Author Topic: Butter (Read 3247 times)

Bionic · « **on:** December 29, 2012, 05:03:19 pm »

I asked my sister for a pair of butter pats for christmas. She bought me a vintage pair and I have just put them to good use.
From 600ml of cream I made 303gr butter, plus some buttermilk.
Sally

ZacB · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2012, 07:52:06 am »

That looks the biz

Well done - can you taste any difference - not wishing to sound a numpty

Bionic · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2012, 10:11:35 am »

You can't really taste the difference. I don't know if thats a good or bad thing.
Actually as this has very little salt in it it doesn't have a lot of taste at all. Although I am not a salt lover it definitely benefits if you add a tiny sprinkling when you butter your bread.
Sally

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2012, 11:45:28 am »

That looks spot on!

:applause:

Sally, get yourself some Channel Islands cream next time - and then tell me it doesn't taste any different

I have to say, a lot of commercial butter is very very good, but when we started having our own to eat again now Plenty's calved, we both realised how much we'd missed our own.

The other tip is to let the cream 'ripen' before making butter. If you use very fresh straight from the fridge it won't have developed that little bit of 'bite' that gives you a real good flavour in both the butter and the buttermilk. Try leaving it standing on a shelf in the pantry - somewhere cool but not fridge-cold - for 24-48 hours before making the butter.

If you're not salting it, it'll need eating up quickly (or you can freeze it in enough-for-one-day lumps) - so another tip is to not be too thorough on beating out all the liquid. That little bit of buttermilk retained in the butter will give it a bite - but it'll mean it goes off quickly in a warm place, so get it eaten up within 24 hours (unless you like that almost rancid flavour which ripening buttermilk gives - which BH does.) Leaving a bit of buttermilk in makes it a bit easier to spread when cold, too.

Have you got a churn or did you make it in a jamjar?

Bionic · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2012, 01:00:34 pm »

I made it with my kitchenaid mixer and a balloon whisk. It only took a couple of minutes.
I had watched a few utube videos first and more or less copied what they did. I took out as much of the buttermilk as I could and then 'washed' the butter with some cold water several times until it more or less ran clear. Apparently this helps it to keep longer.
I will probably take your advice though and freeze half of it.
thanks
Sally