It's like buttah!

One of the neat things about living in Northeastern Ohio is that I am able to have access to be a part of a herdshare where I can get milk and other dairy products directly from the Amish. I love being a part of it because it allows me to be closer to my food source, and I get to help support the local agricultural industry. In addition to that, I actually own part of the herd. I have cows!

I've been a part of the herdshare for about 3 months or so, and have been really pleased with the quality of milk and cream that I am able to get.

Since I'm able to get excellent quality cream from my cows I have started to make my own butter. I must confess, it is not quite as easy as I thought....well, it is and it isn't. The actual process of making butter is exactly as easy as it seems- beat the cream until it goes from whipped cream to condensed and hard, and well, butter.  To my surprise there are some slight nuances to making butter. I have only found this out through trial and error.

Here are my findings so far-

1. If you whip it in a KitchenAid, be sure to cover the bowl with dishcloths.  If you don't, you'll end up with buttermilk all over the place.
2. A food processor isn't really the best way. It can over heat and then the butter will melt, which will not only mess up the consistency, but also make it too difficult to tell if it is in fact finished processing.
3. You need to no only pour off the buttermilk, but wash the butter until all the buttermilk is gone. If you do not do a good job of washing the buttermilk, or simply omit it (as I have been doing from sheer ignorance) the butter will go bad REALLY quickly.
4. There is sweet cream butter and there is cultured butter. Cultured butter is made by first letting the cream sit out at room temperature for 8 hours.
5. I'm pretty sure that Sally Fallon says you can actually use that buttermilk in cooking, but it is upstairs and I am downstairs. I'll check on that later and edit this post. 

I'll be making more butter on Tuesday and I'll be sure to wash it and add some salt. I'll let you know if I have more success.