A Guide To Homemade Butter | Kilner® (2024)

FAQs

Is it actually cheaper to make your own butter? ›

Butter isn't that expensive — it's about $3 per pound at the wholesale level. Cream costs roughly $3.50 for 16 ounces, or less if you buy a larger carton. That means the price of making your own butter isn't much more than buying it in the store, and often you can get organic cream cheaper than organic butter.

How long does homemade butter last? Homemade butter has a shelf life of up to 2 – 3 weeks when kept in the fridge. You can also keep your homemade butter in the freezer for up to 9 months.

The cream from Jersey cows produces the best butter because of its higher fat content milk, plus the fact that their fat is dispersed in larger globules than milk from other types of cows and tends to churn into butter more easily.

No, there is no suitable substitute for heavy cream. You cannot make butter from milk or from half-and-half. This is because those dairy products do not have enough fat in them. Heavy cream butter is a fantastic texture and flavor due to its fat content.

The USDA's FoodKeeper app offers this guidance for storing butter: "May be left at room temperature for one to two days; one to two months when stored in refrigerator; six to nine months if stored frozen." After that, the taste can turn rancid or sour, says the USDA.

Because it's fresh, your butter won't keep as long as commercial butter, so make it in small batches and keep it in the fridge for a few weeks or freeze it for up to 9 months. Also, as a by product of making your own butter, you will have real buttermilk, which you can save for using in baked goods.

Also known as a butter bell or butter keeper, the butter crock is a two-piece contraption that keeps butter fresh on the counter for up to 30 days. The butter goes in the “bell,” which you place in the water-filled crock. This device keeps butter smooth and spreadable for whenever you need it.

Did you know your butter was dirty? It isn't, per se, the washing of the butter is meant to clean the remaining buttermilk out of the butter to help with preservation of the butter. The more buttermilk you are able to take out of the butter, the less chance the butter has of going rancid.

Excessive churning after the butter has separated will make it greasy and hard to shape. Too little churning will cause the butter spoil quickly due the trapped buttermilk it still contains.

Why does my homemade butter taste bitter? If you make butter by collecting malai (cream) from milk daily and storing it in the refrigerator for more than 10 days, it tastes bitter and develops a smell. Add a spoonful of curd to the malai (cream) on the first day and then store it for 7 – 10 days.

What is the best milk to make butter with? ›

Always buy heavy cream or whipping cream for churning butter. Any brand will do. You need the higher fat content. Heavy cream is approximately 40% butterfat and 60% milk solids and water.

Early butter was made by leaving a covered bucket of fresh milk in a cool place like a barn or cellar. The cream naturally separates from the milk rising to the top and is then skimmed off and stored. After a few days enough cream is on hand to make a batch of butter.

Butter is manufactured from dairy cream using a churning process. The cream is produced by passing milk through a separator, which divides the incoming milk into skim milk (0.1% milkfat) and cream (35-40% milkfat). Cream is churned until small butter grains form in buttermilk.

In its purest state, butter is just cream from milk that has been churned. On the supermarket shelves, you'll often find a sprinkle of salt has been added to the butter for an extra zap of flavour – as is the case with Anchor Original.