Whether we’re talking about breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert, butter is one of the most important ingredients in any kitchen. If you ever go out to eat and wonder why the things they make are so much more delicious than the things we make for ourselves at home, the answer is probably that they use a lot more butter. For the most part, we’re content to buy whatever butter they have on the shelf at the grocery store, no matter the quality. But really good butter does make a huge difference.
That’s why today, we’re going to show you how to make your own homemade butter with very few ingredients and just a few simple steps. Although the quality of the ingredients you buy will affect the flavor as well, there’s something fun about knowing how to make your own butter in a pinch—and it might make you reconsider how important to your cooking good butter really is. So let’s get started.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 cup of heavy cream (38% fat)
- 1 pint-sized mason jar
- cold water
Here’s what you do:
1. To get started, pour your heavy cream into your mason jar until it’s about halfway full. Screw the lid on tightly and start shaking the jar vigorously for about five to seven minutes.
2. Throughout this process, the cream will start to change. After a few minutes, the insides should be the consistency of a whipped cream. Keep shaking past this until you hear a solid mass start to form in the jar rather than a sloshing liquid. Keep shaking it for about 30 seconds to a minute beyond that point.
3. At this stage, you can open up the jar and separate the insides. Take out all the solid fat from the jar. The leftover liquid is buttermilk, which you can either set aside for another recipe you might make or pour out.
4. Next, put the solid fat into a little bowl and pour some cold water over it. Start using your hands to squash the fat into a ball as you do this. Get rid of the water and repeat this process several more times.
5. At the end of this process, the texture should begin to firm up and you’ll have some fresh butter! When it’s done, you can add in additional flavors and things to make it more unique—things like honey, fresh herbs or salt.
As you can see, the process to making your own butter is incredibly easy and requires very little effort or ingredients. While the main recipe we’ve described above will result in some unsalted, plain butter, you can always put your own twist on it at the very end. Much like how cheaper butter has less flavor and richness than more expensive or organic brands, the quality of cream you use may also effect the final product.
Although it’s not always necessary to make everything we use in the kitchen from scratch, seeing the process of how butter comes together is interesting and educational. At the very least, you’ll know how to do it in a pinch—and this way you can make your own fancy butters for special recipes! As always, have fun with this process and let us know how it turns out.
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