B is for butter
B is for BUTTER
I had an idyllic childhood on a farm, looking back it was as perfect a childhood as one could have - I just didn't know it at the time. Farm life brought farm food and this included having some milking cows that supplied the family with milk, cream and butter. I didn't take much notice of how the butter was made, it was just something that was made very regular and I enjoyed eating it.
Now that I am an adult, I wish I had paid more attention. But isn't that always the case . . . as a child you take things for granted and as an adult you wish you had listened. In recent years I have started to grow my own vegetables, plant fruit trees and make my own preserves and jams . . . I am not expert, but my dad is, so I have been draining my dad's brain of all his knowledge (!) so I can learn everything he knows so I too can become an expert like him! Why has it taken me 40 years to start learning what I should have learnt when I was 10!!
But getting back to the butter . . . there is nothing better than proper homemade butter using fresh cows milk. I loved that butter, it was so GOOD (probably not according to the Heart Foundation!). And no, I can't tell you how it was made . . . I only know that it was made using those wooden paddles in the photo above!! And the cream, well, what can I say. The cream was so thick you could turn the jar upside down and it did not budge. We had so much cream that we shared it with my aunts and uncles who lived in the city, they very much appreciated the farm produce.
We had a separator that looked something like the photo below (expect it was powered and not manual). I can remember holding my breakfast bowl under the pipe where the milk came out and covering my weetbix with warm freshly produced milk. This was raw milk that had never seen a factory or pasteurizing machine. Wow, it was good. Just memories now, but lovely warm memories that I am glad I once enjoyed for real.
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| We had a milk separator that looked something like this, except it was powered and not manual. |
We drink raw milk that we buy from a local farm. It has been one of the biggest and best things we have done for our health, to no longer drink homogenized dairy products.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you did have a wonderful childhood. Hope your mother is o.k.
Take cream, add salt, put in mixmaster, beat until it turns to butter (yellow and thick, seprated from the buttle milk). Remove from mixer, leave in bowl - drain butter milk then use wooden paddles to squeeze out all the butter milk that is left in the butter. Refrigerate.
ReplyDeleteMrs Santos - I don't think we can buy raw milk in Australia, I think by law it has to be homogenized etc... unless you have a friend with a dairy. I know my cousin looked into this, but I can't remember the outcome.
ReplyDeleteAs to my mother - things aren't good and I have complete faith in the Lord and what He is doing. I just keep on praying that she is comfortable.
Stephen - thanks, as I don't remember dad using the mixmaster at all only the wooden paddles. I should try it one day.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember rightly he washed it with water as well, using the paddles to get all the liquid out and the right level of saltiness -- but maybe I'm mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't worry about adding the salt - you can add a little if you want (even afterwards), but it's not a big deal - tastes just as good without, in my opinion. As for washing it - yes, you want to wash it to make sure all the buttermilk is washed off - otherwise your butter goes bad. :)
ReplyDeleteNo raw milk is sold for consumption in Australia - it is against the law - the only reason you can buy it at all is for cosmetic use.
You should try making your own, Jo - you buy cream, and end up with two products - buttermilk, and butter. Yum! :)
I will - how much cream do you use and how much butter did you end up with? What did you use as the paddles?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't make a lot (I think we used 300ml of cream), so it only made a small amount (maybe a lump the size of an apple?), from memory... As for the paddles - you can use knives or wooden spoons or anything like that to press on it - you want to get the bubbles of air and buttermilk out of it, basically, so it doesn't matter too much what you use, so long as you do it well. At least, that's been our experience! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love the photo of you on your profile! :)
Thanks Clara.
ReplyDeleteDear Husband took that photo when we went out for breakfast during the holidays.
We are blessed to be able to buy raw milk where we live in Texas. This is not allowed in every state in the U.S. from what I've heard, and even in Texas it can be hard to find an approved dairy that sells it. The big milk corporations apparently want us to think that raw milk is "dangerous" and we need to buy the homogenized, pasteurized stuff in the grocery stores. :-/ I was not able to drink cow's milk until we got raw milk. Now I have no problem with it, so I know that it is different!
ReplyDeleteMy mom made butter off an on when I was a kid. I suppose she made it more when we lived in East Africa. Before we got off of margarine completely I thought butter "tasted funny", now I love it and can't stand the taste of vegetable margarine! :-)
Mary - I grew up with raw milk and it never killed me, but I can see why milk is treated for selling - but it would be nice to have an option in this country.
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