Conference turris::cooks

Renee

Use whipping cream and salt, not sugar.  Whip the cream until it turns to butter.
That's it!

Sorry, can't help you with locating a butter mould as I too far away..ie New 
Zealand!

Dianne

    
    I would suggest using heavy cream, no salt.  Beat, shake or otherwise
    agitate until lumps of butter appear.  Strain off the buttermilk, and
    knead, adding salt to taste, to get rid of excess water.  Pack the
    butter into a little crock and refrigerate.
    
    I remember watching my grandmother making butter sitting on the front
    porch of her house.  She would put the cream in a canning jar and sit
    in her rocking chair, shaking the jar until it turned to butter.
    
    Have fun!
    

    It is easier, too, if the cream you use is *really* fresh.  What you
    get in a supermarket isn't all that fresh.  Find a local dairy.  If the
    cream is fresh enough, you'll have butter before you know it!  I used
    to get cream from a local dairy, and I discovered that if it was too
    fresh I couldn't make whipped cream -- it would go from cream to
    butter-and-liquid without hitting the whipped-cream state in between.
    So this is probably the stuff to use if you want to make butter.
    
    When visiting a friend recently in Normandy, where butter is a way of
    life, we happened to be discussing making butter.  They had made their
    own butter a few times, she said, but had always found that the butter
    from the market was better.  (Of course, *all* French (or Irish) butter 
    tastes better than what's available in the US, I've found.)
    
    -ellie

I wonder how much better your butter would be if made with store-bought
heavy or whipping cream. These are moderately highly processed, and
often have stabilizers added. The additives probably aren't too harmful
(though I have a "religion" of avoiding additives if possible), but
they may cause it to taste different. And the processing will also
affect flavor.

So the question is: will the butter you make yourself be better, or
just different?

We live in the Greater Maynard area, and buy Cabot unsalted (made in
Cabot, VT -- they do a neat tour, too!), which we find to be noticeably
higher quality than Land-o-Lakes unsalted and store brands. This butter
is so good that it compares favorably with the very high quality
butters available in Canada, UK, Ireland, France, etc. With access to
decent butter, it's not worth the trouble to make our own, except for
maybe when we want the kids to have a little fun.

    We don't use much butter anyhow, and when we do it is Lake O Lakes
    unsalted.  One summer for our annual hoem made ice cream aprty, one of
    my husband's co-workers, who lives near a good dairy, volunteered to
    bring fresh cream for all the ice cream (he doesn't like the flavor of
    the ultrapasteurized cream).  This was very heavy cream, and it made
    good ice cream (that party is not for the dieter anyhow!). I tried to
    use some of the leftover cream later for whipped cream, and it turned
    into butter almost instantly - it never did whip!  I didn't do anyhting
    special with the butter I got, though - I threw it all out and send
    hubby out for some cream I could whip since guests were about to
    arrive for dinner!  I've never ended up with butter using cream from
    the local grocery store, but I never was deliberately trying to make
    it, either.  Salted butter tastes mostly like salt to me.
    
    /Charlotte

    ... and the new Land O Lakes light butter is wonderful!
    
    When I've made whipped butter (for breakfast) I've used heavy whipping
    cream, mixed it with my electric mixer, piled it in a bowl and served
    it like a bowl of whipped cream. This is particulary nice with waffles.
    I don't make more than I can use in one day. 
    
    The kitchen stores sell all kinds of little molds, and I've seen wooden
    butter molds -- you can even use candy molds.
    

    The whipped butter in .6 sounds really nice for a brunch.
    
    If the interest in making butter is due to low consumption and fear of
    spoilage, I'd recommend buying a package and storing it in the freezer. 
    Cut off pieces as needed.  It stores well in the freezer.
    
    Laura

Fresh cream from a dairy is normally the cream which is skimmed from the
top of un-homogenized milk. Depending on the type of cow it came from
(etc.), the butter fat content is likely to be far higher than any heavy
cream you can buy commercially, which has likely been "thinned" to some
degree and homogenized - which is a necessity in order for them to be able
to provide a consistent product, as the fat content in raw milk is so
variable.

Years ago when my dad kept a herd, we always had fresh milk and cream.
Skimming it off the top of the milk when no one was looking was always
quite a treat, but, as has been mentioned, the stuff was far to rich to
ever whip into whipped cream. Butter was inevitable.

-Jack

    What IS the Land O Lakes "light" butter?  I've seen it, but I don't buy
    much butter (or margarine either - we don't tend to eat things you
    would put either one on) so I have never tried it.  The butter I do buy
    is for cooking, so products with extra water mixed in don't work
    because they don't melt properly. Whipped butter seems to be just
    butter whipped with air - works OK in recipes although the volume is
    different, of course.  ,I've found that you can't actually cook with a
    lot of the "light" or "low-cholesterol" dairy products - for example,
    if you cook with "lo-chol" cheeses, they release lots of water when
    melting, and you end up with a gluey mess from the fake cheese
    (something must be added to give the watery cheese the right texture at
    room or refigerator temperature) and a bunch of water - ycch!  I've
    pretty much given up cooking with most dairy products since the doctor
    put my hsbnad on a low-cholesterol diet.
    
    /Charlotte

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Is it anything like "lite beef"
or "lite eggs" (like those Eggland's Best)?

    	I've been disappointed with Cabot products when I get them, maybe
    	because I expect too much of them, being from Vermont (ie, being 
    	day-and-night different from the regular US brands). They're OK, 
    	but not great, and not worth the higher price imo (similar
    	product).

    	I've never made my own butter - I'll have to try it, sounds fun.

    	But in my mind, the very best of the best butter in the world comes
    	from Bavaria! Call me biased :-), but just eating bavarian butter
    	on semel's is enough to send me to heaven. Ohhhh! Worth the airfare
    	alone for me, there's nothing like it. In my heart the bavarian
    	flag = blue for the mountain sky, and white for the bavarian cream.

    	-Erik [can't wait to go back for breakfast :-)]

You're probably right about Cabot dairy products if you're comparing
them to local products from small dairies, but in comparison to other
mass-produced dairy products (available in New England), they're very good.

Re "the best butter anywhere", my money is on Ireland, and Cornwall and
Devon in England.

    Can someone explain exactly what happens when making butter? From this
    string I gather you simply agitate heavy cream and butter happens...
    
    Why does cream make butter when agitated?
    
    Edd

    RE: Light butter from L O' L - I bought it and used it.  I didn't use
    it as part of a recipe, I wanted to find out how it tasted.  We are
    lucky that we don't have cholesterol problems (I inherited a low count
    from my dad - 153).  I found it to be lighter in that it was a lighter
    taste - almost as if to suggest butter but not the full flavor of
    butter.  It also seemed lighter (weight) and lighter (color).  I was
    not impressed since I do like real butter.  But if it offers half the
    usual cholesterol and fat, then I would probably continue.  Hopefully
    it will find a nice lower price niche.
    
    -sandy
    

The following is not authoritative: cream consists of water,
water-soluble compounds ("milk solids" consisting of sugars, proteins,
salts, acids, etc) and fat (butter). The fat is in tiny globules in
suspension in the water (this is technically called an emulsion). Whole
milk contains about 3% butterfat (so now you know why 2% milk tastes so
good; it still has most of its fat!). Heavy cream can contain up to 30%
butterfat or more. "Triple creme" cheeses contain 45% butterfat! I
shudder to think what the percentage is in the "clotted creams" from
Devon and Cornwall.

When you agitate cream, two things happen: some cooling occurs as some
of the water evaporates, and the fat globules are forced into contact
with each other. The combination causes them to coagulate. The process
of coagulation is a little like crystallization: a liquid can be
stable, but "ready to coagulate". All it needs is the right conditions
to start (for example, a "seed" particle in the case of
crystallization), and it snowballs from there.

Highly processed creams (i.e., mass-produced supermarket creams) are
harder to whip into butter (even though they may have high fat
content), because it's harder to get coagulation to occur. First of
all, they're highly homogenized (the fat globules are tinier and more
numerous). And there are often "stabilizers" added -- ingredients such
as antioxidants (to slow spoilage) and emulsifiers (ingredients which
are specifically designed to inhibit coagulation).

Once coagulation has begun, the continued agitation allows the water to
fall and the fat to rise, because fat has a lower density than water.
Eventually, you get soft butter with pockets of watery liquid on top,
and watery liquid on the bottom. Some amount of water and dissolved
compounds remains interspersed in the mass of butterfat.

    Is it true that the liquid remaining after the afore-described butter
    making process is "buttermilk"?
    
    D!

I always thought that buttermilk was made from cultured *whole* milk.
Does anyone know for sure? Also, I'm not sure, but the watery liquid
which remains after making butter may be called whey, like the whey
which remains after making cheese.

    I can only speak of what I learned growing up in Wisconsin, but...
    
    When butter was made by hand, buttermilk was the liquid left in the
    churn after butter was made.  It was the milk from the butter-making
    process, hence "buttermilk". Because it had the butterfat extracted, it
    was lower fat than milk from the cow.  We'd know it today as 1% or 2%
    milk (I doubt that the process was efficient enough to produce skim
    milk, but you get the general idea.)  So, while the term "buttermilk"
    seems to imply high-fat or thick, rich milk, it's really the opposite.  
    
    Buttermilk purchased in stores is a different sort of beast than simply
    milk with the butterfat extracted.  It's cultured and thickened (but
    still low in fat).  Why it's evolved into a different product than the
    original, I don't know. I can only guess that as the butter-making
    process evolved into an industry, the by-product of the process also
    evolved into something different. Today, buttermilk sold in stores
    probably isn't even a by-product of butter-making.
    
    And yes, the watery liquid left over from the cheese-making process is
    called whey.  FWIW, many cheese factories at home ship their whey to pig
    farmers.  The piggies adore it.  ;^)
    
    Sue (not a dairy farmer, nor do I play one on TV)
    

There are two meanings of "buttermilk".  The name refers both to the 
water/protein part of the milk left over after butter is made, and to 
artificially cultured whole milk.

.15 has the process of butter making correct.  Churning the butter causes 
coagulation of the fat droplets in the milk.  You end up with butter, which is 
almost entirely butterfat (very little of the water or protein), and buttermilk 
(the water/protein component).

From the sound of it, the Land O'Lakes "lite" butter is merely whipped butter 
that is about 50% air.  They probably charge a premium for it, too.

--PSW

    
    My impression of Land O'Lakes "lite" butter was that it was a
    gelatin-extended butter (usually milk or buttermilk firmed up with
    gelatin and blended with butter or margarine).  I tried it once and
    found the consistency rather unappetizing. 
    
    

    The whey described several notes back is a very common ingredient in
    many processed foods, including most commercially-produced breads.  It
    sneaks into the darnedest places.  Must provide something important at
    a low cost.
    
    You'd care about this if:
    
    * You keep kosher.  
    * You are allergic to milk.
    * You (like me) are lactose intolerant.  
    
    It pays to read the fine print.
    
    Laura

    I use a local brand of light butter, and yes, they 
    even recommend on the package not to use it for frying and
    cooking, although baking is okay. The ingredients list nothing
    but butter and water, so I tend to believe that it is whipped 
    with the water and then poured into the block molds to harden.
    If I try melting some in the microwave it melts MUCH faster than
    regular butter.
    
    re;.4
>>butters available in Canada, UK, Ireland, France, etc. With access to
>>decent butter, 
    
    Gees, does this mean we have great butter? I could never tell 
    the difference except when I was in Europe....
    
    Monica
    (from Ottawa)

    LandOLakes Light Butter is one of my favorities.  I like the taste. 
    The question was asked "what is light butter" -- the packaging says:
    
    Sweet Unsaleted Light Butter -- 50% less fat than regular butter.  
    Fat per serving :  Light 5.5g -- Regular 11 g.
    
    The nutrition information reads:
    
    Light Butter		Regular Butter
    Serving Size:  1 TBSP       1 TBSP
    Calories:  50 		100
    Fat:  5.5g			11 g
    Cholesterol:  15mg		30 mg
    
    I normally use salted butter for cooking, sweet unsalted for baking and
    eating with muffins, waffles, etc --this butter tastes just like this
    for me.
    
    The packaging does state, as someone already pointed out, that "Since
    Land O Lakes Light Butter is lower in fat, it is not recommended for
    baking and frying.  For these applications use original Land O Lakes."
    
    Carel
     I

  Re .22 (Canadian butter), I'm sure it varies, but in the area around
  Niagara Falls (my wife's family is in Buffalo), the average
  supermarket dairy products are significantly better than those in the
  US. Maybe Kanata isn't so lucky.

The buttermilk that is sold commercially is "cultured milk".  the process 
involves placing the culture into a tank of milk, heating it and letting it
work for a period of time.  When the acidity level is at the proper point the 
milk is agitated (mixed) so the buttermilk is smooth.  the buttermilk is cooled
and then bottled.  This is a very brief description of how we made the 
buttermilk in my fathers dairy.  

Bob

RE: .23

Sounds like this "Light Butter" is just 50% butter and 50% water or some other 
inert substance.

"Low-fat butter" is almost a contradiction in terms, since butter is the fat 
component of milk.

--PSW

    re .23, .26
    
    It seems to be butter with skim milk incorporated into it somehow. 
    This has been around for a while in Ireland and UK, maybe other
    countries in Europe too.  I developed a taste for it, and am glad to
    see it's made it to this side....
    
    -ellie

    
    One thing I remember about making butter (we did it in school
    as a "science-home economics thing) is that it does start to
    seperate if not consumed within a few days...
    
    Anybody else find this?
    
    

    Re .28: Doesn't separate if you make it right. ;-) [I spent a summer on
    a ranch, where they made their own butter; whiled away many happy -
    more or less! - hours turning the churn-handle.] It _was_ very
    important to work the butter once it had formed, to remove as much of
    the remaining liquid as possible; if that step was cut short, there
    would tend to be some "seepage", but otherwise there wasn't a problem.
    
    I also made some accidental butter once, by over-whipping some cream,
    but I'm not counting that. ;-)
    
    -b

    I have found some buttermolds at flea or antique markets here
    in N.H.   Some are clear glass and others are wooden.  This
    file brought me back to childhood for sure.  
    
    I am from Maine and all my family made their own butter and soap.
    The butter was made in flat wooden molds and came out dark yellow
    and quite salty.    Super  on toast.  During the war and at the
    beginning of marguerine in plastic bags, we bought only farmer's
    butter.   Does anyone else remember the marguerine and the orange
    dot and everyone fighting to manhandle the bag to mix  it?
    
    Not dating myself too much......
    
    If I can get the recipe from Maine, I will share it.
    
    

    
    
    RE: -1                                        
    	
    The dark yellow, salty butter you refer to is very different from the
    butter available in supermarkets.  It is made from soured cream and is
    heavily salted so that it will keep for a long time without
    refrigeration. My father and grandfather (also Mainers) loved this
    stuff, and called it "Dairy" butter.
    
    Every Christmas, my grandmother would wrap up a pound of this butter
    and give it to my father - usually in a girdle box or some such - as a
    joke gift. 
      

    The orange thing you had to mix into the margarine was, if I remember
    correctly, strictly an artifact of the dairy farm lobby (in Wisconsin,
    I think, but I lived in Iowa at the time).  That way, since the food
    coloring never mixed in perfectly, it was obvious to all that you were
    using "fake" rather than "real" butter.  There wasn't any technical
    reason why it wasn't mixed in when the margarine was made, just as it
    is now.  Of course, these days, most of us don't eat much of either
    product anyhow.
    
    /Charlotte

    
    In 1950 President Truman signed the Margarine Act which ended the
    discriminatory federal taxes on margarine that the butter lobby had
    obtained.  But in states where dairies were an important part of the
    ecomony, state laws made it illegal to sell yellow margarine.  The
    consumer bought a a package holding a capsule of food dye to knead
    into the white margarine before serving it.  [My Moms tells how, as a
    child she and her siblings always fought over whose turn it was to mix
    the color into the margarine.]  The last state to legalize the sale of
    yellow margarine was Wisconsin, whose govenor signed the bill in May
    1969.  The Wisconsin Senator who led the fight against margarine,
    Gordon W. Roseleip, agreed to take a blindfold test to prove he could
    recognize the difference in taste between margaine and butter.  He
    failed, thereby discrediting his cause in the eyes of many of his
    constituents.  Years later the senator's daughter revealed that the
    family had been feeding him margarine for years to help control his
    weight - without telling him.
    
    [Ref. "Kitchen Culture" by Gerry Schremp; Pharos Books, 1991]