How to Make Butter from Raw Milk

Co-authored by Jessica Gibson

Making butter from raw, unpasteurized milk is a fun way to create your own dairy product. Let the cream from raw milk float to the top and then spoon it into a jar. Decide if you'd like to culture the butter which will give it a slight tangy flavor. Ripen the cream for several hours before you shake it. Then strain the solid butter from the buttermilk. Wash your butter thoroughly before kneading and storing it.

Ingredients

¹⁄₂ gallon (1.9 l) raw milk
1/2 to 1 tablespoon (7 to 15 ml) buttermilk, if making cultured butter

Makes 1/2 cup (113 g) of butter

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Skimming and Ripening the Cream

1
Refrigerate the raw milk for at least 24 hours. Put the raw milk in a wide-mouthed jar with a lid. Let the milk chill in the refrigerator 1 to 2 days before you're ready to make the butter. This will give the cream time to rise to the top of the jar.^{[1]
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- You can find raw milk at your local health food store, grocery store, or farmer's market.
- While you can use a regular-mouth jar, it will be harder to skim the cream off of the top.
2
Sterilize an empty jar, lid, and ladle. When you're ready to skim the cream from the raw milk, submerge a clean quart (0.9 liter) jar, lid, and small ladle in a pot of of water. Bring the water to a boil and heat the equipment for 10 minutes. Then turn off the burner and remove the equipment.^{[2]
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- If you prefer, you can run the jar, lid, and ladle through the dishwasher to sterilize them.
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3
Use the ladle to skim the cream from the top of the milk. Remove the raw milk from the refrigerator. Slowly dip the sterilized ladle into the cream and spoon it into a glass measuring cup. Continue to skim until you don't see anymore cream at the top of the jar.^{[3]
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- Raw milk that you get in the winter will yield slightly less cream than raw milk you get in the summer. In general, you'll get between 1 and 2 cups (236 to 473 ml) of cream.
4
Stir in the buttermilk if you want to culture the butter. For slightly tangy, cultured butter, stir 1/2 tablespoon (7 ml) of buttermilk into every 1 cup (240 ml) of cream you skimmed.^{[4]
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- If you want classic butter, leave out the buttermilk.
- For example, if you skimmed 2 cups (470 ml) of cream from the top of the milk, stir in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of buttermilk.
5
Transfer the cream to the jar. Slowly pour the cream into the sterilized quart jar and screw the lid on top.
- It's fine if the jar is still warm from being sterilized. Pouring the cold cream into the warm jar will help take the chill off of the cream.
6
Leave it to ripen for 5 to 12 hours. Place the jar into an insulated cooler and pour in enough warm water to come halfway up the side of the jar. Leave the cream until it reaches 75 °F (24 °C).^{[5]
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- Use a thermometer to check the temperature or hold the jar to feel if the cream has warmed up.
- If you left out the buttermilk, the cream will need to ripen closer to 12 hours while cultured cream will take closer to 5 hours.
7
Chill the jar of cream in an ice bath for 5 to 10 minutes. Fill a bowl half full with ice water and set the jar of cream into it. Leave the jar in the ice bath until the cream feels cold to the touch. Save the bowl of ice water for later.^{[6]
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- The cream should be between 50 and 60 degrees F (10 and 15 degrees C).
- Chilling the cream will make it easier to shake or churn into butter.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Shaking and Straining the Butter

1
Shake the jar for 5 to 12 minutes. Keep the lid on the jar and vigorously shake the cream until it begins to feel heavy. You should see the butter starting to clump on the sides of the jar.^{[7]
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- You can also use a stand mixer. Pour the cream into the mixing bowl and use a whisk attachment to beat the cream on low speed. Increase the speed until the butter and buttermilk separate.
2
Lay butter muslin in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. When you're ready to pour off the buttermilk from the butter, place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Lay a piece of butter muslin in the fine mesh strainer.
- The butter muslin will catch even the smallest pieces of butter.
- If you can't find butter muslin, fold cheesecloth a few times so it's layered.
3
Pour the butter and buttermilk into the muslin. Open the jar and slowly pour the liquid and solid butter into the fine mesh strainer. The buttermilk will pass through into the bowl and the butter will be collected in the muslin.^{[8]
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- Use the buttermilk that you pour off for making ricotta cheese or baked goods such as cakes, cookies, and pancakes.
4
Keep the butter in the muslin and wash it in ice water. Gather the ends of the muslin together so the butter stays in the center of the muslin. Keep hold of the ends and lower the butter into the bowl of ice water that you used earlier. Swish the butter back and forth for about 30 seconds.
- The water will become cloudy as the milk solids are washed off of the butter.
5
Wash the butter in a new batch of ice water. Once the water becomes cloudy, dump it out and replace it with more ice water. Continue to wash the butter until the water becomes cloudy and replace the water.^{[9]
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- Keep washing the butter until the water remains clear. This will mean that you've washed off all of the milk solids that would make the butter become rancid.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Kneading and Storing the Butter

1
Knead the butter with a wooden spoon. Open the butter muslin and put the butter solids into a small bowl. Take a wooden spoon and spread the butter back and forth across the bottom and sides of the bowl to knead it.^{[10]
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2
Drain and knead the butter until there's no more liquid. As you knead the butter, you'll see a little liquid pool in the bottom of the bowl. Tilt this out of the bowl and discard it.
- Continue to knead until you don't see anymore liquid in the bottom of the bowl.
3
Add flavorings to the butter (optional). If you'd like to make salted butter or add a unique flavor, knead in 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) of salt, herbs, or seasonings. Then taste the butter and add more seasoning as needed. Try mixing in 1 of these seasonings:
- Chives
- Orange, lemon, or lime zest
- Rosemary or thyme
- Garlic or ginger
- Parsley
- Honey
4
Store the butter in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Scoop the butter into a small storage container with a lid. Keep the butter in the refrigerator and use it within 3 weeks.
- You can freeze the butter for 6 to 12 months.
- If you didn't get all of the milk solids out of the butter, it may last closer to only 1 week.

Community Q&A

Question

How much butter and buttermilk can I get from a liter of milk?

Community Answer

Depending on the fat content,you can get 60 to 80 grams of butter per liter of milk.
Question

How do I make butter from milk powder?

Community Answer

Unfortunately, you can't use milk powder to make butter using this technique, because this recipe requires the cream floating on the top of raw milk.
Question

Is butter from raw milk healthier than normal butter?

Community Answer

Yes, as long as it's from grass fed cows. It has the vitamins and everything we need in it.