Making butter
Also searched as: making butter, butter from cream, homemade buttermilk
In short: Butter forms when you whip cream until the fat droplets stick together. What is left is buttermilk.
Like a crowd gathering into little groups after a concert: many individuals become a few big clumps.
- 500 ml double cream, cold
- blender or hand mixer
- sieve, bowl of iced water
- pinch of salt if you like
Step by step: what happens
- 1Whip cold cream past the whipped-cream stage
First, whipping traps air. Then the shells of the fat droplets tear and the fat starts to clump.
Foams and whipping in air - 2Keep whipping until it suddenly splashes
The flips: fat in water becomes a lump of fat, and buttermilk separates off.
Emulsion - 3Pour off and keep the buttermilk
It is the watery phase, with milk protein and milk sugar.
- 4Knead the butter in iced water until the water stays clear
Leftover buttermilk would quickly turn sour and spoil the butter.
Bacteria and temperature: the danger zone - 5Salt and shape as you like
Salt seasons and makes the butter keep longer.
Shelf life: salt and sugar bind water
Result
About 200 g of butter and a good 250 ml of buttermilk from 500 ml of cream (as a guide).
Keeps for
About a week if washed well and chilled, longer if salted. A few months frozen.
What to use it for
- On bread, for baking, for .
- The buttermilk for pancakes or Zopf.
- Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004)