How to Make Butter (White Butter)

Collecting Cream From Milk

1. If you are collecting fresh cream or malai at home from milk then store this collected cream in the freezer. This cream is collected everyday and stored in a container in the freezer.
2. After you have collected 2 or 3 cups of cream, then you can easily convert it into butter. Defrost the cream. You can defrost it in microwave or keep it on the countertop till it comes to room temperature.
3. To culture this cream add ¼ cup yogurt (curd) to 2 cups of cream. The cream can be cold when you add the yogurt.
4. Mix well and set aside for 7 to 8 hours until the cream gets cultured. After fermentation, the cream will thicken, be wobbly and set nicely.
5. Keep this cultured cream in the refrigerate for a few hours until it becomes cold.

Whipping Cream

1. Later in a blender, or in a food processor or in a bowl add the cream or the cultured cream. Turn on the blender or food processor or use an electric blender to whip the cream in a bowl.
2. While whipping, initially, the cream will begin to smoothen and you will get whipped cream with soft peaks first and later with stiff peaks.
3. Continue until you see buttermilk and the thick butter getting separated. You will see lumps of butter floating in the buttermilk.
4. The butter will also be stuck on the whipping blades, so ensure to scrape the whipping blades with a spatula and add the butter solids back to the bowl.
5. Now add ½ cup of cold icy water all over the butter in the bowl. This will solidify the butter and firm it up.Note that adding water will dilute the buttermilk. If you do not want your buttermilk to be diluted with some water, then add cold water after collecting the white butter in a cheese cloth or muslin.

Making Homemade Butter

1. Line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth or muslin and place it on top of a bowl. Pour the buttermilk and butter from the bowl into the cheesecloth. Scrape the butter at the sides of the bowl with a spatula and transfer it onto the cheesecloth.
2. Collect the edges and form a bundle, gently pressing off the extra whey or buttermilk from the butter. Open the cheesecloth and you will see a nice lump of soft homemade white butter.
3. After you have collected the butter, you will see buttermilk collected in the bottom of the bowl. Use buttermilk as needed in any recipes.
4. Now place the cheesecloth with the butter on the mesh strainer. Keep the mesh strainer on top of the same bowl in which you whipped the cream. We will be rinsing the butter with ice cold water so that more of the buttermilk is extracted from it.
5. Gently pour ½ cup cold water all over the butter. This will help chill the butter, helping it to solidify. Press the butter with a wooden spoon or spatula so that more of the buttermilk is removed from it.
6. Repeat – pour ½ cup cold water all over, press the butter to extract the buttermilk. Discard the water.
7. Pour ½ cup cold water over the butter for a third time and press again to remove any extra buttermilk. While rinsing, you will see that the milky white color of the water will become more faint.
8. You could also strain the butter from the buttermilk through a superfine strainer. Some people use their hands to rinse the butter and remove the buttermilk. I do not prefer to use my hands as I find it messy.
9. Bring the edges of the cheesecloth together and press gently to extract as much buttermilk from the butter as possible. The more the buttermilk that is removed, the longer will the shelf life of your homemade butter.
10. Remove the butter from the cheesecloth and place it in an airtight container. With a spoon or spatula collect any white butter clinging on the cheesecloth and transfer to the container.
11. Feel free to line the container with parchment paper. I prefer to store the butter unsalted in the refrigerator.
12. At this point, as a variation, you could also add salt or ground pepper or your choice of dried herbs to the butter and mix very well.

Storing Butter

1. With a spatula, smooth the top and the edges making the butter even from all sides.
2. Cover with an airtight lid and let the butter set in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
3. Butter stays good in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. If you have drained the buttermilk very well, then the butter will keep for about a month. You can also freeze this homemade white butter.

Making Cultured Butter

1. To culture cream you can use homemade cream as I have explained above or use packaged cream to culture it.
2. To culture packaged cream, take 2 cups of heavy cream. The cream can be cold or at room temperature. Add ¼ cup of yogurt or curd to the cream and mix well.
3. Cover and let the cream set for 8 to 9 hours. You can also use the Instant Pot yogurt setting to make this sour cultured cream.
4. When the cream is perfectly cultured, it will be wobbly and thickened. Place the cultured cream in the fridge and let it cool completely before churning.
5. Then follow the steps as mentioned above to whip the cultured cream until the cultured butter gets separated. You can choose to whip the cultured cream in a blender, stand-mixer or with a hand-held electric blender.
6. Collect the cultured butter in a muslin draining all the buttermilk. Rinse the butter in ice cold water and remove as much buttermilk from it as you can.
7. Transfer completed cultured butter to an air-tight box and refrigerate or freeze it. You can use this cultured butter to make cultured ghee.