This article may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Recently, when I made homemade creme fraiche, I figured why not make my own cultured butter, too.
Butter made by first allowing heavy cream to culture naturally has a rich and complex flavor, and it’s really quite easy to prepare. Using the best quality cream (definitely organic, and raw if it’s available to you) results in the best quality butter. Keep in mind that butter made from the cream of pastured/grass-fed cows contains vital nutrients, including the fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, and E.
This cultured butter recipe begins in a very similar fashion to the homemade creme fraiche. You start by stirring a couple of tablespoons of cultured dairy (I used organic plain yogurt, but you could also use buttermilk) into your cream…
…then allow it to naturally ferment for about 12 hours at room temperature. Depending on your ambient temperature, it may thicken up a lot and it may not: either is fine.
You can make butter simply by shaking your jar of cream (this takes a while, but is fun to do with children), but I used my stand mixer to make my butter (a food processor also works well). What you are essentially doing is over whipping the cream. You may have done this inadvertently in the past…this time, you want to do it on purpose. You will end up with butter and buttermilk.
It’s important to press all of the liquid out of the butter (make sure to save the buttermilk), and also to rinse it thoroughly. The “cleaner” it is and the more liquid you extract, the longer it will last.
When your butter is ready, I’m sure you’ll find lots of ways to use it. I don’t use my homemade cultured butter in recipes where the butter is cooked: I spread it onto breads and other baked goods, crackers, and even vegetables (like radishes) so I can really savor the taste.
[cft format=0]
I recently made this cooked rice sandwich bread by AntoniaJames: it was the perfect vessel for getting the homemade butter into my mouth.
Home Dairy with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Cheese, Yogurt, Butter & More has excellent information about making homemade butter, and here are a few more great posts about making your own butter:
Cultured Butter from Food in Jars
Getting Some Culture from Traveler’s Lunchbox
Homemade Butter from The Wednesday Chef
Homemade Butter from One Green Generation
Print Recipe
Makes approximately 1 cup of butter
Ingredients
- *1 pint organic heavy cream raw from grass-fed cows, if possible; if you can't fine raw cream, try to at least avoid ultra-pasteurized cream
- *3 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt or all-natural cultured buttermilk
Instructions
1. Combine cream and yogurt in a glass jar and mix well. Cover the jar and allow to sit at room temperature for 12 hours.
2. Pour the cultured cream into the bowl of an stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn mixer on medium-high speed. Beat for 5-7 minutes, or until the cream has passed through the whipped cream stage, allowing it to separate into pale yellow butter and the off-white liquid which is the buttermilk.
3. Pour the butter and buttermilk into a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to press as much of the buttermilk out as possible, then bottle it and save for another purpose. Take the fine mesh strainer with the butter in it and run cold water over it in the sink. Do this until the water runs clear.
4. Put the butter still in the strainer back over a bowl and, using your clean hands or a wooden spoon or spatula, knead/press it to remove the rest off the buttermilk/water. Keep kneading it until it is as "dry" as you can get it. You can add a pinch of sea salt to the butter, if you like, while you are kneading it.
4. When you have pressed all of the liquid out of your butter, put it in a covered container in the refrigerator or freezer for storage. Or, if you have a butter crock, you can store it at room temperature.
Related Articles
Homemade Toothpowder RecipeGarlic Butter Pizza Dough RollsGiving Thanks, Sage Butter Roasted Turkey, and a T-Day Recipe Round-upGrilled Spring Greens with Homemade Lemon Parsley ButterHomemade Chai RecipeHomemade Mint Extract Recipe
FAQs
– Cultured butter typically lasts for 10 days in the refrigerator. – Butter easily absorbs other odors so make sure it is tightly-sealed. – You can also freeze butter – it will last for several months.
What makes butter cultured? ›
To make cultured butter, bacterial cultures are added to pasteurized cream. This cream is left to ferment. During that time it thickens and, according to Adeline Druart, President of Vermont Creamery, “develops wonderfully tangy flavor notes.”
What is the difference between churned and cultured butter? ›
Sometimes referred to as “European-style butter,” cultured butter is treated with live cultures and allowed to ferment before it's churned. This results in butter with a stronger, more lactic flavor. Cultured butter generally has a higher butterfat content (typically 82–85%) than standard American butter (80–82%).
How to tell if cultured butter is bad? ›
Any sour or off-putting smell means it's a goner. Same goes for taste: If it tastes sour or off, toss it out. 5 And don't worry, a small taste of rancid butter won't hurt you. Of course any visible mold, discoloration, and changes in texture are visible cues that it's time to throw the butter in the trash.
Is cultured butter better for you than regular butter? ›
Cultured butters contain probiotics, live microbes with proven health benefits. Standard butters, known as 'sweet butter', do not. Cultured butters taste AMAZING! Most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate butter because it contains only trace amounts of lactose (<0.7g/100g).
What is Mennonite butter? ›
Brigid's Mennonite Butter is made from A2 Jersey. cream, bringing a superior flavour, texture, and. mouthfeel. This rich and vibrant yellow butter is barrel.
Why is Amish butter so yellow? ›
Why is the butter so yellow? Our cows eat fresh, pasture grass resulting in their milk containing more beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is the same pigment that gives carrots and pumpkins their orange color. In the same way, it makes our butter a deeper, more golden yellow.
Why does Amish butter taste better? ›
While regular stick butter contains about 80% butterfat, Amish butter has about 85% butterfat, which results in a richer and creamier product. 1 Amish butter is typically shaped in a log and wrapped in parchment paper, while regular butter is cut into rectangular sticks.
Why is butter better in Europe? ›
The higher butterfat percentage in European butter is one of the main reasons why many consider butters from across the pond to be superior to those produced in the US. It's better for baking, but it also creates a richer flavor and texture even if all you're doing is smearing your butter on bread.
What's the best butter in the world? ›
Cabot Creamery's salted butter won the top prize in its category with 99.65 points, a near-perfect score. The Vermont company narrowly beat out a French butter that costs two to three times the price. Cabot Creamery is a New England farmer cooperative, making the brand easy to love.
Oxidation leads to release of fatty acids from lipids and then cleavage of the fatty acids to produce hydrocarbons such as aldehydes, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. Particular fatty acids lead to particular hydrocarbons. Some of these have pungent aromas.
Is ghee cultured butter? ›
The answer is actually very simple. Ghee is made from milk, and cultured ghee is made from yogurt. Cultured ghee is made by simmering unsalted butter over low heat until the milk solids separate from the liquid fat.
Is European style butter the same as cultured butter? ›
European-style butter also has a tangier flavor than lower-fat sweet cream butter. Cultured Butter is traditionally made from fermented cream. Nowadays, dairies make much of the commercial cultured butter by incorporating live bacterial cultures and lactic acid. European–style butter is often made from cultured butter.
Is cultured butter made from sour cream? ›
Although the cultures in buttermilk, crème fraiche and sour cream are the ones that are traditionally used to culture butter, yogurt also works surprisingly well and is widely available. Full fat, low fat, or nonfat yogurt will work in this recipe, as long as it has has live cultures.
How long does fresh homemade butter last? ›
How long does homemade butter last? Homemade butter has a shelf life of up to 2 – 3 weeks when kept in the fridge. You can also keep your homemade butter in the freezer for up to 9 months.
Why does homemade butter not last as long? ›
Because it's fresh, your butter won't keep as long as commercial butter, so make it in small batches and keep it in the fridge for a few weeks or freeze it for up to 9 months. Also, as a by product of making your own butter, you will have real buttermilk, which you can save for using in baked goods.
How long can you store homemade compound butter? ›
How To Store Compound Butter. You should store compound butter in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container. Depending on the ingredients you've added to the butter, it should last in the refrigerator for one week and a maximum of one month. In the freezer, compound butter will last for months.
has excellent information about making homemade butter, and here are a few more great posts about making your own butter:
