Since we sold our herd of cows, life has changed quite a lot. We like to drink our own cow’s milk so much that we kept a bred heifer. She had her calf in November and we have been enjoying the milk she produces.
One of the things I have been doing is skimming the cream off of the milk. I save it a couple of days and when I have a several cups of cream I make butter. I put it in my blender and let it whip. It doesn’t take long before the cream turns to butter and buttermilk.
I drain the butter from the buttermilk by putting the butter in a sieve. (I save the buttermilk to make buttermilk bread or buttermilk pancakes.) I press the butter with a wooden paddle or a spoon. That squeezes out any possible pools of buttermilk trapped inside the lumps of butter. If the liquid is left in the butter, it can become quick to sour.
So after pressing the butter several times and pouring off the rivulets of buttermilk, I rinse it with cold water. I press or stir the butter again and rinse. I continue this until the drained water becomes clear.
The butter is now ready to be set aside for later use. I have used cereal bowls to shape the butter and decorated the top with the edge of a spoon. Into the refrigerator it goes, till meal time.
I got a surprise today! My husband came to me bearing gifts. It was a bag of wooden things he had made for me. I looked at it suspecting that it was a puzzle or something. I examined it and put the pieces together. I assembled a little box. It had a handle on the top piece. Out in his wood shop he spent time to make me a butter mold! 
The mold is collapsible and easy to clean.
I washed the new wood and let it dry. Next, I applied olive oil to the wood to waterproof it. Wow! Now I can prepare butter and press it into a shape that fits easily on my butter dish. I tried it today and it really works!
photo credit: Edsel L Supper Club January 2017 via photopin (license)
Photo credit: Bretta Grabau
Photo credit: Bretta Grabau
Do you sell this butter press? If so, how much?
Thank you,
Sarah Quinn
We have not thought of doing so. However, my husband quoted a price of $10-15 plus shipping cost.
Do you make butter often?
Hi! When I say butter I often think the title of your story. When I googled Butter, Butter, who’s got the butter the only thing that came up was your page. Do you know where that comes from? Anyway, I am enjoying your web-site. Thanks,
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
The phrase that I used for my title is a “spin-off” from a game I recall playing in school as a child. It was called, “Button, Button, whose got the button?” Does that ring a bell for you?
The game was a parlor game for a group of people. One person would leave the room. Another person would have a button. The missing person was let back into the room and he had to find the button.
It is possible that my recollection of the game is flawed or incomplete. But that is the memory that popped into my mind as I was choosing my title.
I am glad you are enjoying my website.