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Homemade Butter
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Materials Needed

• Jar (pint-sized). Can be plastic or glass. 2-oz. cups with lids also work well.

• Heavy whipping cream, preferably at room temperature.

• Salt

• Crackers

 

 

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Butter is made from the cream part of milk. Cream is lighter than the rest of the milk and it floats to the top, where it can be skimmed off and packaged separately. One pound of butter is made up of the cream found in ten quarts of milk.

The richer the milk is in butterfat, the more butter it will make.

The Jersey breed of cattle gives the milk with the highest percentage of butterfat. The Holstein breed gives the milk with the least butterfat. Holstein cows are the most common breed of cattle in the United States because they produce the greatest quantity of milk.

Directions

1. Fill jar or cup 2/3 full with whipping cream. Firmly secure lid. Be sure to leave some space in the container.

2. Shake container briskly for 5-10 minutes (the more cream in the container, the longer it will take). Continue shaking until the butter is a solid lump in the jar. Once the butter has formed, open the container and pour off the buttermilk.

3. To make salted butter, add salt after the butter is formed.

4. Spread butter on crackers and enjoy.

Variations:

• For an experiment, try salting before shaking.

• Experiment by having students record temperature of cream when beginning, length of time and number of shakes it takes for butter to form.

• Instead of using heavy whipping cream (44 percent cream), try using light cream (18 percent cream), regular milk (3.5 percent cream), 2% milk (2 percent cream). Have students compare the results.

Information courtesy of Utah and Maryland Ag in the Classroom programs.

For additional information contact Tad Duncan at (254) 751-2608
or E-mail: Tad Duncan

 

 

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