homemade butter

[boxermom]

I have made butter before, but I used Jersey milk. I have Holstein milk now. Not as fat but the woman I got it from says she makes butter with it. She makes butter when it is a week old. I wasn't sure that I needed to wait a week since I never had before, so I asked an old dairy farmer friend of mine. She said if I wanted sweet cream butter, to use it now. If I wanted a tangier butter, to wait a week. I wanted sweet butter so I skimmed the cream and put it in my kitchenaid mixer. That cream went for 3 hours and only whipped. No fat granules at all. I finally gave up and put it in quart jars to keep for a week. Today, I tried again. First in the mixer, then the food processer. Still nothing. Am I missing something with Holstein cream?

 

[Mahonri]

Holsteins just don't have a lot of fat in their milk. Jersey, Guernsey and others will make you happier.

Did you let it sit in the fridge for awhile after slow churning?

 

[boxermom]

I finally gave up and strained the "foam off" and put it into a jar and did it the old way. 10 min later I had butter. I don't know why it didn't work with all the cream liquid. I now have a jar of the strained off liquid being shaken by DD. I don't know if it will work or not. It may just be butter milk. It looks like milk. I gave up on the 2nd batch. It's buttermilk. Will make an awesome chocolate cake.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
Skimmed cream does not turn into butter nearly as well as seperated cream does.
I have tried this route as well.
Thank fully our farmer skims cream for orders, and sells it at $5 per quart.
That stuff is so thick, that it cannot pour.
It must be scraped out!

And yes, Holstiens are bred for volume, so you will see less fat, and far less vitamins and minerals in the milk.
Check out what I wrote the other day on that subject.
http://sustainablefirstfruits.blogspot.com/2010/02/raw-pastured-milk-versus-commercial.html

 

[herfrds]

I let my milk sit overnight in the fridge and then skim the cream. I put it in the blender and turn it on high. It takes a while.

 

[seymore0626]

Several things affect the butter; the age of the cream, temperature of the cream, equipment used to make the butter, and last but not least, the quality of the cream.
I think older cream works better, and is still sweet.
I use the cuisinart with the plastic blade because I was taught that butter doesn't respond as well to metal.
The butter needs to be room temp. at least...I let mine sit most of the day before I make butter.
I used 6 quarts of cream tonight to make butter, and two of the four were a little different in consistency as I worked the butter, but all made up very well, with a high yeild and a great, sweet taste.
My three girls are all jerseys.

 

[marymac]

Wish I knew where to get some fresh milk to make butter with. Any ideas?

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
Go to www.realmilk.com and look through your state.
If you do not find one real close, still call around to the others. They will be very helpful.
And do be sure and tell them where you found their info.

 

[boxermom]

Do I have to work with 1 qt at a time or can I do bigger batches? The jersy milk that I am used to using is so much different than the holstein. Also, what is the difference between skimmed and seperated cream?

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
Skimmed cream is where youleave the milk to rest, and then skim off the cream that rose to the top.
Seperated, is where the farmer sends the milk through a cream seperator to remove all the fat. This cream will be as thick as peanut butter.
The skimmed milk that is left, is the sugar portion of the milk, and is normally fed to the pigs to fatten them up.

You can work with whatever portion of cream your mixer can handle.
I do not advise using a blender, as they tend to heat up the cream a bit, and that will hinder the process.