I meant to show y’all what the raw milk looks like when we get it. (Sorry for the bad picture!) This is a half-gallon jug, and most of the time there’s at least twice as much cream. But we ordered a bunch of milk, and got some of the lower fat stuff in addition to the higher-fat. The reason the pic is of the lower-fat? Because I made butter out of the other before I thought to get out my camera! 🙂

I do know that this time I got a quart of cream and a pint of half-and-half from 1.5 gallons of milk.

Anyway , this is what it looks like, and this is the half-size ladle we got to remove the cream. I’ve tried using a turkey baster-too slow, and it stirs up the milk, un-separating the cream. I’ve tried pouring off the cream, and, well, you can guess that wouldn’t work. This ladle works perfectly. I dip gently, letting the cream fill the bowl. Then I scoop off as much cream as I can get cleanly (with no milk mixed in), and set that aside for butter. After that I scoop off the rest with whatever milk comes along, and use that for half-and-half.

Tweaking the Butter

It’s not very scientific to change several variables at once, but I did. Last week, my butter didn’t last well on the counter in our French butter crock. So I wondered if…

  • I should have washed it better,
  • Salting it would have helped, and
  • Maybe it would last longer if it were cultured.

So, like the not-scientist that I am, I did all three. We shall see what happens.

Culturing the Butter

I am happy to report that the culturing worked nicely. I put the cream on top of the fridge with a tablespoon or so of Nancy’s yogurt. Next day it smelled delightful. I think I could have left it another 12 hours, really. But the butter was definitely more flavorful!

I’ll let you know how it lasts.


3 Comments on “Raw Milk and Butter Update”

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  1. Jena says:

    So how did it last? I’m dying to know because storing my raw butter in the fridge means I don’t use it, and I don’t use enough butter to keep it on the counter and use it up quickly, so I’m considering getting a butter bell, if it solves this problem. Thanks!

  2. Angela says:

    I’m finding that if it’s washed and salted, there’s really no problem. If I haven’t made sure it’s really washed well, then I might put it in the fridge overnight and take it out in the morning. Oh… And if it’s cultured, it hasn’t been a problem at all. I am happy to report that culturing has been a big success!

  3. Angela says:

    I answered that on my cell phone. Now that I’m at a real computer, I think I want to say more.

    First, I am really loving culturing by adding a little Nancy’s Yogurt and leaving the cream on top of the fridge for a day or so. Yummy! But “natural” culturing produces something that tastes like the smell of dirty socks… I’ll stick with the yogurt method.

    Second, about washing butter… if you don’t get all the milk out, it doesn’t last as long. But I’ve never actually got *all* the milk out. Other people must have different standards than I do, because I’ve *never* got to the point where there is absolutely no way to get more “cloudy” water out of it.

    On the bright side, I’ve taken to washing the butter by keeping in my naked hands and squishing, squishing, squishing. No more bowl and spatula, and that seems to work better. Still, though, I’m not sure perfection is possible. But the butter lasts better when I get really close.

    I’d love to hear about other people’s experience with this.

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