The Homemade Pantry's Butter

By
Caroline Russock
Caroline Russock is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Caroline Russock
Caroline Russock is a writer who splits her time between Philadelphia and the Caribbean covering food, travel, leisure, lifestyle, and culture.  Her writing is featured in PhillyVoice, Eater, Eater Philly, Serious Eats, and The Tasting Table. 
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated March 27, 2019
20120611-210232-homemade-pantry-butter.jpg
Photograph: Jennifer May

Butter is one of those staple ingredients that we don't really stop and think too much about. Where does the stuff come from? The market, obviously, but before that, a butter factory? A churn? These vague ideas about butter making lead us to Alana Chernila's Homemade Butter recipe from The Homemade Pantry, a very rewarding kitchen experiment that cleared up all of our butter related queries. Well, not all of them, we'd still like to visit the butter factory.

To make butter from the comfort of your home kitchen, all you need is a stand mixer, a pint of cream, and a pinch of salt. Over the course of just about 15 minutes, the cream whips, stiffens, then separates into butter and buttermilk. A little kneading later and your left with fresh butter: spreadable, just salty enough and packed with everything that's so great about butter to begin with.

What Worked: Even if you're not going to make butter from scratch all the time, this is one DIY that you should try at least once.

What Didn't: Heed Chernila when she warns about the spatter factor; before the cream transforms into butter you could very easily end up with a big cleanup.

Suggested Tweaks: Herbs, spices, chiles—throw them in. The sky's the limit when you're churning your own.

Reprinted with permission from The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila. Copyright © 2012. Published by Clarkson Potter. Available wherever books are sold. All rights reserved.

Recipe Details

The Homemade Pantry's Butter

Active 15 mins
Total 25 mins
Serves 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pint (16 ounces) heavy cream

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

  1. Combine the cream and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer

    fitted with the paddle attachment and cover with a dish towel to prevent splattering. Beat at medium to high speed, peeking in every 20 seconds or so. In 1 to 3 minutes, the cream will be whipped and airy, then it will stiffen. After that, the cream will break, and you will have both liquids and solids in the bowl.

  2. When the fat separates from the buttermilk, pour the buttermilk into a jar and refrigerate to use within 3 days.

  3. Run your hands under cold water, then squeeze the butter together, kneading it in the bowl. Place the bowl in the sink, rinse the butter in cold water, and squeeze it again. Repeat this process until the water runs clear and the butter does not release any liquid when you press on it.

    Storage: store at room temperature in a covered butter dish, or butter bell for 5 days in the fridge. Or roll and cut into sticks, wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag for 3 months.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
203Calories
22gFat
2gCarbs
2gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories203
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 22g28%
Saturated Fat 14g69%
Cholesterol 67mg22%
Sodium 95mg4%
Total Carbohydrate 2g1%
Dietary Fiber 0g0%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 0mg2%
Calcium 39mg3%
Iron 0mg0%
Potassium 57mg1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

More Serious Eats Recipes