Question on making Butter?

[nao57]

So is it more worth it to make cheese instead of butter? You can stretch cheese on sandwiches fairly easy. And cheese costs more than butter. Is the volume of butter made from a gallon of milk also similar to how much cheese you'd make with the same amount?

Cheese also very expensive.

And yes still very interested in butter. But this helps to figure them out since they are very similar.

 

[tlcmurphy]

So is it more worth it to make cheese instead of butter? You can stretch cheese on sandwiches fairly easy. And cheese costs more than butter. Is the volume of butter made from a gallon of milk also similar to how much cheese you'd make with the same amount?

Cheese also very expensive.

And yes still very interested in butter. But this helps to figure them out since they are very similar.

I’ve never tried to make cheese, but I don’t think it’s a simple process. It requires enzymes and things like that. I do make yogurt from whole milk, that’s easy and cheap!

I’m thinking of learning to tap maple trees, have you all seen the price of real syrup?! Good grief!

 

[Perris]

Cheese needs even more milk than butter - it's an even more concentrated form of milk. But if you want to give it a try, I found this site useful as an introduction to it
https://www.permaculturenews.org/2023/09/14/permaculture-cheesemaking/

It is trivial (but takes a while) to make butter from cream, you just need to shake it till it separates into butter and buttermilk (equivalent to curds and whey with milk). It's economical to do if you can get the cream cheap - if it's been discounted because it's close to its use-by date, for example. This is a useful web page if you want to try that
https://www.allotment-garden.org/recipe/home-dairy/how-to-make-butter/

 

[NatJ]

So is it more worth it to make cheese instead of butter? You can stretch cheese on sandwiches fairly easy. And cheese costs more than butter. Is the volume of butter made from a gallon of milk also similar to how much cheese you'd make with the same amount?

Cheese also very expensive.

And yes still very interested in butter. But this helps to figure them out since they are very similar.

If you want to get ALL the nutrients from the milk, just drink it, or put it on cereal, or cook some dish that includes the milk as an ingredient. You can also make yoghurt (add a culture, let it sit at the right temperature). Yoghurt does not involve discarding any part of the milk.

When you make butter, you concentrate part of the milk (mostly fat) and are left with buttermilk (that can be used in cooking, but if you throw it away you are throwing away most of the protein and some of the other good things.)

When you make cheese, you concentrate part of the milk (including protein and fat) and are left with whey (that can be used in cooking but is often thrown away or fed to various animals because people often do not like the taste.) The whey still contains a lot of nutrients including some of the protein (when you see ads for "whey powder," that is where it comes from.)

If you are discarding buttermilk or whey, you are missing out on some of the nutrients that were in the milk in the first place.

 

[lomine]

I have milk goats. I have made cheese and butter from their raw milk. Without going into unnecessary detail, there are many factors that affect how much cheese/butter you will get from a gallon of milk (and it can change throughout the year). On average I will get about 1 pound of butter from 1 gallon of milk. However, my goats' milk it much higher in fat than whole cow milk, like double or more. I also have to separate the cream from the milk first. In the end I have butter, buttermilk, and skim milk.

If you want to try making your own butter, I suggest you get heavy whipping cream. The higher the fat content in the cream, the more butter you get and the faster it will churn. I believe cow cream needs to be room temp to churn. You can use a glass jar with lid and shake it. Lots of videos online.

As for cheese. There are a lot of different kinds of cheese with their own methods of making them. Some are easy and fast, and some are complicated and can take days. The most basic cheese would be an acid cheese, often called farm cheese. You can use lemon juice or vinegar. I don't know the method/measurements if you are making it from store bought cow milk, but there's probably recipes online.

I will also add, cheese making is a bit of an art. There are many factors that affect the taste and texture. It took me a couple years before I got to a consistency and taste of chevre (goat cheese) that I liked. Everything before was good but not great. And no, there is no "goaty" taste in my milk or anything I make from it.

 

[nao57]

I have milk goats. I have made cheese and butter from their raw milk. Without going into unnecessary detail, there are many factors that affect how much cheese/butter you will get from a gallon of milk (and it can change throughout the year). On average I will get about 1 pound of butter from 1 gallon of milk. However, my goats' milk it much higher in fat than whole cow milk, like double or more. I also have to separate the cream from the milk first. In the end I have butter, buttermilk, and skim milk.

If you want to try making your own butter, I suggest you get heavy whipping cream. The higher the fat content in the cream, the more butter you get and the faster it will churn. I believe cow cream needs to be room temp to churn. You can use a glass jar with lid and shake it. Lots of videos online.

As for cheese. There are a lot of different kinds of cheese with their own methods of making them. Some are easy and fast, and some are complicated and can take days. The most basic cheese would be an acid cheese, often called farm cheese. You can use lemon juice or vinegar. I don't know the method/measurements if you are making it from store bought cow milk, but there's probably recipes online.

I will also add, cheese making is a bit of an art. There are many factors that affect the taste and texture. It took me a couple years before I got to a consistency and taste of chevre (goat cheese) that I liked. Everything before was good but not great. And no, there is no "goaty" taste in my milk or anything I make from it.

Thank you very much. I liked your reply.

 

[nao57]

If you want to get ALL the nutrients from the milk, just drink it, or put it on cereal, or cook some dish that includes the milk as an ingredient. You can also make yoghurt (add a culture, let it sit at the right temperature). Yoghurt does not involve discarding any part of the milk.

When you make butter, you concentrate part of the milk (mostly fat) and are left with buttermilk (that can be used in cooking, but if you throw it away you are throwing away most of the protein and some of the other good things.)

When you make cheese, you concentrate part of the milk (including protein and fat) and are left with whey (that can be used in cooking but is often thrown away or fed to various animals because people often do not like the taste.) The whey still contains a lot of nutrients including some of the protein (when you see ads for "whey powder," that is where it comes from.)

If you are discarding buttermilk or whey, you are missing out on some of the nutrients that were in the milk in the first place.

Thank you very much