Butter 101.

I sometimes hear talk of how expensive pure, raw butter, milk and cream are, so perhaps this might give some insight as to what really goes into making raw butter. I don’t think it is necessary to go into reasons why raw butter is such a superior food, and has no real comparison to processed butter from factory dairies.

Today I took three gallons of raw milk and skimmed off the cream, resulting in one-half gallon of cream. Raw dairies such as Parker Pastures would have the added expense of an amazing dairy barn set up, purchase and feeding of many cows, employees, equipment… and would spend lots of labor separating their cream using an expensive cream separator. I took the cream and using my whisk attachment on my mixer, I whipped the cream for ten minutes, and then when it was whipped it took two minutes longer to separate into butter and buttermilk. Straining off over one quart of rich buttermilk, I then wash all the buttermilk out of the butter and form it into two eight oz. balls plus 4 oz. to fill my French butter keeper. For me, start to finish was about an hour.

For Parker Pastures a day of butter making for all the butter shareholders is truly that, a day. Milking, separating, renting a commercial kitchen, loading the truck with everything to make butter, including all of the returned empty mason jars which are washed at the commercial kitchen. It takes two people over five hours to make butter and wash all the jars. Purchase of butter making equipment, sea salt, foil, wax paper… also are included in expenses, not to mention the love and care going into each beautiful ball of butter. Butter will sometimes be more dense than other times, depending on cream, time of year… which will make the ball look smaller, but the weight is the same. Actually Parker Pastures puts 8.5 oz. in each ball. So we are indeed blessed in this valley, and for those who live elsewhere and have your own supply of liquid gold, you are blessed as well. Enjoy every golden bite and thank your farmer when you get a chance. More detailed butter making instructions here on colostrum butter.

(Taken from our Facebook discussion group GrassFood- Discussions on the Grassfed Life, which you are most welcome to join.)