Sunday, July 3, 2011

The Beauty of Butter



One of my favorite cow-gifts is butter. The politically correct “eat engineered food” crowd has viciously slandered butter. The misconception that it is unhealthy (most anything can be unhealthy if not taken in moderation) is false. Real butter is rich in vitamin A, and D, E and K2. Real butter contains iodine, lecithin and selenium, which is an anti-oxidant. It has more selenium per gram than wheat germ, whole wheat, or garlic.

Butter's butyric acid is an anti-carcinogen, and the lauric acid in butter is both anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. There are also elements, which protect from gastro intestinal infections. The saturated fat in butter, once vilified, actually has  anti-tumor, anti-cancer properties.

Butter from grass-fed cows contain a great deal of CLA which helps the body build muscle instead of store fat.
Most importantly to MY own situation, raw butter has something called the Wulzen factor. It helps prevent arthritis and ensures the calcium in your body goes to bones not into joints and tissues. Pasteurization destroys this.

Butter actually promotes good health. Medical Research Council found that men eating butter ran only half the risk of developing heart disease as those eating margarine.

Margarine, on the other hand, contains man made trans-fats, (unsafe at any level), free radicals, synthetic vitamins, preservatives, BHT, bleach, artificial flavoring, and other properties that are not conducive to health.

So, here is how I make this incredibly delicious, healthy and delectable delicacy.

After milking my cow, I strain and quickly chill the milk which then goes in the milk fridge. The following day, I skim the heavy cream off the top of my gallon jars. This cream is so wonderfully thick, I have to use a spatula to push it off the spoon!

When I have as much cream as I want, I set it out to ‘ripen’ and come to room temperature.


Then, into the KA. I usually pour about a half gallon of heavy cream in.

Turn the mixer on low, and wait from 3 to 20 minutes, depending on several factors…temperature, stage of lactation, etc. Usually my butter breaks between 5 and 10 minutes. I fill a container with cold water and dump my paddle and butter molds in it to soak.



Once the butter breaks, which is when there will be blobs of butter and the rest of the liquid separates off, I take the bowl to the sink and drain off the buttermilk into a container to use later. I then put some COLD water in the bowl and begin to paddle out the extra buttermilk. If the buttermilk isn’t all squished out of the butter, it will go rancid quickly.



After the water is coming out pretty much clear, I add a little vitamin E oil, and if I am going to salt it, I do it now. I mix it in well, then fill the butter mold. Both help to preserve the butter for a longer time.

I press it out and OOO la la!! I  have a lovely pound of butter! I then wrap and freeze it for later use. The left overs I made into little pats or balls for using with our bread, or pancakes, or whatever. My 1/2 gallon of heavy cream makes me 4 and a 1/2 lb of fresh, homemade butter and the left over buttermilk is great in pancakes or bread.





It really is this beautiful yellow color naturally. But with the flash on, you can't see the nifty stars from my mold...

Which, look like this. :)

Love it.

Thank you EmmaLou and DollyMoo.

17 comments:

  1. Color me green with envy!!

    I've never understood how anyone could consume margarine knowing what's in that stuff. Yuck! Not to mention, once you've had REAL butter, margarine can't even come close....Despite what the "I can't believe its not butter" commercials tell you...

    My mom used to get fresh cream & tomatos from a gentleman who lived down the road from us when I was a kid..He had 2 Jersey..."Helga" & "Lavern" & had lots of huge green houses for his tomatoes...She'd make butter with it, by shaking in glass jars (or by making us shake it) & I've never had butter that good.....nothing in the store compares. We buy butter from the store, it's far more healthy than margarine, but it's still not as good as what mom made with raw cream.

    I want to try goat's milk butter since I don't have room for a cow, but everytime I put milk to set for a while so I can skim it, my 6 year old gets the cream right off the top (its her favorite part of the milk) lol

    One of these days I'll save up for a cream separator.

    Love your star molds & that wonderful bright yellow color :)

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  2. I hear goat butter is amazing! I have never tried it because I am lazy. Its too easy to get cream from a cow. Admittedly though, goatmilk is nutritionally superior even to cow's milk, so you don't need to covet after all :)

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  3. We only use butter. I wish we could get fresh butter but since I live in a city, the grocery store is my supplier. I bet baked goods with fresh butter is AMAZING!

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  4. You can still make some, using heavy cream, it just won't be raw. But still yummy!

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  5. I am now even more anxious for my Bonnie to calve. If she has a heifer it will be approximately 1/4 Jersey and I really hope she is a great butter cow. Bonnie's cream is not that great for butter, or, it wasn't last year on her first lactation.
    ~Pam

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  6. crossing my fingers for ya!!! :)

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  7. LOL Alright, lets say I covet your ease of cream collecting then. Especially cream so thick you have to scrape it off with a spatula! :)

    I think I may be too lazy for goat's milk butter.. lol Though I admit the going might be a bit less hassle if my 6 year old didn't have such a love for cream :)

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  8. goat butter IS amazing :)! I have lots of milk goats and a cream separater which equals... making goat butter! It is completely white and totally beautiful, and yummy, of course.

    Like your butter mold, by the way ;)

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  9. ty, It's an antique one I got off of ebay. It wound up costing me 1/2 of what a new one was! :)

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  10. There is nothing like beautiful, sweet YELLOW butter! I will have to try my KA, as I have been using an old Sears churn - but it takes more cream than I usually can get. Thanks for posting the attributes of butter!

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  11. I tried a Daisy hand churn, but I just couldn't churn that long. I'm not as young and strong as I used to be! Found out the KA on slow speed works best for me :)

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  12. When I went through my chef apprenticeship, I learned how much healthier butter is for us. It is by far better for cooking and consuming. Thanks Petey for the "butter 101" class.

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  13. Hi Petey! I make my own butter as well in the KA. I follow the same steps you do, I use organic heavy cream BUT - my butter is always white. Why is yours such a lovely yellow? Is it the VitE? I add canola oil to mine. When I make bread/rolls I also add lecithin for its health benefits as well as it is a natural preservative. Good to know it is in butter as well cuz, ya know, ya gotta have fresh bread to slather that yummy butter on! Jan

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  14. Its because I have grassfed Jersey cows. The milk from a Jersey tends to be more yellow because of the amount of butterfat in it. Wonderful stuff!

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  15. Mmmmm, delish! My Uncle was a dairy farmer and I have yet to taste anything like it. Mine is a close second but ~just~ not the same as farm fresh!

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  16. Petey! Why on earth didn't you put this on allrecipes?! I so wish people knew about the health of real butter! But then again I totally understand, its not fun to be mobbed by the fat police. Did you catch the trailer for "FARMAGEDDON"? Its a documentary about farm raids and government intrusions. http://farmageddonmovie.com/
    Thanks for everything Petey. I still think you ought to write a book about wholesome farm life! Your writing is great!

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  17. my stuff won't always post on there, but its up now LOL

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