Butter
Butter has been around for thousands of years. Naturally, it had a place in the pioneer kitchen. If a pioneer had access to a dairy cow, they could make their own. There are many different methods for making butter. At the Monteith House, we have several butter churns. One is over 100 years old and was made locally at the Buena Vista Pottery Factory. Another butter churn in our collection is actually a reproduction that we use to make butter in the house for demonstrations. We fill the churn with heavy whipping cream and challenge our visitors to make butter. Constantly pumping the plunger up and down often grows tiresome (and quite boring), as it can take more than 30 minutes with our traditional churns. Fortunately, there are many "quick" methods that can be used to make your own fresh butter at home.
Ingredients:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
First method:
Pour the heavy whipping cream into a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake the jar repeatedly until the cream thickens and turns yellow. Shake the jar until there is a solid looking yellow ball (that's the butter) and runny liquid (buttermilk). Pour the buttermilk into a separate container (this can be used for cooking or thrown away). Your butter is ready!
Second method:
Use a hand mixer, food processor, or stand mixer and mix the heavy whipping cream. Mix until the butter has separated from the butter milk. This will take approximately 10 minutes on medium/high speed. Remove the butter from the bowl and put it in a shallow or flat dish, like a cake pan. Use a flat spatula or wooden spoon to press the butter to cause the remaining liquid to separate from the solid part of the butter. Pour the buttermilk out of the dish.
Pioneer women would pride themselves on how little buttermilk would be left in their butter. The less buttermilk left in it, the longer the butter will last!
Butter has been around for thousands of years. Naturally, it had a place in the pioneer kitchen. If a pioneer had access to a dairy cow, they could make their own. There are many different methods for making butter. At the Monteith House, we have several butter churns. One is over 100 years old and was made locally at the Buena Vista Pottery Factory. Another butter churn in our collection is actually a reproduction that we use to make butter in the house for demonstrations. We fill the churn with heavy whipping cream and challenge our visitors to make butter. Constantly pumping the plunger up and down often grows tiresome (and quite boring), as it can take more than 30 minutes with our traditional churns. Fortunately, there are many "quick" methods that can be used to make your own fresh butter at home.
Ingredients:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
First method:
Pour the heavy whipping cream into a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake the jar repeatedly until the cream thickens and turns yellow. Shake the jar until there is a solid looking yellow ball (that's the butter) and runny liquid (buttermilk). Pour the buttermilk into a separate container (this can be used for cooking or thrown away). Your butter is ready!
Second method:
Use a hand mixer, food processor, or stand mixer and mix the heavy whipping cream. Mix until the butter has separated from the butter milk. This will take approximately 10 minutes on medium/high speed. Remove the butter from the bowl and put it in a shallow or flat dish, like a cake pan. Use a flat spatula or wooden spoon to press the butter to cause the remaining liquid to separate from the solid part of the butter. Pour the buttermilk out of the dish.
Pioneer women would pride themselves on how little buttermilk would be left in their butter. The less buttermilk left in it, the longer the butter will last!