Homemade Butter

Do you fall on the butter or the margarine side of the debate? There's no question where I stand, butter is the better option as it's natural, saturated fats that one's body needs. The French are well known for their diets high in fats, yet they have very low incidence of heart disease. Or perhaps you are a margarine user believing what the marketers have filled your head with, that margarine is healthy for your heart. If that's the case, do a little experiment: place a tub of Becel in a garage and let it sit there for an entire year. You'll be astounded with what you find. Looks the same as the day you put it there. Is that something you really want to consume? If you are a margarine consumer you may want to do some research and reconsider your choice. Trans fats, polyunsaturated fats, hydrogenated oils, not exactly something that you could make yourself at home.



Butter, on the other hand, is something you can easily make in your own kitchen within minutes. Have you ever whipped whipping cream in a mixer for a dessert or perhaps an Irish coffee and over whipped the cream? If you have, than you've already started the butter making process. That simple!

To make your own at home all that is required is whipping cream at room temperature, a mixer, salt, cheese cloth and cold water. Pour the cream into a chilled sterilized bowl and begin to whip.


The cream will become light and fluffy. Continue to whip until the cream starts to resemble scrambled eggs.


The buttermilk will begin to separate from the butter and if you're not watching closely you'll also find yourself having to clean up a big mess.


Once the cream has taken on a solid form, strain off the whey using cheese cloth and submerge in ice cold water and knead your butter squeezing out any excess buttermilk.


Continue this process, kneading and changing the water with fresh water as needed. Using butter pats or your hands shape the butter. You can add salt at this point; we opted for no salt and placed the extra butter wrapped in wax paper in the freezer.


We enjoyed our homemade butter on a baguette with a little sprinkle of salt. The bread was merely a hold device for the butter. Heaven!