I just made my own butter, what did you do today?

Oct 17, 2012

Im a vegetarian. I don’t eat anything that once took a breath. I don’t eat stock that comes from the bones of things that once breathed. The meat industry is cruel and disgusting.

In fact, the dairy industry is just as cruel- forcing cows to become pregnant again and again, injecting them with hormones (which THEN end up in our bodies) so they produce more milk. i’m beginning to feel increasingly guilty for supporting the dairy industry. but there’s a problem: I am OBSESSED with dairy. After I go running, I need to drink a glass of milk to quench my thirst. I LOVE cheese(as long as there’s no animal rennet in it- but that’s another post), i put it on EVERYTHING. I’m pretty sure the calcium deposits under my eyes are from how much freakin’ dairy I consume. I needed to find a happy medium.

So I did. I researched extensively to find a small, family owned dairy farm that treated their cows with respect and not like milk producing machines. Believe it or not, there aren’t as many of these dairy farms in Upstate NY as you might think. I ended up asking the owners of Albany’s “All Good Bakers” for advice. They are a wonderful, family owned bakery that only serves local food. They also source all of their ingredients (which is AWESOME). They told me all about Meadow Brook farms (I posted their blog entry at the bottom that goes through their summer visit to Meadow Brook, check it out!), and I liked what I saw.

So as my first step to eating dairy with a good conscious was making my own butter (obviously….)

It took 20 minutes, and the hardest part was getting the the freakin top of the food processor to lock!!!

In case you want to make your own, here’s how I did it:

1.) Go buy some LOCAL, fresh heavy cream from the store.



2. Take out an electric mixer, a food processor, or a jar with a lid (yeah im serious) and dump your heavy cream in. (***you will only have 1/2 as much butter as you do cream!)



3. Turn on the mixer, food processor, or if youre using a jar, START SHAKIN BUDDY!!!!

The process is fastest in the food processor, slowest shaking it yourself.

After a moment, you’ll have whipped cream- it’s tempting BUT DON’T STOP NOW!!…okay, okay, have a taste- it’s delicious.



4. Keep that baby blending, and you’ll start to see the consistency change. You’ll hear a difference too- little pieces are butter are starting to form (the fat of the cream is separating from the milk!) Keep mixing until it forms a loose ball. Then drain out the liquid. This my friends is buttermilk. Not the tangy kind you get at the store, but definitely the kind you want to put in your muffins, or- BUTTERMILK PANCAKE BATTER!! Put the buttermilk in the fridge, covered, ASAP. and use within the next day or two.



5. Now that you have a ball of butter it’s tempting to just eat it- and you can. But if you wanna keep it good for more than just the night, it’s important to “wash” the butter to get all the excess milk products off. You can do this by adding a half cup of ICE COLD**super important that it’s ICE COLD** water into the processor and run it. Drain the water. Repeat this until the water runs clear.

It’s also important to use a spatula to work the butter while you do this (while the machine is off) to make sure all of the water is out of the butter).

6. NOW YOU HAVE FREAKIN’ BUTTER!!!!! Keep it in a bowl, or wrap it in wax paper and store in the fridge. It’s good for about a week, or freeze it for up to a month.



It’s delicious, and easy, and there are NO preservatives, or chemicals. Check out the ingredients in Land O’ Lakes butter:



And in your homemade butter: Heavy cream.

UM YUMMMMM.

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