I got bored and decided to buy this. I've used it once so I'm going to give my initial review. It is still in the process of being made, but most of the steps are done.
I started with 32oz of heavy cream from Hanaford for 2.99.
I let the heavy cream rest on the counter for about 20 minutes after having been in the car for about half an hour on the way home from the grocery store.
I poured the heavy cream into the churn and started turning the handle. Turning the handle wasn't a problem. It turned nice and easily. The problem I found was that holding the jar still with my other hand seemed to drain that arm more than the turning hand. I tried a number of positions and found two that worked best.
I churned for 15-20 minutes before it started to look like whipped cream. Another about 15-20 minutes and it looked like stiff whipped butter, and after a total of about 45 minutes the buttermilk and butter started to separate. Once it seemed like enough buttermilk had separated I drained it into a strainer over a measuring cup. 1.5 cups of butter milk produced.
The next step (which I'm in the middle of, but am letting it rest), is to wash the butter, using water with equal quantity of buttermilk produced (1.5 cups in my case), churn the butter for a little bit, then drain water. Repeat this process until drained water runs clear. At this point all the buttermilk has been removed.
It is key to remove the buttermilk as this will make the butter sour.
Knead the soft butter with a butter paddle to force out any remaining butter milk. Pour off any milk that forms as it forms. This final step should take about 10 minutes.
You now have sweet butter. You can add a teaspoon of flake salt for salted butter.
I'll let you know how it tastes/works out tomorrow.
So in review, this is a pretty cool setup. A bit pricey and not a huge work out. I'll have to try it with my kitchen aid at some point for comparison.
Stay tuned for Mozzarella making.
I started with 32oz of heavy cream from Hanaford for 2.99.
I let the heavy cream rest on the counter for about 20 minutes after having been in the car for about half an hour on the way home from the grocery store.
I poured the heavy cream into the churn and started turning the handle. Turning the handle wasn't a problem. It turned nice and easily. The problem I found was that holding the jar still with my other hand seemed to drain that arm more than the turning hand. I tried a number of positions and found two that worked best.
- Lap - Sitting down with it in my lap and my arm around it was fairly comfortable.
- Low table - PUtting it on a low table seemed much better and more comfortable than using my counters.
I churned for 15-20 minutes before it started to look like whipped cream. Another about 15-20 minutes and it looked like stiff whipped butter, and after a total of about 45 minutes the buttermilk and butter started to separate. Once it seemed like enough buttermilk had separated I drained it into a strainer over a measuring cup. 1.5 cups of butter milk produced.
The next step (which I'm in the middle of, but am letting it rest), is to wash the butter, using water with equal quantity of buttermilk produced (1.5 cups in my case), churn the butter for a little bit, then drain water. Repeat this process until drained water runs clear. At this point all the buttermilk has been removed.
It is key to remove the buttermilk as this will make the butter sour.
Knead the soft butter with a butter paddle to force out any remaining butter milk. Pour off any milk that forms as it forms. This final step should take about 10 minutes.
You now have sweet butter. You can add a teaspoon of flake salt for salted butter.
I'll let you know how it tastes/works out tomorrow.
So in review, this is a pretty cool setup. A bit pricey and not a huge work out. I'll have to try it with my kitchen aid at some point for comparison.
Stay tuned for Mozzarella making.
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