There is not much to say about lard or butter, because surely you already know it. Perhaps you like to simply spread it on bread, perhaps you use it for some dessert preparations or sauces, or perhaps you prefer not to consume it because you want to watch your fat intake, but you may still choose it from time to time to butter a oven plate or mold to make a cake.
Although it is advisable to moderate its consumption due to the fat content, you can prepare it at home. Doing it is easier than you think, it can be cheaper and, depending on which cream you use, you can save some chemicals that are added in the industrialized manufacturing process.
You may also be interested in how to make ghee, also known as clarified butter, a food with many properties and benefits.
Ingredients
- Cream of milk (one pot) at room temperature
- Salt or sea salt (a pinch)
Utensils: electric or hand mixer, or a large jar with a lid; sieve and hot water.
1. For the cream to transform easily into butter, it must be at room temperature. If you have it in the refrigerator, leave it outside for a few hours.
2. Heavy cream turns into butter when vigorously churned or shaken; in this way the fat is “cut” and separated from the whey. To do so, place the cream in the blender and beat hard, fearlessly, for a long time. First you will notice that the cream thickens, as if you were preparing whipped cream. Then it will thicken more, until in a moment you will notice that its consistency and color change.
Note: if you don’t have a mixer you can do all this by shaking the cream vigorously in a glass jar. It will cost you more, but the result will be the same.
3. When the cream is cut, it turns yellow, and the whey begins to separate. Keep beating. When you think all the whey has separated, discard it in another container. It can be used to prepare cottage cheese or other dairy products.
4. Add salt to your butter. You can skip it, or add herbs or seasonings too, like basil, rosemary, or paprika.
5. Now you need to “clean” your butter. Even though it looks like you’ve already separated the whey, it still contains some liquid. To remove it, you can place it in a sieve and run warm tap water over it. When it comes out clean, you will have removed all the serum.
The butter is ready to eat!