**In this post we are making homemade butter from heavy whipping cream!**

Homemade Butter from Heavy Cream

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If you know how to make whipping cream from heavy cream you’re already half way there. If you’ve never made whipping cream, you’re still in the right place.

Basically you get butter from over whipping cream until it starts to separate into butter & buttermilk.

How much butter can you expect to get from heavy cream?

Approximately 2 cups of cream will get ½ cup of butter & 1 cup of buttermilk.

If 1 liter contains 4 cups then you could expect to get 1 cup of butter & 2 cups of buttermilk. Where the rest disappears to, I have no idea it’s one of life's mysteries I’ve never bothered to look into.

Here’s a formula that can help you to calculate butter yield that I found at Amycookseats.com:

Cream volume (in gallons) X Butterfat percentage (as a decimal) X 0.82 = Butter yield (in pounds)

Additional information on butter yield can be found on the Agricultuire.Insutiute website.

**2 cups of Buttermilk we got from the process!**

What cream do I use?

Let’s talk about the cream you’re going to need in order to make your own butter. Our rule of thumb = Higher fat cream will yield more butter

If you can get raw cream right from a dairy farm, use that.

You will need to acquire heavy cream that is at least 35% milk fat. If you can get 40% or over, even better. If the cream doesn’t contain enough fat it can not separate so this is why we can’t use milk, half & half or coffee cream.

You will also want to try to get cream that doesn’t contain any thickening agents or additives if possible. While that type of cream will work, it will talk much longer because the additives prevent the butter from separating easily

So how do we actually get butter out of heavy cream?

Fat in cream is basically little sacs of fat suspended in the milk. When you agitate the cream the little fat sacs bump into each other eventually breaking apart releasing the fat molecules.

What our goal is when making homemade butter is to whip the cream to incorporate air into the fat molecules. By continuing this motion, the fat molecules begin to essentially bump into each other, clumping together & deflating the whipped cream. This is when the fat starts to separate from the liquid.

To chill the cream or not chill the cream, that is the question

The best answer I can give you is to do what you want.

I’ve seen people swear both ways are the true & accurate way. Some say you must do it with cold cream or it won’t separate properly, others say it has to be warm so it churns more efficiently.

I’ve had good luck with using very cold cream & haven’t bothered to try warming it up or allowing the cream to come to room temperature but feel free to follow your heart & decide if you want to use warm or cold cream.

Homemade Butter from Heavy Cream

**The butter finally separated from the buttermilk**

Equipment:

Stand mixer with chilled paddle attachment. See notes for other suggestions on what to use instead
Bowl for mixing, chilled
Bowl for rinsing
Spatula
Cheesecloth
Optional: gloves

Ingredients:

Heavy cream, the higher the fat content the better
Ice water
Optional: salt

Method:

Optional: Place your bowl & paddle attachment in the freezer to chill
Pour the cream into a bowl
Using the paddle attachment, whip the cream on medium speed until it thickens, turns pale yellow & becomes chunky
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with spatula periodically
Continue to mix until you see the separation of butter & buttermilk
Working with as much as you feel comfortable with removing the butter from the bowl gently squeezing out any remaining liquid placing the butter in a nut milk bag or piece of cheesecloth. If you don’t want to use your hands you can use the back of a wooden spoon to push out the buttermilk from the butter.
Place the bag or cheesecloth over a bowl for 10-15 minutes & allow the butter & buttermilk to drip out. Reserve the buttermilk for other recipes of desired
Submerge the bag or cheesecloth full of butter into a bowl of ice water & squeeze the butter, kneading it gently to release any remaining buttermilk.
Discard the water & repeat the process with fresh ice water until the water remains clear. This may take 2-3 bowls of ice water to get appropriately rinsed.
Remove the butter from the cheesecloth, lay it on a clean work surface & pat dry with paper towel
If adding salt, sprinkle the salt over the butter & use a spatula or your hands to press & fold it repeatedly to ensure even distribution. Start with adding ⅛ of a tsp & increase as needed. If you are making a compound butter, add in your flavoring
Shape butter in your preferred shape & store in an airtight container

Shelf life:

In the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an air tight container
In the freezer up to 1 year wrapped tightly in plastic wrap
On the counter for a few days in a butter bell or butter crock

Notes & Substitutions:

If you don’t have a stand mixer you have a few options

Hand mixer, follow the same directions as above
Food processor or blender by putting in the cream & letting it run until the butter separates from the buttermilk
Mason jar by filling a jar halfway with cream, screwing on the lid & shaking. After 10-15 minutes the butter will start to form
Butter churn & agitate the cream until the buttermilk separates

The buttermilk you are extracting will not perform the same way as buttermilk from the store would in recipes. If you want to use it in recipes calling for buttermilk you will need to add vinegar or lemon juice so it reacts as you would expect with baking soda. It is this reaction that activates the baking soda so your baked goods will become fluffy with a good rise. If you skip this step the recipe may not work as expected.