Sunday, May 25, 2008



Butter......it is so easy to make your own I cannot believe it!........well I can as the pictures prove I have made some!
I have always wanted to have a go at making butter.....at one time long ago when I had at least 3 dairy goats producing 5-7 litres of milk per day each I was literally awash with milk and made tons of soft and hard cheese as well as feeding calves, kids, pigs and the family on it....but I never made butter! Partly the reason was that goats milk fat globules are smaller than those found in cows milk so wholst it separates it is not very easy to skim by hand and a cream separator was always out of my price league.
Well I got to thinking I would like a go, spurred on by seeing cartons of double cream marked down in the supermarket due to reaching their sell by date.
I knew Blow a company that has long gone out of business used to produce hand churns in the past and decided to look on ebay......where I discovered a whole new world of butter pats, moulds and....yes churns! So I bought a small one called a 'dazy mazy' from a seller in the USA for a very reasonable price! Now it must be remembered that most people collecting butter making paraphernalia want to display it....I wanted to use it and this has fascinated everyone!
I then purchased 2 very large pots of organic double cream from a supermarket for under £2 for the two and set to work turning the handle.....
First it went thick like whipped cream followed by thin like single cream......and just when I thought it had gone wrong chunks of golden yellow butter magically appeared and very quickly the butter was a big blob completelt separated from the buttermilk!

The buttermilk was poured off and the butter scooped out and salted, shaped and refrigerated....the buttermilk was used for scones........yummy!...........AND there was still a pot and a half of cream left for the next attempt!

4 comments:

Jackie B said...

I've been looking for a modern equivalent of this churn since I have lots of milk and most of the old ones I've come across have been damaged/rusty beyond repair! There must be someone out there making them, if only for smallholders, but I can't seem to source any. I also 'inherited' a very large cream separator and would like to know where I can get hold of something smaller, so if you ever come across one, please let me know. BTW, your beef's still in my freezer! Did you find the key yet?

hen said...

Wahey! This looks like it takes lots less muscle than the shake it in a bottle technique I use at the mo'!!

Anonymous said...

oo looks good - I want one now...

Rev. Peter Doodes said...

Hi Val,

Did you wash the butter through after you had removed it from the churn?

Blessings,

Peter.