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.