I learned how to make homemade butter today.
.

.
Well, technically I learned how to do it over a year ago but today was the first time I put my homemade butter-making knowledge to the test. I have no fancy equipment and no churn and that’s just the kind of kitchen work I like.

I’ve been wanting raw butter for its healthy properties. It’s so incredibly easy to make once you know what you’re doing. Which took me a minute. But I did it! Here’s what’s needed:

• Room Temperature Cream: Raw and organic is my favorite kind of dairy but any sort should work. Just about any amount will work. My half pint of cream made almost a half pound of butter along with a cup or more of buttermilk (I spilled it before I measured it so I’m not positive).
• Canning jars: Bigger is better or several is necessary. The cream shouldn’t take up more than 1/3 of the space in the jar.
• Colander or similar
• A bowl or two
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt per pound of butter (optional)
• A knife and rubber spatula also come in handy

.
Here’s how to make raw homemade butter:

I bought a (half pint? I don’t know) of raw cream, dumped it into a canning jar and tightly twisted on the cap.
.

.
Then I started to shake the living bejeezus out of it. I did a variety of shakes; including but not limited to a hammering motion, a side-lying left/right shake, a Half-Circle Twist, the My-Arms-Are-Getting-Tired Whole Body Wiggle, and what can only be described as Neck Throttling. I’d suggest a similar variety of shakes to avoid muscle fatigue.

Around minute two I began to see that making butter on a day I had not attempted pushups would have been a better idea. This was also about the time the consistency changed from a liquidy sloshing, to a foamy sloshing. You’ll know it when you hear it.

Around minute TWENTY-FIVE I began to think I was doing something wrong. I was most certainly not suppose to be doing a cardio workout, was I? So I one-handedly splashed that jar around while I did a quick search through my books and web resources.

That’s when I discovered the action known as “butter concussion”. I’m not making this up. Without adequate room in the jar you cannot give your butter the concussion it needs to separate from the buttermilk. So I split the cream between two jars.
.

.
No joke, within 60 seconds of continued shaking the sound changed from a slosh to a splash and the butter separated from the buttermilk and no longer coated the jar. I shook it up a bit more to produce a slightly firmer, but still pretty soft and spreadable butter. The more you shake after that moment of separation, the firmer it will be. (Too much shaking is supposed to produce a waxy butter, so be careful. I only shook for another 30-60 seconds out of fear of screwing this up.)
.

.
Then it was time to strain the buttermilk from the butter. With the assistence of Zeb’s LEGO as a support, I used a colander over a cereal bowl to allow the buttermilk to drain.
.

.
I rinsed my homemade butter under cold, running water for a minute or two, threw it in a bowl to mix it around while occasionally pouring off any excess water and added a bit less than 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the mix.

That was it! If it weren’t for my mistake in using a too-small jar, the entire process would’ve only taken about 15-20 minutes, much of which can be done doing anything that doesn’t require the use of your hands. (I read our Fact-of-the-Day calendar while I did most of my shaking.)
.

.
Zeb, aka the Butter King, declared it “The Best Butter Ever” which is really something coming from his choosy taste buds. We ate it the only way homemade butter should be eaten: on freshly baked bread. Mmmm…

Just to recap: How to Make Homemade Butter in 5 Easy Steps

1. Throw your room temperature cream into a jar, filling it only 1/3 of the way.

2. Shake it until it goes from a foam sloshy sound to a definitive splash. At this point you’ll see buttermilk and a clumb of butter.

3. Drain the buttermilk and rinse the butter under running water, being sure to drain the water out.

4. If you prefer salt, mix it into the homemade butter at a ratio of 1/2 teaspoon per pound of butter.

5. Eat it fast before someone else does!