Butter is made by separating cream from milk, churning it at 55-60°F until the fat clumps and the buttermilk drains off, washing the butter until the water runs clear, and salting it. Salted butter packed in a salt crock keeps 3-6 months, and ghee, which is butter with the water and milk solids removed, keeps 6-12 months at room temperature in sealed jars.
Part of Dairy Production at Scale
Butter production is the conversion of milk fat into a solid, storable food in four stages: separating cream, churning, washing and salting.
Butter Turns A Perishable Liquid Into A Months-Long Store Of Fat
Butter is concentrated milk fat, and it is made from cream rather than whole milk. Churning knocks the fat globules together until they clump and separate from the liquid buttermilk. Washing then removes the buttermilk that remains, because buttermilk left in butter is what makes it go rancid. Salt and cool storage do the rest.
For a household a jar and a paddle are enough, as Dairy Processing describes. At community scale the work moves to a separator or pans for the cream and a barrel churn for the churning, which is the subject of this batch.
The Four Stages
- Separate the cream. Gravity skimming from a shallow pan after 12-24 hours, or a centrifugal separator. See Cream Separation Techniques.
- Churn. Cream at 55-60°F in a barrel that fills one-third to one-half, cranked 20-45 minutes until it passes from whipped cream to granules to clumps in buttermilk. See Churning at scale (barrel churn).
- Wash. Drain the buttermilk, which is worth keeping for cooking and drinking, then knead the butter under cold water 3-4 times until the water runs clear.
- Salt and store. Work in salt for preservation, then pack away. Salted butter packed in a salt crock keeps 3-6 months, and ghee keeps 6-12 months at room temperature in sealed jars. See Salting and storage.
What You Need
- Cream from pasteurized milk (see Pasteurization Methods)
- A churn: a jar for a household, a barrel on a frame for a village
- Cold clean water for washing
- Salt, and a cool cellar or a crock for storage
Common Mistakes
- Skipping the wash. Residual buttermilk spoils; the butter turns rancid within days.
- Cream at the wrong temperature. Too cold and it will not come; too warm and the butter turns soft and greasy.
- Treating butter as a calorie source for everyone. Dairy and Egg Calorie Efficiency shows dairy’s value is protein and fat, not bulk calories.
Safety
Making ghee involves hot fat and water
Clarified butter is heated until the water has gone, and any water that touches hot fat spits violently. Use a heavy pot with high sides, keep the flame low and the pot away from the edge of the fire, and never add water to hot fat.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Cream Separation Techniques — the first stage in detail
- Combine with: Cultured Butter — ripening the cream for flavor and keeping quality