Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[bnjrob]

THis begs the question-- why make your own butter from whipping cream when you can buy butter by the pound, wrapped in quarters already? ANd a second question-- do you innoculate the "leftovers" to get it started??

LOL - partly because we are trying to become more self sufficient and at some point we will have a cow to provide us with the ability to make butter from the ground up so I decided to start getting comfortable making it routinely a couple of years ago.

And partly because homemade butter tastes nothing like storebought. I actually make cultured butter, which tastes different than most butter readily available, but even making sweet cream butter - it tastes different than storebought sweet cream butter.

Right now I have to buy whipping cream but it still tastes better than storebought pre-made butter.

As far as storebought being wrapped in quarters - I usually portion out butter by weight to make it easier to use in recipes.

To make a fresh batch of cultured butter I use either leftover buttermilk from the last batch or a bit of plain live-culture yogurt - whatever I happen to have.

I don't make it all at once for a year's supply though, since I don't have the freezer space. We're also trying to be able to do more things without electrical conveniences since power outages are unfortunately becoming more common and being accustomed to making it as we need it, if we don't have electricity, is more important to me than making a ton of it at once. My next project with butter will be to make ghee so that we can have "canned" butter that will last a good long while without having to keep it cool.

 

[bnjrob]

Yuk. I can't figure out why anyone would ever eat store bought butter. The awful things those cows eat scare the crap out of me. I wouldn't feed it to my dog.
I use our sheep's milk to make cheese and our cows milk for all other things - including butter. Wouldn't use goats milk, but that's just me. I make all of our butter for the entire year in the spring when the grass is lush and sweet. I roll it into quarter lb balls and freeze it for the year. We always have buttermilk on hand for baking so... qed

Have not tried sheep's milk butter yet but would like to. Actually went to a "fancy" grocery store in the city recently and they had goat's milk butter so I got a little bit to try. Haven't had a chance to taste it yet though, am hoping it won't be disappointing.

 

[RedRidge]

Yuk. I can't figure out why anyone would ever eat store bought butter. The awful things those cows eat scare the crap out of me. I wouldn't feed it to my dog.

I use our sheep's milk to make cheese and our cows milk for all other things - including butter. Wouldn't use goats milk, but that's just me. I make all of our butter for the entire year in the spring when the grass is lush and sweet. I roll it into quarter lb balls and freeze it for the year. We always have buttermilk on hand for baking so... qed

Have not tried sheep's milk butter yet but would like to.  Actually went to a "fancy" grocery store in the city recently and they had goat's milk butter so I got a little bit to try.  Haven't had a chance to taste it yet though, am hoping it won't be disappointing.

I used to own the first licensed sheep dairy in the southeast. Oaf the best milk there is but... To make butter you have to have a separator. It's the only milk that is 100% naturally homogenized. I've done it, and it's yummy, but much easier to make butter with cows milk. Plus I can't quite justify using the sheep milk for anything other than cheese - except for the occasional batch of homemade ice cream or to put on coffee. It's rich like cream so using it as such is wonderful.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: LOl I wondered if you were headed that way. I am biding my time to get dairy goats. Little does DH know as he said "no" . . .. I will need to put down a deposit this year in hopes of getting a doeling next year.


Ahh . . homemade tastes better-- thought it might, given that everything home made vs commercially produced still have the special flavor qualities that disappear to make it thru the commerical supply system.

I didn't realize ghee could be canned-- mainly because all the "Recipes: for cann meat like chicken and turkey say skim all the fat off the top.. THis baffled me as I figured either it interfered with the seal or it turned rancid. I personally value the fat content, all of it, so left some in each jar. We have been using it lately as the days are getting too hot to put a roast in, but opening a jar of homemade soup that I canned last summer and heated in the microwave is perfect. My oint being that I tested the fats and they are NOT rancid, and all sealed correctly, so I am still at a loss why the instructions say to removee the fat.

I have been building my stored canned goods. ANd have enough that I need to rotate the stock. We do keep to CHEST freezers and when we were sith out power for 5 days, we were able to run a generator once a day to keep it cold enough. I also keep extra water bottles in the available space just in case.

I hear you though-- I am trying to find a balance toward more self sufficiency but I"m finding there is a huge cost in time and finances to get there.

THe plus is that my kids didn't freak out when we were with out power and school started on day 2 of the outage. I could cook on the propane stove. Currently they are learning to cook on the barBQ with wood. THey can start a first better than I can. lol

Can you shoot me anPM on how to make the two types of butter??? I know my boys would enjoy such a project. I am still looking to fill their summer lesson plan.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THis begs the question-- why make your own butter from whipping cream when you can buy butter by the pound, wrapped in quarters already? ANd a second question-- do you innoculate the "leftovers" to get it started??
Yuk. I can't figure out why anyone would ever eat store bought butter. The awful things those cows eat scare the crap out of me. I wouldn't feed it to my dog.
I use our sheep's milk to make cheese and our cows milk for all other things - including butter. Wouldn't use goats milk, but that's just me. I make all of our butter for the entire year in the spring when the grass is lush and sweet. I roll it into quarter lb balls and freeze it for the year. We always have buttermilk on hand for baking so... qed
I'm sure they do taste different. Just as the fresh orange yolked eggs taste better than the bland commercial eggs. lol

I don't have access to better quality butter at this time. THough I'm willing to find another source-- was just talking to DH last night about my concern for what might be lurking int he commercial butter given the bad chemicals that can hide in fat sources like butter. Prepped him for the idea of going organic on the butter. I think I saw him blanche. lol We already use about 2-3 pounds of butter a week. ( Margarine was gone long ago about 25 years ago-- wow where do the years go.) Dumped the margarine when my shearer mentioned something bad about it.)

I'm surprized that the butter is stored as balls-- I remember seening wooden forms for butter at historical homes . . never thought of balls of butter. lol

We are still working on improving the grass here-- years of work ahead of ususing only man power and a chainsaw. THe trees that DH girdled last spring finally died. lol Putting us a year behind . . . live and learn.

How do you make butter milk? Or is that how you preserve/store the milk?

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I used to own the first licensed sheep dairy in the southeast. Oaf the best milk there is but... To make butter you have to have a separator. It's the only milk that is 100% naturally homogenized. I've done it, and it's yummy, but much easier to make butter with cows milk. Plus I can't quite justify using the sheep milk for anything other than cheese - except for the occasional batch of homemade ice cream or to put on coffee. It's rich like cream so using it as such is wonderful.
I am still in the process of getting excess weight off and high fat is a boon in my food.( Biochemical switch from a carb burning cycle to a fat burning cycle) ANd my kids are happy to eat somewhat fatty foods. WHen the kids were toddleers I had to fight the doctors about switching from whole milk to 2%. My kids eat all the food they want-- and are stick thin. Because they eat REAL food. I can see as they head into the teen years they will need more calories when they hit their big growth spurt. FIgure it would be worth buying milk if I could find a source. Here everything has to be pasturized-- does that interfere with making butter or buttermilk?? Can goats milk be used to make buttermilk??

 

[draye]

I'm sure they do taste different. Just as the fresh orange yolked eggs taste better than the bland commercial eggs. lol

I don't have access to better quality butter at this time. THough I'm willing to find another source-- was just talking to DH last night about my concern for what might be lurking int he commercial butter given the bad chemicals that can hide in fat sources like butter. Prepped him for the idea of going organic on the butter. I think I saw him blanche. lol We already use about 2-3 pounds of butter a week. ( Margarine was gone long ago about 25 years ago-- wow where do the years go.) Dumped the margarine when my shearer mentioned something bad about it.)

I'm surprized that the butter is stored as balls-- I remember seening wooden forms for butter at historical homes . . never thought of balls of butter. lol

We are still working on improving the grass here-- years of work ahead of ususing only man power and a chainsaw. THe trees that DH girdled last spring finally died. lol Putting us a year behind . . . live and learn.

How do you make butter milk? Or is that how you preserve/store the milk?

We always used the milk that was left from making the butter. That was probably 40 years ago or better. I never cared for drinking the buttermilk but it sure was good in homemade biscuits or cornbread.

 

[bnjrob]

I used to own the first licensed sheep dairy in the southeast. Oaf the best milk there is but... To make butter you have to have a separator. It's the only milk that is 100% naturally homogenized. I've done it, and it's yummy, but much easier to make butter with cows milk. Plus I can't quite justify using the sheep milk for anything other than cheese - except for the occasional batch of homemade ice cream or to put on coffee. It's rich like cream so using it as such is wonderful.

That's good to know - thanks! Have thought about getting some sheep - have had some offered to us for free even from someone that keeps them as pets and would rather give them to us then send them to the slaughterhouse. Would love to have some that I can use their milk as well as their fleece. Even the rougher haired sheep can have their wool spun into more utilitarian objects like rugs and since I have a couple of spinning wheels and would like to bet a big floor loom....And of course cheese making is on the list of things I want to learn to do.

 

[bnjrob]

LOl I wondered if you were headed that way. I am biding my time to get dairy goats. Little does DH know as he said "no" . . .. I will need to put down a deposit this year in hopes of getting a doeling next year.


Ahh . . homemade tastes better-- thought it might, given that everything home made vs commercially produced still have the special flavor qualities that disappear to make it thru the commerical supply system.

I didn't realize ghee could be canned-- mainly because all the "Recipes: for cann meat like chicken and turkey say skim all the fat off the top.. THis baffled me as I figured either it interfered with the seal or it turned rancid. I personally value the fat content, all of it, so left some in each jar. We have been using it lately as the days are getting too hot to put a roast in, but opening a jar of homemade soup that I canned last summer and heated in the microwave is perfect. My oint being that I tested the fats and they are NOT rancid, and all sealed correctly, so I am still at a loss why the instructions say to removee the fat.

I have been building my stored canned goods. ANd have enough that I need to rotate the stock. We do keep to CHEST freezers and when we were sith out power for 5 days, we were able to run a generator once a day to keep it cold enough. I also keep extra water bottles in the available space just in case.

I hear you though-- I am trying to find a balance toward more self sufficiency but I"m finding there is a huge cost in time and finances to get there.

THe plus is that my kids didn't freak out when we were with out power and school started on day 2 of the outage. I could cook on the propane stove. Currently they are learning to cook on the barBQ with wood. THey can start a first better than I can. lol

Can you shoot me anPM on how to make the two types of butter??? I know my boys would enjoy such a project. I am still looking to fill their summer lesson plan.

I hear ya on the price of becoming self sufficient. I'm doing things in stages to get used to making things that I would normally buy and decide what, if any, special equipment I may need to do each thing better/faster/more efficiently. Time needs are different too - definitely a different mindset and need for planning. But I figured if I start each thing one by one and get it down pat, it would be easier and I could eventually get it to where it no longer took as long because I was accustomed to doing it. Nothing like having a disaster and trying to figure out how to do everything the old fashioned way unexpectedly.

Actually found canned ghee at the store last year and so decided I needed to try making it myself eventually. In the antique cookbooks it seems to often be called "clarified butter" and one of the books I have mentioned that it had a longer shelf life.

I haven't had a problem with fat going rancid in my canned goods either and I leave the fat in most of the broth/stock that I can up. Even rendered some beef tallow that has been fine. I pressure canned most of the beef tallow to try to get max shelf life, but one jar I just poured the hot tallow into a hot, boiled jar and put a screw lid on it. Even sitting out on the counter for months before I opened it, that one jar was perfectly fine, not rancid, nothing growing in it. Had someone tell me the problem with fat in canned goods was that it would solidify at the top of the jar and harbor bacteria...which makes no sense but they believed it, lol. As long as I make sure to wipe the rim of the jars before putting lids on and always use a funnel and not overfill, have not had any problems getting a good seal on the jars.

If the sealing of the jars isn't the issue with people saying to take off all the fat, am wondering if it is an aesthetics issue since you can see the layer of fat in the jar once it cools and some people think it's gross? Could also be all the years of having them tell us not to eat fat because it's bad for us, so go ahead and eat the chemical laden diet butter instead.

LOL - that's great that the kids are getting in on the action. Went to a Civil War reenactment a couple of months ago and saw a good number of kids that were doing well with the whole camping without modern amenities and such.

Butter is easy, will tell you how I do it.

 

[bnjrob]

We always used the milk that was left from making the butter. That was probably 40 years ago or better. I never cared for drinking the buttermilk but it sure was good in homemade biscuits or cornbread.

I don't care to drink it but it sure tastes great in stuff. Tried a new recipe last month to make "Buttermilk Syrup" to go on pancakes/waffles, and used the buttermilk leftovers from making butter. Good stuff!