (with one hand...LOL!) and there's random advice there: must be cold, must be room temperature, raw takes longer, might not be rich enough, it's winter. Nothing specific enough to know whether I should just give up! Any suggestions? It's good exercise but I'd like to get something out of the effort besides aerated coffee creamer. :)
 
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moldy

Veteran Member
I've tried a bunch of different churns, and honestly what I've found works best is a quart jar with about a pint and a quarter of cold cream. Shake it, put on some KC and the Sunshine Band - and before you know it - You've got butter! Rinse, salt, and form up. I like cream that has been sitting in the fridge for a day or two.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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I've made hundreds of pounds of butter from raw cream. I use a power drill, a stainless steel whisk I had an Amish metals smith make that fits the drill, and a 5 gallon pail. Drilled a hole in the center of a pail lid, and I can make about 6# of butter in a batch.

In general, cream "breaks" (goes from whipped cream to butter) easiest at about 60 degrees. Too warm or cold definitely causes trouble. The whipping process generates heat, so I usually start with cream about 55 degrees.

I might try putting a cup of that cream in a food processor if you have one, and see if that works.

One thing, though... getting butter from cream is just the beginning. If you don't rinse *every drop* of buttermilk out, it will taste wonderful for about 3 days, and then it will be awful. I put mine in wet cheesecloth/butter muslin in a strainer in the sink, and rinse and knead and rinse and rinse with cold water. Then I put a piece into cold water in a cup, mush it around and pour the water out... if it's not crystal clear, it's still not rinsed enough!

I can't wait until my cow calves... I think she's due in May. I'm craving homemade butter and cheese!

Summerthyme
 
Marie

Marie

Veteran Member
Sometimes the cream separator is set at the wrong setting(milk in the cream). Then you get some weird science mush. I learned that the hard way with my new fangled separator last year.
I want my 100 year old separator :cry:. But alas parts. Try letting your cream settle for a couple days in the fridge to see if there is milk in it.
 
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bluelady

Veteran Member
Marie said:
Sometimes the cream separator is set at the wrong setting(milk in the cream). Then you get some weird science mush. I learned that the hard way with my new fangled separator last year.
I want my 100 year old separator :cry:. But alas parts. Try letting your cream settle for a couple days in the fridge to see if there is milk in it.
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This wasn't separated; I just carefully drew a cup full off the top of the cream at the top of the (one gallon) jar with a turkey baster.

You're right, I'm thinking maybe it hadn't had time to settle out enough, but they also said they are thinking of replacing this cow because her milk isn't rich enough. I assumed that meant quantity, but I guess it's quality also because come to think of it this cream isn't really yellow. So I will probably wait until they do that to try butter again. Of course it's also winter. It was an experiment, because I'd like to think that we can get a bit each of milk, cream, butter, and yogurt out of our 2 or so gallons a week so as not to have to buy anything else. I already make yogurt from it, but we've been leaving the cream in the milk & buying more at the store for coffee, and buying Kerrygold butter.

I will experiment later with the shaking & the food processor and all. I do like my little churn, though, and it worked fine with the commercial cream so hopefully I can figure it out. I had it at kitchen room temperature which probably isn't much above 60; then I chilled it & tried again but still nothing. We'll just use this bit for our Sunday coffee tomorrow and the rest of the milk/cream is in the Instant Pot turning to yogurt.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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How old was the milk, bluelady? I always chilled mine for 48 hours to get the most practical cream. It sounds like you are trying to whip light cream or half and half...

But color doesn't indicate richness, except indirectly. Jersey and Guernsey cows (and their crosses) don't process beta carotene in their livers well, so excrete it in yellow cream (and skin oil and body fat!) However, most cows on pasture make creamy or yellow cream. Winter feed is low in beta carotene, so the milk and cream is whiter.

Our Ayrshire cows produced pure white milk, despite it averaging 4.0% butterfat. "Whole" milk these days is 3.25% fat! But I *really* miss my Cocoa cow. Half Jersey, half Dexter, she would make a pint of heavy cream out of a gallon of milk, and it was deep golden winter or summer. We have her daughter now, but never milked her last year due to the chaos of moving. Even hubby is on board with milkng her this 6ear, given world events and food prices.

Summerthyme
 
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bluelady

Veteran Member
2 days old, milked the morning of the 4th. But we took it to our store fridge Friday, then to home fridge yesterday, so it was chilled but shaken about a little; don't know if that affects it.

How do I get cream off of milk without making it half & half? Sorry, city girl who had goats but never milked them; at 70 it's about time I figure this out...LOL! :)
 
Marie

Marie

Veteran Member
bluelady said:
2 days old, milked the morning of the 4th. But we took it to our store fridge Friday, then to home fridge yesterday, so it was chilled but shaken about a little; don't know if that affects it.

How do I get cream off of milk without making it half & half? Sorry, city girl who had goats but never milked them; at 70 it's about time I figure this out...LOL! :)
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Was there a cream line? Even when skimming you can accidentally pull milk in. The kids have done that several times.It should have been cold enough.But use a candy thermometer to check for sure.If you pulled cream immediately after carrying it would shake it up enough to get milk.You can use a ladle or turkey baster like you did to skim off the top but stay away from the cream line. Just pull from the top or put it in a container with a spout and drain the milk away from underneath. Just a heads up goats milk is naturally homogenized you'll get very little cream floating. You'll need a separator to pull the majority of the cream.
Sometimes depends on the freshing of the cow and cows age. Cream quality. My first freshing jersey last year didn't give a good cream until a couple months after calving. Have no idea why as I've never encountered that before. And her cream absolutely would not make butter unless it was room temperature. Another 1st for me.
 
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bluelady

Veteran Member
Yes, the cream line was about 2" down? I tried to stay right at the top, maybe 1/2" down. I took a cup, which was maybe half of it. Dh says he brought it home the night before; 12 hours? It's cow milk, don't know the breed or age. I'll ask them if they make butter from this one. Now that I have my pretty churn I'm determined to make butter, and I'm *not* going to buy cream from the store to do it! :)
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Yes, cows are different, feed makes a difference. The only time I've seen milk not separate is Cocoa's milk as she started to dry off. It was like it was naturally homogenized... it almost looked like colostrum. I made a lot of ice cream!

You took a cup, which was about half the cream? Out of how much milk?

Summerthyme
 
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bluelady

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Yes, cows are different, feed makes a difference. The only time I've seen milk not separate is Cocoa's milk as she started to dry off. It was like it was naturally homogenized... it almost looked like colostrum. I made a lot of ice cream!

You took a cup, which was about half the cream? Out of how much milk?

Summerthyme
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A gallon.
 
dawgofwar10

dawgofwar10

Veteran Member
Any of you Girls looking for a guy who can hunt, fish, chop wood, and protect the homestead, while you make butter? ;)
 
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anna43

Veteran Member
If you have Holstein cream, it usually isn't yellow so can be difficult to tell if the butter is done. I love Jersey or Guernsey cream for making butter as they are usually bright yellow. Did you chill your churn? That sometimes helps. It's been ages since I made butter and sure miss making butter from own cow.
 
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bluelady

Veteran Member
anna43 said:
If you have Holstein cream, it usually isn't yellow so can be difficult to tell if the butter is done. I love Jersey or Guernsey cream for making butter as they are usually bright yellow. Did you chill your churn? That sometimes helps. It's been ages since I made butter and sure miss making butter from own cow.
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Hmm, interesting . Not sure what kind they have. I tried it at room temperature because I read that was better. Then read some more & tried again after chilling the whole thing. May have been too late by that time. Will try again when they get a new cow. Good news is, the yogurt is always great! As long as I use fresh milk; when I waited a few days, it separated.
 
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