Homemade Butter and What is Buttermilk

Homemade butter is simple to make and great when you are in a pinch. I also discuss the difference in the kinds of buttermilk.

A while back I had run out of butter, and I happened to have some heavy cream in the fridge. I whipped up some butter and the Hardworking Husband was impressed. He now jokes that if I’m out of an ingredient, I just make it. While I can’t make all ingredients, I can make a few things from scratch.

Now to make butter. It is very simple. The way I make it is pour heavy cream in the Kitchenaid mixer with the whisk attachment. I turn it on and let it go. It will first make whipped cream (about 3minutes). Just keep going. It will turn to butter eventually. It took about 12 minutes for it to start to turn to butter. It was about 15 minutes before it was done. There will also be liquid (buttermilk) in the bowl with the solid butter.

Drain it off and keep (see below). I drained it off a couple times. Keep whipping it a little longer after draining and drain again. After draining the liquid from the butter, squeeze to get most of the buttermilk out. Then rinse the butter with water. It will help the butter keep longer. You can put it in a bowl or using plastic wrap form it in a loaf, stick or whatever shape you like. Refrigerate for it to become firm. I have found that homemade butter does not keep as long as store bought butter. So be sure to use it quickly and store in the refrigerator.

You can also put the heavy cream in a quart canning jar and shake until you have butter. I would only fill it half full if I was doing it in the jar. If you would like salted butter, you can add 1/2 tsp to a quart of cream.

A quart of heavy cream made 13.5 oz of butter and about half a quart of buttermilk. While this is not a terribly cost effective way to make butter, it will do in a pinch.

Now lets discuss Buttermilk.

The liquid drained of while making butter is called buttermilk, but it is not like the buttermilk you buy in the store. It is not as thick and creamy as that buttermilk. It is closer to milk. This buttermilk can be drank or used in place of milk. It is buttery and tastes wonderful. I gave some to Little Thing and she LOVED it.

The buttermilk that you buy in the store is thick and sour. This buttermilk is a product of the 20th century. Prior to refrigeration, most milk soured quickly and often things made with milk used the soured milk. They did not need milk that was purposefully soured because they already had it. You are probably wondering why we need soured milk for baking anyway. The baking soda we use in breads (biscuits, pancakes, etc) needs an acid to neutralize it and make it work. Buttermilk is that acid. This buttermilk does not taste good.

Now if I could just figure out why my biscuits won’t rise…