It is impossible to imagine home cooking without aromatic and delicate butter. With it, porridge, pancakes, pastries, and a simple sandwich become tastier. “Crafting School” cannot ignore this product. Moreover, it is not difficult to obtain it at home. Today we are learning how to make real craft butter.
The bell rings - let's start the lesson!
Butter entered the human diet more than 4 thousand years ago.
How to store butter from cream at home?
- It is better to store finished butter prepared at home in the freezer. If you keep it in the refrigerator, the shelf life will be 7-9 days. If you place it in the freezer, the shelf life can be increased to 3 weeks.
- If classic butter is unsalted , then it can be stored in the freezer for about 5 months if you do not take it out and defrost it. If you add a small amount of salt to it, the shelf life will increase to 9 months . After this period, the taste will begin to change.
One of the oldest foods
They knew how to make butter more than 3,000 years ago in Ancient India - then it was prepared by artisans who used exclusively manual labor. Specialized equipment that made it possible to produce oil on an industrial scale appeared only at the beginning of the 19th century in Italy. The authors of these devices managed not only to simplify the process for producing a fatty product from dairy cream, but also to significantly improve its quality. Technologies and equipment continued to develop, and by the mid-20th century, butter was produced that was in many respects similar to modern dairy products.
Recommendations for making butter from cream at home
There are a few tips to follow when making butter at home:
- If you use a stand mixer, use about 1 liter of cream. This will allow you to determine the readiness of the product over time by the sound of the motor.
- In the case of manual cooking, you can involve friends in the process. Shaking a can of cream is much more fun with company and music.
- To change the taste of the oil, add a little salt .
- To wash the oil faster, combine the oil and water in a blender.
- You can make cream at home. This way the butter will be much tastier, without the use of additional ingredients. Leave the raw milk at room temperature for 7-10 days. Every day cream will form on the surface, which needs to be collected in a separate container.
Simple instructions for making cream at home are described in this article.
Raw materials for preparing essential oil
The healing properties of the same plant may differ depending on the time of day and the season of collection of raw materials. And also on the method of extracting the essential oil and on the conditions and duration of storage
You can make your own essential oil from plants grown in your garden or from wild ones.
Flowers are collected at the moment of their full opening (calendula, rose, chamomile). Leaves and stems - before the plant blooms (basil, rosemary). If the entire above-ground part of the plant is used, then the collection is also carried out during the flowering period (lavender, St. John's wort, yarrow).
Fruits and seeds are collected when fully ripe (coriander, milk thistle). During this period, the content of medicinal components in the plant (flavonoids, aldehydes, phytoncides) is maximum. This improves the healing properties of oils.
Roots and other underground parts of plants are dug up in the fall (burdock root). At this time, the growing season has ended and the roots are saturated with useful components.
When to collect raw materials
The time of harvesting the plant is also important. It is better to collect plants in the morning, when there is no dew, and in sunny weather. Remember that plants cannot be collected near roadsides or near industrial enterprises. They absorb all dust, dirt and various industrial wastes. The best places to collect plants are forests, mountains, meadows, and unplowed fields.
How to dry
Dried raw materials are also used in the preparation of essential oil. Plants need to be dried, just like medicinal herbs, in ventilated sheds or other rooms, on paper or fabric mats, on shelves or boards. Another prerequisite is the absence of sunlight. Under the influence of the sun, essential oils evaporate and the beneficial components contained in the plant disintegrate. They are also dried in ovens or electric dryers at a temperature of 30-40°C. As a result of drying, plants lose more than half of their mass.
Compliance with all conditions for collecting and preparing raw materials guarantees the receipt of high-quality natural oil.
How to make butter from milk at home?
Some housewives prepare butter at home using milk. The process will take more time, however, the result will pleasantly surprise you.
Compound:
- raw milk – 1.9 l;
- buttermilk or kefir - 1 tbsp. l.
You need to prepare butter at home in stages. This will be discussed in more detail below.
How to skim the cream:
After purchasing milk, you need to place it in the refrigerator for a day to cool it down. Keep it in a closed jar. As the milk sits in the refrigerator, cream will accumulate on top.
When purchasing milk:
- Buy unpasteurized milk. This can be done at farmers markets.
- Choose jars with a wide neck to make it easier to remove the finished cream.
When you start collecting cream, carefully sterilize all tools. To do this, bring enough water to a boil and place the jar, ladle and lid in it. Let the tools sit in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.
- Start collecting the cream. Remove the can of milk from the refrigerator. Scoop up the cream and transfer it to a clean glass.
- To make a tasty, slightly sour butter, add a little buttermilk or kefir . To obtain classic oil, you can skip this step.
- Pour the cream and buttermilk mixture into a sterilized jar and cover with a lid. Leave the mixture for several hours (optimally 6-10 hours) to allow it to ripen. You can put the jar in a container that closes hermetically and put it in warm water. It should reach the middle of the container.
- It is necessary to create a warm mode for the cream so that it heats up to +24°C. To avoid missing the right moment, use a kitchen thermometer. If you used buttermilk or kefir, the cream will ripen in 6-7 hours. In the case of using bifidocultures, it will take about 10-12 hours.
- When the cream reaches the desired temperature, it needs to be cooled. To do this, place the jar in a container filled with ice. Wait 20-30 minutes. The optimal temperature for cream is +12°C.
Homemade Piece
Beating the product and separating the oil:
- A closed jar of cream should be shaken thoroughly for 10-20 minutes.
- Monitor the condition of the cream. Pieces of butter will gradually form on them.
- If you want to save time, you can whip the cream with a mixer. To do this, place them in a bowl and beat with a whisk at low speed. When the oil separates from the fir, you can increase the whipping speed.
- Then you need to place gauze folded in several layers or a muslin napkin at the bottom of the colander. Pour the contents of the jar into a lined colander. The buttermilk will pass through the napkin, but the butter will remain on it.
- Afterwards the oil should be rinsed in cold water. Hold the napkin by the edges and dip it into ice water several times.
You need to change the water every time. If it is cloudy, it means there are milk residues in the oil. You can stop the process when the water becomes clear.
How to knead and store butter made from milk, step- by-step instructions for kneading:
- Separate the oil from the napkin and place it in a deep bowl.
- Using a wooden spoon, spread the butter along the sides of the container to remove any lumps.
- If water forms at the bottom, it must be drained.
- Continue the process until no more water comes out.
- Add additional ingredients to the oil based on the flavor you want. Some housewives add salt, spices and chopped herbs.
The finished oil must be placed in a container that is tightly closed with a lid. If you store it in the refrigerator, it will have a shelf life of 3 weeks. If you freeze it, you can extend the shelf life to 1 year. If the remaining milk is not washed out of the butter, the shelf life will be only 5-7 days.
How to make butter at home from sour cream?
If you have a large amount of homemade sour cream, you can use it to make delicious butter at home. How to do this will be discussed below.
Compound:
- sour cream – 0.5 l;
- clean water – 1 l
Process:
- First place the sour cream in the refrigerator for a day to cool. Then transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Start beating the product at high speed. Initially, a liquid consistency will form. If you do not stop whipping, then the mass will become more fluffy and thick. It should take on a yellowish tint. Do not stop whisking until the buttermilk separates.
- grains will form in the sour cream . Once you've drained the buttermilk, pour ice water over the butter grain. Proceed to rinse the oil. Carry out the procedure, constantly changing the water until it becomes clear.
- Collect the oil with your hands and form a lump. If necessary, press firmly to remove any remaining moisture. You can also use gauze folded in several layers to make the process of removing excess moisture more effective.
- Shape the squeezed mass into a brick and place it in a container with a lid. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Make only from homemade sour cream
Now you know that making butter at home is not difficult. To do this, you will need available ingredients and some free time. If you follow the recommendations described in this article, you can make a delicious natural product that will highlight the taste of cooked dishes. This oil is also suitable for making sandwiches, porridges and flavoring side dishes.
We will also tell you how to do it at home:
- Apricot wine
- Scallops
- Grilled vegetables
- Liver sausage
- Stewed pork head
Necessary equipment
To make butter at home you will need:
- Separator. It is used to obtain cream from milk. Such equipment costs from 3.5 thousand rubles. A home separator does not take up much space (it is usually about one and a half times the size of a regular food processor or slow cooker) and is easy to use.
- Containers for milk and cream. To collect the cream produced by the separator, ordinary plastic kitchen containers are best suited (they can also be used to cool the butter), while for processed milk (skim milk) larger containers, such as buckets or basins, are needed.
- Homemade butter churn. The butter can be whipped by hand, without any equipment, but this is too labor-intensive for large production volumes. That is why entrepreneurs need to purchase a butter churner, which can be manual or mechanical. Of course, you need to purchase mechanical equipment, the only drawback of which is that it depends on the electrical network. The main advantages are the speed of the process, shock resistance, and vibration protection. In addition, they are quickly disassembled and the parts are easy to clean. The prices for such machines vary, but the simplest (but at the same time effective) of them can be purchased for 5 thousand rubles. When choosing a butter churn, pay attention to its capacity.
- Vacuum packer for home. As you know, oil easily absorbs odors, and this can be avoided by properly packaging the products. Vacuum packers are inexpensive (from 4 thousand rubles) and easy to use. Oil in sealed packaging can be stored even in a refrigerator filled with food.
- Packaging bags, containers, spoons, knives.
