anyone made their own butter?

I make it every so often.  I think it tastes nicer than store-bought. 

Yumm - Pumpkin Butter.   

I love that you remember that, because it gives me hope that some of the kids I taught might remember those moments too!

I think they absolutely will.  Like Britwife, I remember making butter in nursery school.  Peanut butter, too.

Isn't it amazing what we remember?

I made butter a couple of times, years ago when me and the ex were running our own small dairy farm, milking Jersey cows! 

Where did you have your farm? That sounds really cool. How did you get into it?

I found it in Sainsburys, by accident.
I was just looking for the normal Maldon salt, and right next to it was the 'smoke flavoured' one.   Same box, just with brown instead of green writing.  It is *reallly* nice... i put it on the burgers i pan-fried tonight and you could taste the smoke flavour slightly.

Weird! I was just in Sainsburys on Thursday night, needed salt, reached for the Maldon, and saw the smoke flavoured for the first time. I didn't get it, but I like the idea of it. Only problem is I'm trying to cut dh's salt intake a bit and I'm afraid something like that would NOT help!

I made butter on accident once, when I was trying to whip cream. I just whipped it a little too long and voila! My mom wasn't too pleased as it was for the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie

I've done this a couple of times. 

I've done this a couple of times. 

Me too! Put some cream in a stand mixer and get distracted - voila! Butter! Whether you want it or not. LOL.

I remember doing this as a kid... You know, for those with kids, its actually pretty fun to do it with a coffee can (can you get coffee cans here in the UK???)- and they can roll it back and forth between each other- putting in marbles, closepins etc- acts like a dasher, which helps in the mixing process.
  We made ice cream this way too-  Taking a smaller can, putting in the custard, or cream, sugar, etc- sealing it- then putting in a coffee can with ice and rock salt and rolling it back and forth...


I may try again to make my own butter- but since it seems that you can do it with a mixer- I may try it with the kitchen aid stand mixer and see if it works. 

mmm may try this sometime with the mixer and some garlic

We do butter making with the kids who come to visit my museum's working farm. We use double cream and water (equal parts) in a mason jar and then shake until our eyes almost fall out. It definitely tastes much different than store-bought butter, even the organic stuff.  You also make butter milk in the process and we usually whip up some quick little cakes with that as well.

Where did you have your farm? That sounds really cool. How did you get into it?

We (my ex and I) had an 80 acre farm in west central Wisconsin.  We got into it because I went along with his dream to be a farmer!  lol.  Let me say that we worked our behinds off for six years, both of us holding full-time off farm jobs as well, created two children at the same time and then gave it up after a couple of years of drought because we didn't want to get any deeper into debt - we were too small to compete.  It may sound strange to some, but the Jersey cows were very sweet natured and gentle (most of the time!), and I hope, while I'm living in the UK, to take a visit to Jersey to meet some of the cows! 

It gave us a great opportunity to make home made butter, ice cream, bale and stack our own hay, muck out the stalls in the dead of winter...!  And to raise two great kids, as we stayed on the farm until we divorced and they were nearly young adults.  Well, that's much more than you asked, isn't it!   

I'm happy to find this thread.. shops around my house in Japan have no butter, and are not sure when they can expect any.  Something to do with declining demand for milk leading to farmers killing off their producing cows, I've heard.  There is a bit of cream available, though! 

Can't wait to try this one!