Cook_s_Country_-_October_2019

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 • COOK’S COUNTRY 27

HOW TO MAKE

IN THE PAST, home cooks didn’t
have the luxury of buying their but-
ter in sticks at the supermarket; for
many, making butter was a tedious
and labor-intensive household chore.
Today, transforming cream into butter
can be as easy as it is satisfying: The
food processor removes the drudgery
of churning and leaves only the fun
parts of the process behind. In total,
it takes about 10 minutes, and your
butter will be as delicious and creamy
as any you’ve ever had. What’s more,
in that span of time you’ll learn loads
about the dairy products that we tend
to take for granted.
When you blitz the heavy cream
in the food processor, you’ll witness
a multistep metamorphosis: First
the cream puffs up into stiff whipped
cream, and then it tightens further
into a texture approaching whipped
cream cheese. Just when you think all
is lost, the cream starts to look grainy
at the center. Suddenly, the whole
thing deflates and breaks into a thou-
sand tiny lumps of butter splashing in
a white sea of buttermilk.
To separate out the buttermilk,
you pour everything into a fine-mesh
strainer (catching the buttermilk in a
bowl below) and then press the little
bits of butter together into one solid
hunk. Kneading this mass of butter in
your hands over that bowl will extract
the rest of the buttermilk. (Have a
bowl of ice water ready to firm up the
butter if it starts to melt in your warm
hands.) Near the end of kneading,
you’ll work in some salt for flavor.
The buttermilk that you collect
while making this butter is nothing
like the cultured stuff you buy at the
market. It’s sweet—not sour—and it
tastes like a richer version of low-fat
milk. I finally understand the stories
my dad used to tell me about drink-
ing buttermilk as a kid on his family’s
farm. Now, I pour this buttermilk on
my breakfast cereal.
All that’s left to do is spread your
homemade salted butter—with its
fresh, milky flavor—in gobs all over
warm biscuits, wedges of cornbread,
and stacks of hot pancakes.

Salted

Butter

Transform heavy cream

into bread-ready butter

in four simple steps.

by Matthew Fairman

1. Process the cream in a food processor
   until it looks grainy and small lumps start
   to form.
   2. Transfer the butter solids and but-
   termilk to a fine-mesh strainer set over a
   bowl and let the buttermilk drain.


2. Knead the butter with your hands to ex-
   tract any excess liquid, dipping the butter
   periodically in a bowl of ice water to chill.
   4. Sprinkle the butter evenly with salt,
   then knead in the salt until it is thoroughly
   incorporated.

SALTED BUTTER

Serves 26 (Makes 12⁄3 cups)

In step 1, the cream will increase

in volume, thicken into a stiff

whipped cream, and then turn

grainy and decrease in volume

before it separates into butter solids

and buttermilk. This recipe will

work with both pasteurized and

ultra-pasteurized heavy cream. Pas-

teurized cream will turn to butter

more quickly than ultra-pasteurized

cream. The buttermilk from this

recipe is much more like low-fat

milk than cultured buttermilk,

which has a tangy, almost sour

flavor. You can use this milk as you

would any low-fat milk.

4 cups heavy cream, chilled

½ teaspoon table salt

1. Process cream in food proces-
   sor until mixture transforms from
   grainy whipped cream to lumps of
   butter solids surrounded by cloudy
   buttermilk, 2 to 6 minutes.


2. Fill large bowl halfway with
   ice and water. Transfer contents
   of processor to fine-mesh strainer
   set over medium bowl. Using
   rubber spatula, press and turn
   butter solids gently in strainer to
   extract as much liquid as possible,
   about 2 minutes.


3. Using your hands, press butter
   solids together into ball. Knead
   ball over strainer to squeeze out
   excess liquid, about 30 seconds.
   Transfer buttermilk collected in
   bowl to airtight container and
   reserve in refrigerator for another
   use. Wipe bowl clean with paper
   towels; set aside. Return butter
   to fine-mesh strainer and place
   strainer in ice bath (strainer
   will shield butter from ice) until
   butter has cooled and firmed up
   slightly, about 1 minute. Repeat
   process of kneading and dipping
   butter in ice bath until very little
   liquid can be squeezed out of
   butter, 2 to 3 times (knead butter
   over ice bath).


4. Transfer butter to now-empty
   medium bowl. Sprinkle salt
   evenly over butter, then knead
   butter until salt is thoroughly
   incorporated, about 30 seconds.


5. Transfer butter to butter dish
   or airtight container and refriger-
   ate until ready to use. (Butter can
   be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.)