As The Butter Churns

Yep, that's right, this post is all about making home made butter! I make my butter without all the fancy bells and whistles. That means I don't have a cream separator or a butter churn. All I use is a sun tea jug, the one with the spigot on the bottom, and a quart sized canning jar. I set my milk in the fridge so the cream will rise to the top and use the spigot to drain off the milk for drinking and cooking. I let the cream set in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Then I set it out on the counter to come to room temperature and fill the canning jar about half way with cream. Just shake the jar back and forth. It only takes around 5 minutes for heavy cream and around 12 minutes for light cream to form butter. I drain off most of the buttermilk and set the butter in a bowl in the fridge to cool. Cooling it makes it easier to work with as it is pretty soft when it's room temperature. When it cools enough that it becomes a bit stiff, I can fold it over and press the rest of the buttermilk off the butter.

So, there you have it! Fresh butter without the chemical preservatives added into commercial products. You can salt it to your liking as you fold the buttermilk off of it and use it immediately if you choose.