Making butter in a Jar
After milking Rosie, the
Jersey cow, we strain the milk and put it on the cook
stove to pasteurize. Some folks prefer to drink
raw milk, but we have always pasteurized ours. We
heat the milk up to 140*, stirring slowly. Then we
hold it there for 30 minutes.
We cool the milk quickly
in a pan of ice water and then put in the fridge
overnight to let the cream rise to the top. We
skim the cream off for butter and what's left is
wonderful milk for drinking.
Let the fresh cream warm
up to 60* before making your butter. If it's cold
from the fridge, it will take much longer to set.
Here is an easy method
for making butter in just a Jar. It saves
electricity by not using the mixer as much. Just
put one quart of cream into a big plastic jar. I like
the large jars from Helman's Mayonnaise. They are
perfect. I let mine set on the counter, and shake it
every 5 minutes or so. It takes about an hour, and
soon the cream will turn to a big ball, like a ball of
yellow play dough. That is the heavy cream stage.
The heavy cream is good!
From the cream stage, all
of a sudden, the butter separates from the liquid.
Keep shaking a bit more and there it is. Butter.
This plastic colander is
great for pouring the butter and liquid into and
draining.
Or using a big glass pan
at an angle works well too.
Be sure to wash the
butter several times in cold water until the water comes
away clean. Then you can whip your butter and add
salt.
Making Butter in a mixer
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