Making Butter

 They sell off cream at the supermarkets on New Year's Eve - 23p a carton.

So New Year's Day was spent making butter.  This was our first attempt but now we know how easy it is I know it will not be our last.

My Grandmother gave me these old butter pats and a butter mould/impression thingy years ago.
The mould has a picture of a fox on it.

First you leave the cream out of the fridge for a few hours until it reaches room temperature.  Then you just put it in the mixer and whizz it up a bit - not too fast!

When it has reached thick cream stage turn the mixer to the slowest it will go (you don't want to be redecorating the ceiling) when it happens it happens very fast.

First the cream will turn yellow (butter colour!) Then it will take on a crumbly texture.

Then all of a sudden you will hear a slosh and turn it off quick!
It will have separated into butter and buttermilk.

Pour off the buttermilk - you can drink it, feed it to the chickens, dogs or cats or use it in your cooking.

Then wash the butter in cold water.  Keep poking it about and changing the water until it runs clear.
You are getting all the buttermilk out so keep going.

Then comes the best bit.  P took over here and I was hardly allowed a look in!
You get to smack it with the butter pats, hard, lots.  This time you are getting all the water out.

P, the butter making master

See all the water under the finished butter.

Then wrap it in baking parchment. I just wrapped it and twisted the ends like a cracker.  The butter that was going in the freezer I left unsalted.  I will put salt in it later when we need it.  Apparently if you salt it first it goes in the freezer tasting ok but gets extra salty somehow when frozen and doesn't taste so good.

The one pat that I kept for us to eat I salted by bashing the butter flat with the butter pats (P was tired from all the hard work so I actually got to do this one myself) sprinkling it with salt and then folding it over (like puff pastry) and patting it back into a squarish shape.

Now we have lots of butter which cost us less than £2.50.  Each tub of cream made one block of butter.