New to making butter...

[lil*farm*angel]

Hi
I'm new to making butter, but I remember making it when I was a kid. We lived near a dairy and mom would buy the raw milk, separate the cream, then handed the jar to my brother & I to shake until lumpy. Being a kid, I really didn't pay attention to what was going on, was just annoyed that the chore was cutting into my play time!
So… here I am with my wonderful first time freshener, and wanting to make butter.
I don’t know any of the terminology for the steps involved in butter making… hoping someone would be kind enough to help me with that.
Yesterday, I separated it out and got a quart of cream. Around 11 am, I sat it on the counter while I went out and did some chores. No a/c just sat it on the counter… (yesterday’s temp got to 92) at 2:30 I felt the jar and it was a bit cool, but not cold like it had just come out of the ‘fridge. (no, I did not put a thermometer in it) My side-kick & I proceeded to shake the jar.. (maybe I didn’t let it set long enough, but I didn’t want to cause anything bad to happen at that temp.)
After a half hour, we had a solid blob in the jar, but nothing we could press into any shape. It still tasted like cream with a slight buttery flavor..
I thought maybe we weren’t shaking it hard enough, so I increased the speed… next thing I know, I have liquid again. Heart broke, I put it in the ‘fridge, later noticed there was yellow something floating above the liquid… Checked it this morning and.. HOLY COW! IT'S HARD! Did it do it or did I screw it up?

Looking for a little guidance please… and I’m feeling a little disappointed in myself so… please be kind.
Thank you

[dfleming]

I don't even let mine sit out. I skim the cream off the top, pop it in my kitchenaid with the wisk on it (on as high as I can get it without it throwing it all over everything) and in 20 or 25 minutes I have butter.

Don't feel bad BTW. I burnt up a lot of blenders, tried to do it by hand (it takes forever), tried it at different temps and still had a problem.
Oh and the kitchenaid thing with the wisk wasn't my idea. It came from someone on here (and I will always be eternally grateful).

Dawne

I throw a kitchen towel over it so I don't make a huge mess.

[treatlisa]

It sounds like you made butter to me!

There are lots of ways to churn the butter and if you have looked around this section you have probably come across a lot of ideas.

I prefer to put it in my food processor 1 quart at a time. If I have the temp right (warmer than the fridge, but not all the way to room temp) it takes all of about 1 1/2 minutes - give or take. SO quick and easy. I can have a gallon done in no time at all. Plus, I can be washing the 1st batch while the next ones are churning...

Good luck with your adventure! -Lisa

[Jenny at Sagehill]

The Kitchen Aid w/whisk is your friend, if you have one.

Mine whipped 2 quarts of cream into 1.5 lbs of butter in about ten minutes while the coffee perked this morning. I then drained off the buttermilk (to feed to the piggies), rinsed the butter well with several changes of water to remove all traces of buttermilk, salted it (I use 1/2 tsp per pound of butter) and put it back in the fridge in water to deal with later.

It'll keep for a while... right now, coffee is more important than packaging butter.

[40shadesofgreen]

My guess is that from 11am to 2.30 pm was too long on the counter. We find if the cream is too warm it doesn't work well. Our kitchen temps are around 75F + and about a half hour (or one hour) out of the fridge and the cream is ready to work.( It takes ages if it is too cold too!) The warmer it is the less time out of the fridge. You did make butter and you will figure out the timing that works for your cream with your temps.

My DH shakes it, It takes 5 mins usually but can take up to 10 mins. . I posted some pics recently as I think the cream is just so beautiful looking!

honey-oak.blogspot.ie/2013/08/butter-making-season.html

Kim

[Debbie Lincoln]

I leave 2 qts out for 2 to 4 hours. Put in blender. Done in 2 minutes. House temp is 75 degrees. Works even better if its over 3 days old.