Home made butter

Can anyone tell me why in the world we as a society stopped making our own butter???

Anyway the reason for the question is that the hubby and I just bought a bread maker and the hubby thought it would be a neat idea to make our own butter. So to the internet he went and found that you could make it in a blender or food processor. So following his instructions I threw the heavy whipping cream into the food processor and then the husband took over. He became a bit frustrated when it wasn't working so I came to the happy little internet and found that I could make it in my stand mixer. Long story a bit shorter we made some AWESOME and extremely yummy butter to go with a fresh made loaf of bread.

But I still have to wonder why, for the most part as a society, we ever stopped making our own butter. Specially these days with all the modern mixers, blenders and processors. It took 5 minutes to make and we added the amount of salt we saw fit to add. Plus there is less processed chemicals in the home made butter and it tastes 100 times better than any store bought butter I have ever had.

So in your spare time and if you have one of the small appliances or if you feel strong enough whip it by hand. All you need is heavy whipping cream and time. Heck give the kids a bowl and a spoon and tell them to start stirring. Tell them it builds character.

LadyLiterature wrote:

Can anyone tell me why in the world we as a society stopped making our own butter???

I think it has to do with the fact that watching a woman churn is kind of, well... arousing.

But seriously, and coincidently enough, I was giving this thought the other day as well. Been thinking of getting some unprocessed milk from one of the local farmers. Although using the store bought stuff may be fine and all that, I'm thinking that getting the milk fresh would probably be cheaper / more cost effective, especially considering that there's a great deal that can be done with raw milk.

EDIT:
(just read a bunch of raw milk butter sites, and it may not be that cost effective... all depends on what the farmer's price is. Also, it seems, it's going to need a lot of milk to make a bit of butter)

According to the websites about using modern appliances to whip your butter, 1 pint of heavy whipping cream will make 1 cup of butter, which really isn't that bad when you think about it. 1 cup of butter SHOULD, I would think, last a family of four at least a week, yes?

But an added afterthought, how does one take farm fresh milk and get heavy whipping cream from THAT? Perhaps the process there make it less effective? Hmmmm....

With raw milk, you let it sit in the fridge (in glass container) for a couple days... the cream floats to the top. Take the cream, leave the milk. Churn or use blender, squeeze out buttermilk, just as with the heavy cream method.

But yeah, whatever method you use, it does seem that the cream to butter ratio is always going to be 2:1.

Another question came up during the churning process...or after I guess. If I wasn't blending right now (the 3D graphics kind) I would maybe look it up myself. The question, more of a point made, was that the homemade butter wasn't very spreadable at all once it sat in the fridge for a bit. I said that there's probably some additive or something you would have to add to have an actual spreadable butter...like a Country Crock or some such.

Thinking about it, and the milky postings of the Soothsayer, I start to wonder... if a person were to not squeeze or cheesecloth the butter to its driest point? I mean, the recipe with the blender said strain the butter with cheesecloth, tightening the cloth around the butter to squeeze every last drop of buttermilk out. The recipe for the stand mixer said to simply dump the whole works in a standard flour-type strainer, then kind of knead/squeeze the butter ball to get it drier. Well, if you just dumped it in the strainer, then took it out and pressed it into a container, would that extra buttermilk give it a spreadable consistency? Oh hell...I'm online, might as well google it...sound theory though.

Back from a google...found this simple tidbit from some other site wherein some homemade butter makers discussed enjoying spreadable butter, but not liking the price. Their process:

Quote :

Homemade Spreadable Butter

Mix equal parts of butter and unsaturated vegetable oil (canola) or olive oil in a blender. It’s that easy. Spoon into small storage containers and chill. This butter spread can also be frozen.

This makes a healthful, good-tasting spread that’s budget friendly and heart healthy.

Could it really be this simple? They say they had the idea from scanning through the ingredients list on a tub of spreadable. So I'm thinking take the homemade butter, plop it in the strainer, toss right back in the mixer (with no squeezing), drizzle in the olive oil (maybe some garlic or chives? ) and BAM! I might have to try this when I get home in the morning. Sounds almost too easy...