How to make Butter in a Blender

I’ve got a fun project for you today.  I’m going to tell you how to make butter in the blender.

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Why would you want to make butter in the blender when you can just buy it from the store?  Well, there’s a few reasons.

The first is that it’s a fun project to do, maybe even with the kids, and it’s one of those things that you can make from scratch that takes very little time.

The second is that food prices are constantly rising and have you seen the price of butter lately?  Heavy cream ain’t cheap either, but it’s at the point where it actually is a little cheaper than butter now.

Of course, you can make this recipe with your own cream from your own cow if you happen to be lucky enough to own one.  At our house we don’t.  We did own goats a few years ago but at this point we no longer do.  While some people have had success making butter from goat milk by collecting the small amount of cream from each batch for weeks on end, it isn’t as easy as making it from cream from cows.

I really wanted a cow at one point, but it’s very conflicting for our family because we also love the freedom of exploring new trails, forests, and lakes.

Having a cow is a HUGE commitment and it ties you down.  Even when we had the goats I remember having to rush home from the kids’ soccer games to milk them in time.  No chatting for us, it was “get out of there and milk the goats asap!”

But let’s not kid ourselves…the cream from a cow would be absolutely glorious.  All the things you could make.  I love food.  I love cream.  I love all things deliciousness.

The good news is, you can make butter in your blender without owning a cow.

You will want to buy heavy cream or whipping cream for this.  You need the cream to be AT least 35% fat.  Any less and it won’t turn out right.

If you are one of the lucky ones who lives in an area where you can buy raw milk you can also use the layer of cream from the top of that.

Making this in the blender takes a lot less time than churning it by hand, that’s for sure.  Of course, we love to romanticize churning our own butter by hand like they did back in pioneer days, but can we all be honest?

If people who lived during the pioneer times had the opportunity to speed up the process with a blender, don’t you think they’d do it?  Especially given their long list of chores they had to do each day.  I’m pretty sure they would have happily taken the blender to speed up the process.

I have a Vitamix blender (best purchase I ever made, even with the high price tag.  The 8 year warranty makes it worth it) so it takes only a couple minutes for my blender to turn it into butter but if you don’t have a high-speed blender it can take up to ten minutes for your blender to turn the cream into butter.

Before we get into how to make it, check out this NO KNEAD BREAD RECIPE.  You’ll need some warm homemade bread to slather this homemade butter all over it and this is the easiest bread you’ll ever make, so be sure to check it ou.

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER IN THE BLENDER

Pour some cream into the blender.  I recommend starting with half a 473 ml carton (so the smaller one).  If you put too much in the blender it can cause the cream to not turn into butter.

I like to use it straight from the fridge so it’s cold enough but other people have had better success with taking the cream out of the fridge 30 minutes before blending it.

I’m pretty sure mine works better straight from the fridge because with a high-speed blender you run the risk of heating up the cream too much and then it won’t turn into butter.  So if you have a high-speed blender I definitely recommend blending it straight from the fridge.

If your blender doesn’t have a lot of power taking it out of the fridge for 20-30 minutes could help speed up the process.

Start blending on medium speed.   Keep it on medium speed if it seems to be flowing well. 

If it seems to get stuck because it’s too thick increase the speed to high.  Be careful not to leave it on high too long or it could heat up the liquid.  Leave it on high for a minute or so and then drop it back down to medium.  Repeat if necessary.

If it still isn’t “flowing,” use a tamper or spatula to get it moving.    My blender came with a tamper as you can see in this picture:

You’ll know it’s done when the butter solids are separated from the liquid which is buttermilk.  The butter will be soft but solid.  You can see in the picture below that the butter is formed.  What you can’t see is the liquid around the butter.  It didn’t show up well in the picture but there IS liquid there that is separated from the butter.

Pour the buttermilk off and save it to use for something like pancakes. 🙂

At this point I like to add 1/8 tsp of salt, but that’s optional.  It’s easier to stir in it by hand here.

Now you want to pour your butter into either a mesh sieve or some cheesecloth. If you use cheesecloth instead of a sieve you may find it easier to squeeze out the water and form the butter into a ball if you so desire.  I used a sieve because I was out of cheesecloth.

Run the butter under cold water to wash the rest of the buttermilk away.  Buttermilk will give it a funny taste, and it will keep longer if you wash it off.  In the above picture it’s hard to see, but I’m using my sprayer to wash the butter.  My sprayer has pretty poor pressure which makes it perfect to wash the butter lightly.

I use a spatula to push some of the buttermilk out of the butter while washing it, but only very, very gently as I don’t want to push the butter through the sieve.  Use as cold water as you possibly can, or even toss some ice cubes around the butter.  This will help prevent the butter from falling through the sieve.

I didn’t have any ice cubes while I was doing it but I definitely recommend using ice cubes if you have them.

You’ll know you’ve rinsed it enough when the water runs clear instead of milky.

After you are done this step you can place the butter in a container of choice and either store it in the fridge or on the counter.  Of course, it will keep longer in the fridge, but if you need it softer, the counter is the place for it to be.

ADD SOME FLAVOR

You can also add some flavorings to your butter.  Garlic and herbs, cinnamon and maple syrup, lemon and chives are all good options.  You will want to add this in by hand at the end once it’s all made.

 

TROUBLESHOOTING

Why is my cream not turning into butter?

If your cream is still a liquid, it may have been overheated by the blender.  Put it back in the fridge and try again straight from the fridge when it’s cold enough.  You may have also put too much in the blender.  Start with about a cup of cream and that should help.

 

My cream turned into whipped cream but won’t turn in butter.

Your cream content may not be high enough.  If you are using cream from your own cow try skimming off the thinner cream and just using the thicker stuff.  You can also set your cream at room temperature (which seems to help when it’s not store bought.)

Sometimes even what the cow is eating, or certain times of the year can make it difficult for your cream to break into butter.  So it may be nothing you are doing and just the quality of the cream.

The other option is that you haven’t churned it long enough.  Of course, if you’ve been churning the butter for 45 minutes and nothing has happened, it’s not you – it’s the cream.

 

Why did my butter go rancid really, really fast?

You most likely did not pour off enough of the buttermilk.  Storing it in the fridge will also help extend it’s life.

 

Can I make butter in a stand mixer?

Yes you can!  It’s pretty much the same process, though I recommend covering your mixing bowl with a towel while making it to avoid a huge mess!

 

ONE MORE THING FOR THE HOMEMADE HOME

Making butter in a blender is super easy and doesn’t take too long.  It’s a perfect food to add to the homemade home because it doesn’t take hours to do and it’s so easy you can have the kids help you if you want.

And who doesn’t use butter?  Most people use butter every day whether it is to slather on some warm bread, or to use for baking or cooking.  Now that you know how to make butter in a blender you can whip this up in no time.