4 Ways to Make Better Butter

Try your hand at making butter during National Dairy Month

The basics of making butter include using heavy whipping cream, either purchased or fresh from a family cow like we have, bringing it to room temperature and then using something to agitate it. The mini Dazey Butter Churn is perfect for family-sized batches.

It only takes 20-30 minutes to achieve butter and buttermilk. Drain off the buttermilk and save it for baking; wash the butter with cold water to remove as much buttermilk as possible. If desired, add some salt.

Beyond the basics, there are many details that can take your butter up a notch.

1. Make sweet cream or cultured butter

Sweet cream butter uses fresh cream—for cultured butter, you just let raw cream age up to a week in the fridge so the bacteria naturally sours it slightly. With pasteurized cream, you add a bit of starter culture like yogurt or sour cream and keep at room temperature several hours before churning.

2. Get more nutritious butter

Another “better butter” factor is the time of year you make butter. The most nutritious butter comes from cows grazing on fresh green grass in new growth. In Ohio, that means May and June and sometimes again in October after a rainy stretch gives the grass a boost.

3. Add fresh herbs

Give your butter a flavor boost with fresh herbs. To a half cup of soft butter, add one tsp of fresh chopped herbs and mix thoroughly. To create a butter log, put it in wax paper in the refrigerator to shape it.

4. Use a butter mold

For special occasions, you can make molded butter. Soak the mold in cold water and then put it in the freezer for a while before adding the butter. Once the butter is in, return it to the freezer for an hour or so.

See Lehman’s butter-making accessories here: Butter Churns, Crocks, Supplies and Accessories (lehmans.com)