How to Make Butter
How easy is it to make butter? Very easy is the quick answer to that. As easy, in fact, as lifting a quote from James Bond – shaken, not stirred. If you have some “good” cream, a jar, and 10 minutes to spare, you are only 10 minutes away from butter heaven. Note the glorious yellow colour of the butter in the picture above – this shows that the cream comes from cows that eat fresh pasture grasses, not grain or some other unnatural fodder.
Step one is putting your cream in a jar.
So, we start with “good” fresh cream. Fill a sterilised glass jar a quarter to a third full of creamy goodness, then seal the lid tight. Now comes the James Bond bit, a nice 10 minute workout shaking the jar. We want to shake it so the cream hits the top and bottom of the jar in fairly rapid succession. It’s hard work, and the fuller the jar, the harder it gets. Our muscles get used to it though, and it’s a great way of toning arms!
Step two is keep on shaking until …
The butter will all separate out from the buttermilk over the course of a few shakes. We know it’s done because the foamy cream no longer coats the side of the jar, we are left with the thin, delicious buttermilk, a mass of golden health-giving butter free from any additives, and a real sense of satisfaction.
Strain off the buttermilk from the butter. Place the butter in a clean glass or ceramic dish for serving or storage. The buttermilk, well, I like to drink it straight away - fresh buttermilk is a real treat for me. Otherwise, it goes well in pancakes and baking. The butter we have just made is softer in consistency than shop bought butter, so will spread better in cooler weather.
Nutrition is not about compiling a shopping list of desired vitamins, minerals and food groups, and then filling it. Optimal nutrition relies more on the quality of our food, rather than the elements that are nominally contained within it. Having said that, I would be remiss in not mentioning that butter made from the raw milk of pasture fed cows is very high in the essential vitamin K2, which is vital for optimal human health, and which is mostly missing from the typical Western diet.