This weekend we purchased a KitchenAid Professional 5 mixer. I have wanted one of these mixers for years, but they're expensive and I didn’t want to spend the money. As it turns out, we purchased this used on Craigslist for $130 (which excites me enough to add it to this post.) It was originally listed for $200 (and retails for over $400,) and I'm very proud to have negotiated (with some assistance) to the final price.

After we got the mixer and brought it home, we felt like we needed to immediately start using it due to the excitement. However, we needed to do some shopping and didn't have a lot of time right then. I remembered that we had some heavy cream in the refrigerator that Andru purchased for our coffee. We normally follow a Paleo diet and this cream, from grass fed cows, is an acceptable part of the program. That said, this month I'm following the Whole30 program, and that doesn't allow any dairy except butter from grass fed cows. I knew butter that butter is made by churning cream, but I thought for sure there was more to it than that.

I searched online and found some guidance, and it looked simple. All you need is cream, and a mixer! I poured the cream into the mixing bowl and gradually turned the mixer up to high. The heavy cream started to turn into what looked like whipped cream. The instructions I followed said to just keep on mixing, so I did (although the idea of getting into that whipped cream was tempting to stop!) After just another minute of mixing, the color of the cream become yellow, and there was liquid in the bowl again with much more solid chunks of butter. I made butter!

There was still one last step. You have to drain out the liquid, and pack the butter tightly together. Then rinse it under cold running water until the water is clear. This final step removes any last bit of the milk, which could make your butter spoil if left in. I didn't use a cheesecloth or any fancy Sur La Table gadgets to pack the butter together--I just took it in my hands and pressed it together and ran it under water.

Once this was done, I put it in a covered container and placed it in the refrigerator. It should last just as long as the butter you'd normally purchase at the grocery store. I've used our butter a few times already, and I feel pretty proud of myself. I think we are going to now make some flavored and seasoned butters and see how those turn out.

Have you ever made butter at home?