Churning Butter

Ever wondered what cream rising looks like? See the faint line about 2.5 inches below the edge of the lid?  That's cream.  We get about a pint of cream off every gallon of milk. It takes the good part of a day for the cream to rise.  Shaking a milk pitcher with cream when you pull it out of the fridge becomes a habit...even when it's a milk jug from the store. 

 

When I have a quart of cream I can make butter in the blender.  It's a much faster method than churning.   I dump it in and blend on high.  If the cream is room temperature the butter separates much faster, in maybe a minute or two.  This is also the look you'll get if you overbeat your whipped cream.  At this point I dump in 1/2 cup of hot tap water.

And blend a bit more. See all that butter bobbing around the top of my blender?

 Pull the butter out with a slotted spoon and begin rinsing with cold water while working with the spoon.  When the water runs clear the buttermilk has been rinsed out.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, mix in, and voila, you have butter.  I believe this made not quite a cup of butter.  

Helpful, eh?

Milk dud report: the parlor basement floor was successfully poured today.