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Experimentbeginnerdraft

Shake your own butter

Also searched as: making butter with kids, shaking cream

In short: Cream turns into butter if you shake it long enough.

Picture it

Like dance couples finally finding each other after a long crush: at first each fat droplet floats alone, then everything sticks together.

Before · Aftercream
screw-top jar
Schematic
You need · 20 minutes
  • 200 ml cold double cream
  • a screw-top jar
  • a pinch of salt

How it’s done

Sequence · Step 1 of 4
1234

Pour the cream into the jar and close it tightly.

All steps as a list
  1. Pour the cream into the jar and close it tightly.
  2. Shake hard for about 10–15 minutes, taking turns.
  3. When a lump and liquid separate, pour off the liquid.
  4. Rinse the butter with cold water and salt it.

What you see

First the cream turns foamy, then firm, then it suddenly separates into a yellow lump and white buttermilk.

Why it happens

Shaking tears open the shells of the fat droplets, and they stick together into ever larger lumps. That is exactly what happens when whipped is whipped too long.

Related entries
Cream turns to butterFoams and whipping in airMaking butter
Sources · 1
  • Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004)