The Art of Butter Making

 While at the museum the other day my children and I were taught how to make butter. 

Step One: Go milk your Jersey Cow (she gives the best cream) and let the milk sit to separate (aka go to the store and buy high fat whipping cream).

Step Two: Separate the cream (skim off) from the milk and let it sit for a while so it is at room temperature (take the cream out of the fridge for a while so it isn't too cold).

Step Three: Pour cream into your glass canister, set your wooden paddles in that you have previously sanitized in hot water and vinegar, and start manually churning the butter (pour cream into a glass or metal bowl and get our your electric mixers and turn them on).

Step Four: Work up a sweat as you churn and churn the cream first into whipping cream and then into butter (stand holding your electric mixer or if you use a hands free mixer walk away first covering the apparatus with a cloth so there are no spatters).

Step Five: After your arms feel they might separate from your shoulders your butter is probably pretty much ready. It takes about twenty minutes. There will be buttermilk and globs of butter in your jar  (You are still just standing holding the beaters or you are periodically checking on the process).

Step Six: After the butter and butter milk are ready you want to take the butter out of the buttermilk and squeeze any excess liquid out by using a piece of cloth. You then proceed to wash the butter with very cold water. Wash it once and then take a wooden spoon and squeeze any excess moisture from the butter. This process needs to be done few times. If any buttermilk is left your butter will go rancid quickly (you still need to do this step the old fashioned way).

Step Seven: Salt your butter if you'd like it to last longer than a few days and then press it into a butter mold. After pressing it release it onto whatever it will be staying on.

Step Eight: Enjoy your butter with freshly made sour dough bread that you have slaved over on baking day (spread the butter on some store bought bread).

Enjoy :)