You probably know that I have a love for mason jars and all that they stand for. They stand for a time when bottles were made out of glass, when folks made their own preserves, when people would use them to display their gallstones. You know. A good time. A better time.
So whenever I have the chance I use the beauty of the mason jar to brighten up my day. If that involves throwing one at the fella's head for not making the bed ... so be it. That's the beauty of the mason jar. It's so very multipurpose.
Today I'm going to show you one of my all time favourite uses for the time honoured jar.
Watch this video to find out all about it ...
1. Get your whipping cream to room temperature by leaving it on the counter for a couple of hours. This helps move the process along so you won't have to shake it for as long a time period.
2. Pour enough whipping cream into a mason jar to fill it about halfway.
3. Shake the jar vigorously until the cream turns into whey and a lump of butter. (7 - 15 minutes)
4. Drain the whey from the jar.
5. Once you've created your butter, plunk it into a bowl and mash away at it with a spoon to remove any remaining whey and drain it off.
6. Continue to mash the butter and rinse it with cool water until all the whey is gone. It's fully rinsed when the water runs clear.
7. Add a pinch of salt and stir it in with a spoon. Not too much. Just a pinch, and then taste it.
8. Ta da! Creamy, fresh butter.
Way nicer to eat than a chewy set of gallstones.
hipmama
i use my food processor instead. it's so much easier.
Christina
Just saw this tip on making herb-lemon zest butter on Bon Apetite:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/10/herb-lemon-zest-butter
Making it for dinner this weekend, now I can go homemade all the whey! (Lame, coulsn't help it, sorry). Thanks Karen!
Shauna
Ok... the real issue was the board falling .... scared the sh!t right out of me... omg... I couldn't concentrate after that!! Thanks for keeping it real Karen!! Reminds me of making "real", yes sorry this isn't real, butter with my Grandma. ;) this blog fails to smell like manure or barn cats!! It's only real if you actually milk the cow yourself! lol that's to follow the chickens right?? btw... Happy thanksgiving CND Girl!!
Kristi @ 30 Pounds of Apples
What fun! I've always wanted to try making butter... how long will it keep in the fridge?
Karen
Kristi - As long as you wash all the whey out it'll last as long as regular butter in the fridge. :) ~ k
Kristi @ 30 Pounds of Apples
Awesome. Totally next project on my list.
Brenda j
well, I never.
Jennifer Lisa
Damn, girl. You made that look sooooooo easy. I know you must have some achin' muscles, right????
Seriously, who knew that would be so frickin' easy! Thanks!
Karen
Jennifer - It's actually pretty easy! 10 minutes or so. :) ~ karen!
Patsy Lortie
Sooo.... throw away the 'shaky-waky'.... now right??
Love the idea,and will definitely try it this coming weekend. Thank-you.
Denise Leavens
I can't believe that no one has yet mentioned KAREN'S GORGEOUS HAIR! Well, I am going to address this issue right now:
In the style of Billy Crystal's Fernando (parady of the late great Fernando Lamas), "Darling, you look mahvelous!"
Perfect hair style for shaking things up!
Karen
Aw, gosh. Thanks Denise! I actually just had it cut and bleached to within an inch of it's life (seriously) today by my friend Renee Beach at Body & Soul Spa in Streetsville Ontario!
Alissa
I had my Sunday school kids with little baby food jars. Then they got to put the butter on crackers and eat it.
Only problem was that after ~20 seconds of shaking they started whining, "I'm tired. Can you shake it for me?" Nope kids. If you want the snack, you gotta make it yourself.
Sydney
dannnggg definitely doing that! My roomates will be so happy! they were just complaining about their butter or lack there of the other day, this is AWESOME
LARPkitten
Tips from a girl who does this on a semi-regular basis:
1. You don't HAVE to wait for it to get to room temperature. It just takes less time to work if you do. If you want an arm workout, go straight from chilled.
2. Do not, and I cannot express this enough, DO NOT EVER use "ultra-pasteurized" whipping cream. It just won't solidify. Get the most raw, organic heavy whipping cream you can. Works much better.
3. Adding a marble to the mason jar helps whip things up a bit, if you're having issues shaking it hard enough. Just make sure to find the pesky thing after you strain off the whey.
4. Mix a handful of blackberries, a few spoonfuls of honey, and a little lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook until thickened. Cool, then mix in with the butter. Apply generously to Dave's Good Seed Bread. Heaven on earth, baby.
Amanda
My mother used to make us do this when we were little. For the exact reason you describe. Watching this video made me twitch slightly and crave turkey with dressing.
Amy in StL
I chuckled at the face/sound you made when the board came toppling over. Mainly because I thought I was the only one who did that in the face of impending doom. (Like dropping a sealed jar of jelly on the linoleum)
Nancy
My son taught me this when he was in grade school...haven't done it in a long time..thinking it would be fun to do for the holidays..would be yummy on the biscuits that we always make!!
Bee-Naz
They say you should learn one new thing a day and today, this is mine! :)
Although, I can't help but wonder if it would work as well with my mixer? I guess that's just the rubber arms from the gym last night talkin...
Thanks Karen!
Nan Tovar
I think I've figured out what the board was for....to highlight your loveliness, Karen! And those wicked arms :)
Karen
Lol! You're absolutely right! About the bounce board, not the loveliness. :)
Meredith
I love it! And the scarf. To add to my oddness, I'm not usually a fan of butter but hate cheese way more. Maybe I will like this. Question: is there any kitchen appliance you can use? Say a stand mixer? Also, you mentioned rinsing but i didnt see you rinse in the video. Do you just hold it in your hands or put it in a colander? I love making fresh bread so this would be an amazing accompaniment. Thanks! You always have wonderful ideas.
Karen
Meredith - You can use a Kitchenaid. However washing the machine is probably as much work as shaking the jar, lol. And guess what? We had our homemade butter with fresh baked bread last night! Dang good!
Sandy
I love this!! Fresh butter and arm exercises all in one!!
Paulina J!
I love this! I don;t have children around and I'm lazy so I stick the whipping cream in my handy dandy Kitchen Aid mixer. I love seeing it go trhough the differeny stages. I also like to make different kinds of butters since you can add whatever you heart desires at the end, cinnamon and sugar, garlic, cilantro, parsley...the combinations are endless.
Oh and I keep the liquid at the end (buttermilk) for pancakes or baking.
Karen
You're right! I meant to mention to save the buttermilk for your Thanksgiving mashed potatoes.
Britt
This is amazing! I had no idea it was that easy! Off to shake it... ;)
sherri
when I was a kid and we would go out for dinner with the fam- my sister and I would try and make butter with the creamers that would come with coffee. We would shake the creamers for the entire dinner- never did get lucky with butter, though.
This looks much easier.