Make Your Own Butter (Without a Cow)
When I was a girl, my mother was a saint. I was one of those children who talked contantly (Never saw that one coming, huh) and was always right up on her with questions and endless conversation. I can’t ever remember a time, even now, when I haven’t been trying to figure the world out, finding some new angle almost daily to view it through and gain a better understanding of the whys and what-fors of any given situation.
I was one to question, examine, and then declare my findings. Again, much how I do now. But folks, I can tell ya, My poor mama needed a break from time to time and she always came up with wonderful ways to keep me busy while giving me something else to figure out.
Most of these actiities have become habit for me now, ways I busy myself in the odd need to be doing multiple tasks in order to focus. My friend, Jyl is night and day different from me in this respect. She actually focuses on one thing at a time, just like my husband. Mama is like that, too, so I’m really surrounded by people who stand in place doing one appointed task while I buzz around them talking away with the speed of my thoughts. I imagine it leaves us both a little tired.
Recently I was on the phone with Jyl talking over some things I have coming up with Southern Plate and while talking to her, I walked into the kitchen and got all of the fixin’s out to make a little butter. I poured my cream into a mason jar, screwed the lid on good and began shaking away. ~swish swish swish~
After a few minutes of talking while I swished in the background Jyl asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m making butter.” I declared, as I continued swishing while I walked around the house talking on the phone.
Did you know I can’t stand still or sit while I talk on the phone? Doing only one thing at a time is very difficult for me and always has been. Of course it’s ADHD but it is certainly not a disorder, it’s a gift, a talent, and a blessing. The only reason it is called a “disorder” is because other folks beat us to the punch in declaring themselves normal and us abnormal. If we wouldn’t have been so busy up and leaving Europe and creating an entirely new country based on an entirely new governmental concept, we could have gotten to declare the rest of the world “OTATD” or “O-Tats” for short, One Thing At A Time Disorder. ~grins and giggles~ But that is a post for another day so back to what I was saying about butter..
Jyl sounded incredulous “You’re doing what?”
“I’m making butter, I’m going to spread it on some saltines.”
“Are you talking about actually churning butter?”
“Yeah, but in a mason jar. Haven’t you ever made butter?”
This is when it occured to me that Jyl, being the quiet person that she is, most likely never annoyed her mother like I did and therefore was never given the fascinating task of making butter in a mason jar. Since I can’t see her ever being able to annoy people to the extent that I do, I guess it is up to me to take the initiative and show her how it’s done so this post was born.
Tomorrow begins National Dairy Month and this is a great post to help us kick that off so yesterday, me and the kids made butter. This is a GREAT activity to do with kids, or to let them do on their own to buy you a few minutes of quiet in the kitchen while you cook. Even adults enjoy the “neatness” factor of making your own butter with just some whipping cream and a mason jar!
All you’ll need is: Heavy Whipping Cream and a jar or two.
I usually use the larger jars but these little eight ounce ones are easier for little hands to hold and do just fine.
Fill your jar 1/2 to 3/4 full, but no more than that. Your cream needs space to shake around a bit.
Put the lid on well and then start shaking!
This will take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes, but your butter will most likely be ready in twenty minutes or so. It all depends on how much you shake it. Little hands will take frequent breaks 
Now let me tell you what is gonna happen here so you don’t think you’re shaking your arms off for nothing:
First, the liquid is going to completely coat the jar as you shake and you’ll hear it just a shaking back and forth
Then, the liquid is going to get really thick, still coating the jar, but as you shake you won’t really hear it shaking anymore and you’ll begin to doubt me. Hang in there, I promise there will be butter soon enough, just keep shaking on faith . You can open the lid if you want and see that your cream is just really, really thick. Then…
After about fifteen or twenty minutes, you’ll notice the sides are no longer coated and it pulls away from the sides a bit.
You’re almost done!
A few minutes later you’ll feel solids shaking around in there and the liquid and solids will separate completely. Now your butter is ready.
When you open it up you’ll see this.
Pour that out into a strainer or colander so the liquid can drain out the bottom.
This is Brady and Katy’s jar both emptied.
Now adding a little salt is optional but I like to.
This is just a little kosher salt that I’m going to stir in.
You will need to add this to taste so start small.
Stir in salt, if adding it.
Spoon butter into small ramekin, cover, and refrigerate.
It will harden as it gets cold.
Enjoy!
Doesn’t this look good? I love it on Saltines!
Making Butter At Home (Fun activity for all ages!)
- Whipping Cream
- Mason Jar
- Salt (optional)
Fill jar 1/2 to 3/4 full with cream. Place lid on tightly. Shake for ten to thirty minutes, or until you hear solids shaking around and can see through the glass that the solids have separated from liquid (read up in post for more details of what the shaking stages will be like). Pour into colander to separate liquid from butter. Place butter in a ramekin or bowl and stir in salt, if desired. Refrigerate until hardened. Enjoy!
Print This Recipe
Did your Mama have creative ways to keep you busy as a child?
My Mama Reed used to have her grandkids shuck corn and snap beans on the front porch. They loved feeling needed!
I’d love to hear what your parentsand grandparents did in the comments section below!
We had a WONDERFUL time this past weekend when we got our own private tour of a working dairy farm in Alabama.
Stay tuned to my next post for details and photos!
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What you DO speaks loudly, I can’t hear what you say.
~A quote Nick Saban used in his book, How Good Do You Want To Be?
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on May 31 2011. Filed under Sauces/Other, Southern Plate Kids.
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I can’t thank you enough for this post!!!!! My son is exactly like you! I’m always trying to find things to keep him interested in the summer and give me a break! Geez…the boy can talk! I am running out first thing in the morning to get whipping cream and they can shake away!
I used to do this at Thanksgiving when I taught preschool. We would sit in a circle and roll the jar back & forth to each other. Another way to help speed up the process is to add a couple of marbles in the jar to help with the aggitation. Be sure NOT to eat the marbles.
Memories! I was just finished working on my NCGW leaflet for Angel Food and guess what I told kids to do this summer… make butter, make nut butter, make leaf prints… and so on. To answer someone’s question, don’t put your salt in until it is done because you can’t judge how much to use. Different cows have different saltiness in their milk depending on their diet. We had guernsey cows which were high in butterfat and produced rich butter, little salt required. Mother made honey butter as well with the honey from Daddy’s hives.
I had my kids and their cousins do this when they were really little – put the cream in baby food jars and had 4 lumps of butter for Easter dinner!! They loved it. I will have to try with my grandboys when they visit this summer.
One of my very favorite memories from kindergarten was making butter in babyfood jars and then eating it with saltines.
I seem to remember my mother making it from buttermilk. Anyone done that? Back when we had unhomoginized milk (long time ago) I can remember her scooping cream off the top and using that. But if milk soured, she used it as buttermilk and sometimes I think she did butter from it. She always used whole milk or 3% milk though. I use 1% most of the time and 2% when I can’t find 1%. I have started using Smart Balance now which I am not sure is really milk but it tastes good and is supposed to be better fats. Doubt it will make butter, even if it came in buttermilk. Guess the cream is the best. But anyone know about using buttermilk for butter? Or am I mistaken?
You actually used whole milk a long time ago and you would get buttermilk and butter from the whole milk. They use to churn the whole milk and from that you would get whole cultured buttermilk and then the butter would form on top.
When I was small, the roles were reversed, and my mom was the one who couldn’t sit still and had to be doing eleven things at once, while I was the unitasker. Actually, that’s still true. Anyway, my mom ran the print shop of our local community college the entire time I was growing up (back before computer-assisted word processing and graphic design, and high-speed copiers), and whenever I wasn’t at in school, I was at work with her. I got to be her marginally-paid delivery girl, copy editor (which really helped me in college), and coffee-getter. I also got to sit in on classes with some of the cooler instructors, play whatever kid role there was in the drama courses, and nurture my lifelong passion for libraries. It was awesome, and even though at the time I wanted to be doing summer camp or some other similarly expensive activity, I wouldn’t trade it for anything now.
My Mama was from the beautiful hills of Newport, Tennessee. When my daughters were little, she would let them help her make shab beans by threading green beans on a string. She would use a needle and white thread and punch them in the center. When she had a strands about 18 inches, she would hang them to dry. After days (or weeks) of drying, she would bag them and put them in the freezer (to keep bugs out). When she was ready to cook them, she had to soak them just like with any dried bean. She called them shab beans but some call them leatherbritches. Whatever you call them, I call them delicious.
Mama died when my younger daughter was only 4 but she remembers making shab beans with her Nana.
I used to do this with my third graders when I was a teacher. They loved it! It’s fun to put a marble inside the cream, the kids like to hear it knocking around and it’s easy to pick out later.
I use to make butter like this with my students every year. We would eat it with saltines or homemade sourdough bread and jam or honey. We also made ice cream, which none of them had ever done. My grandchildren enjoy making butter this way as well. Oh the fun times………
Anybody remember “sweeping” the yard with a brushbroom ?
Yes, I do remember “sweeping” the yards with a brushbroom. You had more dirt than you had grass back then and as a kid they would have us help sweep the yard and even the drive ways that were dirt with a brush broom. My how times have changed!!!
I’m from Robeline, Louisiana and yes I remember “sweeping” the yard with a brushbroom. We had black locust in our yard and they hard really pretty flowers in the spring but nasty thorns later in the summer, thus we had to sweep the yard. Of course shoes were unheard of in the summer in Louisiana. There was nine kids in my family and we used to think we were so mistreated because we had to work all summer. Of course, if we didn’t work we didn’t eat during the winter. Little did wI know that it would turn out to be some of the best memories of my childhood. Kids miss so much today.
Yes to the brushbrooms!!! Hadn’t thought of them in ages, but Mama always had a new one every year. Daddy would haul in sand to put in the yard around the house. It was so much cleaner than regular soil, so we didn’t track so much in the house. The brushbrooms were great for getting up the beechnuts. Stepping on those with our little bare feet was no fun at all.
Christy, is there a name for those of us who have a little ADD and OTATD both? Take care, and thanks for bringing back all the wonderful memories!
I thought I was the only slave that had to sweep the dirt yard with brushbroom. My grandmother lived in Great Falls, SC & when we spent weeks with her in the summertime, she kept us occupied by sweeping the dirt in the front yard about dusk dark & chasing lightning bugs when it got dark. Brings back so many wonderful memories.
So going to try this with my little boy! When I was in the 6th grade, we had a working dairy farm, a stones throw from school, and the lady, Mrs. Page, came and churred butter for us. We each got to take turns churring and after it was done, got to sample it on a Ritz crackers! So to all of the teachers that have said they have done this in their classrooms, your students will remember this!!
Christy,
I made butter with my grandmother when I was little, but she had her own cow.
I can’t believe I never thought of making my own butter from cream. This is great!
My grandmother also had a cow and made her own butter. It makes me sad to know that I will never taste that butter again. It was like nothing else. I know I can make butter with a jar and whipping cream, but it will never be like the butter she made with a churn.
I just made this for fun! Thanks for the idea. In case anyone has the same question, yes, it will work just fine in a small plastic tupperware if you don’t have any mason jars lids free. It took 18 minutes for me.
Same here… plastic tupperware, and about 15 minutes. Got it chilling in the fridge right now. Yum!
So, how young is too young? I was making Kool-Aid for my grandson today, almost 2, and was shaking the Kool-Aid envelope to get all the powder at 1 end so it didn’t dust up when opened and end up tasting Kool-Aid in my nose all day. When I was shaking the envelope, he was shaking his hands for all his might.
I have never made butter this way but I am going to try it with my 3 yr old niece. She is always wanting to cook. I have made ice cream in coffee cans with kids at Girl Scout camp. You take a 1 lb can and a 3 lb. can. Put ice cream mixture in 1 lb put in 3lb and add ice and salt. Wonderful ice cream.
As a toddler in the 50′s, my parents never had babysitters. We were rural people and lived on Old Hickory Lake in Middle Tennessee. Dad was a farmer and Mother cooked so much for hired help. After the noon meal, Mom would go fishing for relaxation. To keep me from falling in the lake, she would tie me to a tree with about 9′ of rope to walk around. You could call this “Mother Necessity.”
My niece and I LOVE to make butter. About keeping kids busy, my father used to talk about how his Mother would find jobs for them when they started to get on her nerves. He had a brother who was always into something and when they got too rowdy, my dad said that he would hear the dipper rattle in the bucket and he would get quiet but my uncle Wayne never paid attention and always had to go get water! It was just a few years ago that Daddy told that story when Uncle Wayne was here and Uncle Wayne said he never knew till then why he always had to get water!
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!! That will seriously make butter?! Heavy whipping cream & a mason jar?! GET OUTTA TOWN!
Oh Christy, I love getting your e-mails. They are ALWAYS good for a laugh or a few tears. Today, it was a good old laugh out loud laugh! The OTATD’S OR O’TATs for short, just tickled me to death. My husband is like that. Now I know what to call him. Haha! Me? I read a book and watch tv, or do a crossword puzzle at the same time. He says I can’t possibly know what is going on in the show, but I tell him exactly what was said. Miffs him a lot! One thing at a time DISORDER. Love that! Keep ‘em coming. I need your fun outlook on life.
I hadn’t thought of this in ages! Thank you! I’m keeping my grandkids this week and they need something to do besides begging to play the Wii! They will love this.
What a great idea! I think we will be doing this activity a few times this summer.
I used to snap beans, shell peas, shuck corn, pick out pecans, pick up pecans, and whatever else needed to be done. I didn’t get to pick corn, but I did pick a lot of other vegetables, too. I am not sure if it was to keep me busy, or just to help out.
I need to find cheap cream. An 8 oz. carton of cream makes about 1 stick of butter, but costs close to the same as a pkg. of 4 sticks at the store. Yikes!
Yeah, it’s pretty expensive. I keep it on hand for coffee, whipped cream for desserts, and let the kids make butter as a novelty from time to time. Krogers has their brand a bit cheaper than name brand. I’d definitely go generic, the cows don’t know the difference
Amen, sister. I figured the math a few years back.
I worked for a number of years at a state center for developmentally disabled children and adults. This was one activity almost all our residents enjoyed and they could taste the fruits of their labors at dinner time.
That is just too cool! It’s just not something I would have ever thought of doing. Thanks!
Just last year we made butter with our grandchildren , they really enjoyed it.
Brush brooms, oh the memories! My Sister and I would use them, or a rake and make leaf or dirt houses. We would section out our rooms then use logs or whatever else we could find for furniture. We had very few store bought toy’s, as a matter of fact we played baseball with a stick and rock, (first black eye). I cherish those memories. I make my kid’s play outside now and my Grandkid’s, they think it is punishment, I call it creating character, and memories.
If you are lazy like me, a food processor works great. Just don’t put too much cream into the bowl! (Found out the hard way) The liquid that’s left is buttermilk (not the new cultured kind that you get at the store). I took the butter milk and used it in a bread recipe. Ended up I couldn’t tell the difference between the two loafs of bread, but the homemade butter was fabulous on both!!!!
I can remember doing this in 1st or 2nd grade. It was a project the teacher let us do. I can see it all in my mind…all of us shaking away. That was probably 50 years ago…but I’ll always remember it. Funny how some things stay with us so well. (Especially anything to do with food for me.)
Zoe is busy shaking as I type. I couldn’t find a tiny tupperware so she’s got about 1/8 C in a big ol’ square container. =)
My grandma used to hide pennies around her house and we would hunt for them and she let us keep them. This was a big deal as I am talking back in the early fities and a penny would still buy penny candies.
Another game she played which kept us quiet and occupied was to give each of us a magazine and if I am remembering correctly it was Woman’s Day and Saturday Evening Posts. She would name items for us to find which some were obvious and easy like a cake, but some were sort of more obscure-may a bug or bird. It was like a scavenger hunt in the living room.
Maybe something to try with the girls this summer, I’ve seen this on a PBS station for kids. We spent a lot of time with my grandma and even though they lived in the city, my grandpa had a small farm. I remember shucking popcorn off the cobs, we loved it even though we got sore thumbs and fingers. Grandma also kept this big box of all the popcicle sticks and we built whole cities out of those things. She taught us to sew doll clothes too. Totally a patient woman.
A couple episodes ago on 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, one of the gimmicks the restauranteur hopefuls used was to give the people waiting for their food a small jar of heavy cream with sanitized marbles in it, and they had to make their own butter for their rolls. Do you know if the marbles make it come together faster?
Either way, it’s a cool trick
I just told my 6 year old about this last week. How funny you have it on your site. Must be a God thing that we need to spend a little time together being creative. Isn’t it funny how the simple things you do with your kids make the best memories.I have 4 little ones and lots of memories to make.
Thanks for your site. I just love you and check in with you every week. I now know how to make some pretty amazing southern desserts and the best Sweet Tea ever!
Making the butter is a fabulous idea….but I just can’t get over how fabulous that slice of toast looks! Mmm…
I’m doing this with my 2nd graders tomorrow! Should keep them busy on our half-day!
Many years ago, I taught elementary school in a rural district. Each year I had my students make butter in conjunction with one of our reading stories that was vaguely about dairy (as I recall). They loved it! We had teams so the jars could be passed from person to person and no one was overly tired. We had ‘our’ butter on homemade bread and none was ever left. This brought back such good memories. Thank you.
I was so fortunate to have my grandma and my momma. While momma worked with my daddy in his business, grandma would take care of me. We gardened, picked, cleaned and canned what we grew and we churned, baked, sewed, and did “fine” needlework not to mention the sewing circles where we hand quilted all of the quilts made by the ladies of the group. I surely do miss those ladies and all of the good times we had.
my son who is now 27( wow) made butter when he was in the 2nd grade maybe 3rd. he was so facinated he had to take the jar and cream to school and share…..they actually had to make several batches because everyone wanted to shake the “butter”…..
Super cool idea! I work with children all the time and love doing neat little memorable things with them. It is great in the fall showing them the inside of an apple- the star- by cutting it across, sampling different apples and making apple sauce together but that is one of those once a year delights! This is something you could do anytime of the year. I am glad to hear you say ADHD is a gift as I have been that all my life and amaze people by how much I can accomplish. I love to learn and explore and KNOW! oh and did I say talk? glad to have found your website- thanks!
How would I do this to make honey butter? I love honey butter with your Jordan Rolls!!!!!!!
We always got our milk from a farmer down the road, so churning butter was a family affair. We all had our chance at the churn…I think because dad liked doing it so much it made it was a fun chore for the rest of us, getting the crank out of his hand was the real chore! I remember growing up we were careful about appearing bored or ever saying we were. Ma would always have plenty for us to do in the garden, with the chickens or the rabbits. Who knew then that those long afternoons on the porch shucking corn, snapping beans or shelling peas would be some of my best memories today! Of course I still do all of that, but it’s not the same without my siblings!
I grew up in California and when we were young our parents ran a gas station with full service, so me(about 12yrs.) and my 1 older and 1 younger sister were taught to crochet in the back room.
My mom did a lot of making quilts so we cut out pieces, she would sew them together and then we had the honor of ironing them flat. then when it was all put together we would help with tieing them out she did all the actual qulting.
When we younger and lived out in the country we helped our parents pick cotton, we did get a lot of rides on those old cotton sacks. Everyone worked so there were no baby sitters.
We would shake that fruit jar with milk in it until it turned to butter.
Our grandparents had the garden and we helped shuck the corn and snap beans boy those were the good old days.
We still to this day make our own jelly and jam.
My Mamaw Stevens would bring out the heavy duty quilting thread and her box of buttons and my younger sister and I would string buttons on the thread and make us necklaces to wear. Whoever thought old buttons would be just a collectible today?
Make butter in your sock! My Dad told me that when he was a kid he used to go walking in the bush (the New Zealand name for a forrest) with my Grandfather and they’d carry a few crackers (like saltines) and an apple in their pockets and a small jar full of cream and a pinch of salt tucked into their sock. When they got to lunch time, all of the jiggling from walking had turned the cream to butter. No extra shaking required!
There were times when I was a kid, back in the 40s that I actually churned butter, however, it wasn’t one of those wood type churns like you see in movies, we had a glass one, with a crank mechanism. I was just thinking I should do this with my grandkids, even though they range in age from 15-25. They just don’t believe the work I did when I was a kid, like washing my little sister’s diapers out by hand, hanging them outside to dry, milking cows, having only one TV and that it was only black and white(and that wasn’t until I was 14). I tell them that whatever one person was watching was what everybody that came into the room watched or else we found something else to do. I don’t tell them there was only one channel, that would ruin the whole point. lol
I was wondering about making honey butter too. Anyone ever try it? I wonder if you could just add a little honey to the cream before shaking.
These comments also answers a question I’ve had about buttermilk. I’ve bought buttermilk from the store to use in recipes and have wondered how anyone could ever drink it straight. BUT, if the milk left over from making butter is the buttermilk I always hear about drinking, that makes more sense.
I am now 78 but vividly remember making butter from cream.
We used a manual hand beater. Lots of fun just to witness the progress.
Wish we could still eat it off a spoon. When mom wan’t watching.
e.
ok, can you do this with a mixer? I’ve whipped cream until I thought I’d almost made butter (lol) but, before I ruin a good glass of heavy whipping cream, I’d like to know.
I had to go get the stuff and try this immediately….The phone rang tho and I kept shaking it and I think I shook too much. Is this possible?
Christy,
I tried this recipe last night! I am still in awe that I actually made butter!! I live next door to my mom and made some for her, too! We have been talking all day about how wonderful this butter is!!! Thank you so much!
I also wanted to add that growing up in North AL as a kid with a family that ALWAYS had a garden…I was plenty busy during the Summer! When the corn would come in, the entire family would meet out at my Aunt Margaret’s house. It was truly a family affair! Most of the kids shucked the corn…Aunt’s and Uncle’s would sit in a circle under a shade tree and cut some of the corn off the cob…while my Aunt Margaret would mostly stay in the kitchen to par boil the corn before putting it in containers to freeze. I can remember my Daddy coming back from my Aunt’s and Grandparent’s farms with grocery sacks full of Purple Hull Peas, Black Eyed Peas, Green Beans, and Butter Beans. It was my JOY to sit out on our front porch and shell these beans! I just loved it! I used to watch my Mama put all these things up to freeze (even tomatoes and okra). The biggest reward was during the Fall and Winter! We kept a big freezer out in a storage building. And I can still hear my Mama asking me to run out to the freezer and get her some tomatoes, corn, and butter beans so she could make a Hamburger Stew! Or she would ask for corn and okra…with Fried Corn and Fried Okra being on the menu! Oh how I truly, truly miss those days!
This looks like a great way to keep little hands occupied! I’m going to be an elementary teacher and this would be a fun experiment to do with students.