Home-Made Butter

Butter is the original superfood !

Butter from lovely healthy grass fed cows is one of natures most precious foods. It is packed full of healthy fats which feed the brain and give instant energy to the body. Putting a lovely knob of butter on your cooked veg allows you to absorb all the fat soluble vitamins that are present in the vegetables. If you eat vegetables without healthy fats you only get some of the nutrients. So not only is butter delicious but it increases the bio-availability of nutrients in other foods that you eat it with.

Home-Made Butter Recipe

This recipe yields just under 1 kg of butter and just under 1 L of buttermilk.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 L of organic double cream, at room temperature, unpasteurized or pasteurized, and non-homogenized.
2. 1.5 teaspoons of flaky sea salt (optional, omit if you prefer unsalted butter).

STEPS:

1. Begin by soaking your wooden butter pats in ice water. This helps prevent them from sticking to the butter.
2. Pour the cream into a clean, chilled mixing bowl and whisk at medium speed. It will go through various stages: first, it will be softly whipped, then it will be stiffly whipped, and finally, it will start to collapse and separate. As you whisk, you should see the buttermilk separate and start sloshing around the bowl. Continue whisking until it is well separated.
3. Transfer the entire contents into a sieve set over a bowl and allow the buttermilk to drain from the butter.
4. Place the butter back into a clean bowl and beat with a whisk for a further 30 seconds to 1 minute to expel any remaining buttermilk. Repeat this process by placing the butter in a sieve as before. (Place the buttermilk in a clean jug or glass jar and set aside to make pancakes, soda bread, or waffles.)
5. Fill the bowl containing the butter with very cold iced water. Use butter pats or your hands to knead the butter, forcing out any remaining buttermilk. It is crucial to remove all buttermilk, as any remaining buttermilk will sour and cause the butter to spoil. If handling the butter too much causes it to liquefy, work quickly at this stage.
6. Drain the water and repeat the previous step a couple more times or until the water is completely clear and you are certain there is no more buttermilk in the butter.
7. Separate the butter into desired-sized portions and pat into shape using butter pats or wet hands that have been soaked in iced water. This prevents the butter from sticking to the ridges of the butter pats. Wrap the butter in greaseproof paper and store it in the fridge until ready to use.

Additional Notes:

• If using salt, add a couple of pinches of flaky sea salt for every 100 g of butter. To incorporate the salt, lay the portions of butter flat, sprinkle with salt, massage it in, and then shape with wet hands or icy butter pats.
• If the butter continues to stick to your hands or the butter pats, soak the pats in very cold iced water for at least 30 minutes before proceeding. If you don’t have butter pats, shape the butter in the iced water.
• If you are going to use some of your homemade butter to make ghee, be sure to leave out the salt.
• Unsalted butter should be eaten within a few days but salted butter will last for a couple of weeks.
• For this method you are best to use a pair of butter bats, they make the final butter look neat and tidy but they are not essential. If you don’t have any butter pats, you can just use your hands.
• Sunlight taints butter so if serving it outside, try to keep it covered, and when storing your lovely butter store it in a covered butter dish.
• To make cultured butter, which is more traditional, leave unpasteurised cream in a cool place, well covered for up to 48 hours to ferment before following the method for making butter below.
• Keep the left over buttermilk to make pancakes or soda bread.