How to Make Butter
Making butter is a fairly straightforward process. You will need 1 to 1 ½ quarts of cream and 1 teaspoon salt. The cream should be at least 24 hours old in order to churn well. Let it stand at room temperature for four to six hours to ripen. This will make the cream thicken, and it will slightly sour, which will give the butter a great taste. Then, cool the cream in the refrigerator before you begin to churn it.
Place the cream into a large electric-mixer bowl. Beat the cream at high speed until butter flecks appear in the mixing bowl. Then reduce the speed to low and beat until the butter starts to separate from the milk. You will want to watch and scrape the bowl sides down with a spatula to push the cream off the sides.
Pour off the buttermilk and replace the amount removed with cold water. Continue to run the mixer at slow speed. As butter continues to churn, pour off the water and replace with an equal amount of cold water. Add the salt with this water. When it appears that the butter has formed into a ball in the mixer beaters, stop the mixer. Scrape the butter off the beaters and use the spatula to press the butter against the bowl’s side to remove all the water. Place the butter into a container with a tight-fitting lid and store in refrigerator. After a few hours of work, you will have butter. One quart of cream will yield approximately one pound of butter.
How to Make Cheese
Cheese can be made from milk from goats, cows, and even sheep. Most dairy goats and dairy cows give more milk than can be used for drinking or cooking purposes. Making this excess into cheese is a fairly easy process, and most everyday kitchens will have the equipment necessary to make cheese. The main ingredients of cheese are fresh milk, a starter culture or acid, and rennet.
Simply put, making cheese involves removing the water from milk and congealing the solids left behind into a curd. This is done by one of two means: adding an acid directly to the milk or using bacteria to create the acid. The bacterial method is the preferred method, as it adds flavor to the finished cheese. Soft cheeses are cheeses in which less water is removed. Hard cheeses have more water removed and are generally aged longer than a soft cheese.
You will first want to pasteurize your milk if you are using it directly from the animal. This can be done by placing the milk in a double boiler and heating the milk to 161°F to kill any bacteria present in the milk. You will need to stir and carefully monitor the milk so it does not scorch. After the milk reaches the desired temperature, remove the top pan and place it in an ice water bath to cool the milk. A starter, or bacteria culture, is added next to the cooled milk. Many different types of starters are available depending upon the type of cheese you wish to make. These are readily available online or through specialty supply stores. The bacteria in the starter consume the milk sugar (lactose) and produce lactic acid. This acid then turns the milk solids into a curd. Rennet is then added — this enzyme comes from an animal or vegetable source and makes the curd coagulate.
After the rennet is added, the curd is allowed to sit for a few hours to gel. Then the curd is “cut” with a blade to allow the whey to rise to the top. The whey is then poured off, and the curd is mixed and heated, bringing more whey out of the curd. This extra whey is again poured off, and the curd is salted and placed in a cheesecloth or press. The cheese is then allowed to hang overnight (if in cheesecloth) or remain in the press to remove any remaining whey.
Most cheese starters will come with their own recipe. Follow the instructions that come with the starter for the best results. Depending on the type of cheese you are making, the cheese will be ready to eat from two days to months after making.