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how to make homemade butter (crazy-cool simple science at home)

home / Best Of Teach Mama / how to make homemade butter (crazy-cool simple science at home)
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I have always been on the hunt for ways to make learning fun and natural for my kids.

Ways to make learning happen on the fly and in meaningful ways.

We’ll research a little about frogs and toads when we find one in our back yard. We’ll play around with leftoverย candy canesย at the end of the holiday season. We’ll run a red apple taste test to see which type of red apple is our favorite. ย We’ll get dirty in the backyard gardenย each summer.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

This week, though, we ran into a situation where we needed to get a little science happy because, well. . . we needed butter.

But we didn’t have any.

And we were having corn on the cob.

And everyone knows that corn on the cob–especially when it’s grilled–needs butter.

We had a pint of heavy cream in the fridge, so Cora and I got to work, shake-shake-shaking ourselves a little nutty in the name of homemade butter-making.

It was so fun. And so totally amazing. Really. I’d never done it before.

So yes, we made homemade butter, and it was crazy-cool and super-simple, and I think everyone should try it with their kids.

Thanks to our friendsย at Bayer for inviting me to share a little of our at-home science fun with everyone.

Here’s the skinny. . .

How to Make Homemade Butter (Crazy-Cool, Simple Science at Home)

Seriously, over the years, I’ve seen ‘how to make homemade butter’ all over the place. Each fall, I see the posts around Thanksgiving time, as a fun activity for kids while the turkey’s cooking.

I’ve thought, on multiple occasions,ย that I’ve wanted to try it with my kids, but the time was never right.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

Tonight, rather than ask my husband to pick up some butter at the store on his way home from work, I asked Cora to give me a hand.

Cora was totally game.

You mean we’re going to make butter here? Like right now? she asked.

Yep, I told her. Everything we need to make butter is right here on the counter. We’re going to use the heavy cream and shake it so much that it begins to separate. It’ll break into two parts: buttermilk and butter. You can drink the buttermilk, and then we need to kind of press out the rest of the butter, and that’s it. At least I think that’s it. I’ve never tried it, but I’m excited to give it a go because we need the butter for our corn!

Cora seemed a bit curious. Oh, okay. Well, let’s see if we can even do it, she said. I hope it works.

As part of our Smart Summer Challenge, I included ‘Make Homemade Butter’ as an extra weekend activity, so I had a printable recipe I grabbed for Cora and me.

You can grabย the printable below:

Here’s what you need to make homemade butter:

  • 1 pint of heavy cream
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • 24 oz Mason jar or something similar that you can seal tightly (or a blender)
  • ice water

Here’s how to make homemade butter:

1. Add the heavy cream to the mason jar.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

2. Add a pinch of sea salt.

3. Shake, shake, shake, SHAKE!

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

  • Shake until the heavy cream turns to whipped cream, and then keep on shaking.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

  • Next youโ€™ll see butter beginning to solidify. Keep shaking.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

  • As the butter hardens, pour off the liquid (or drink it!). This is buttermilk.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

4. Pour ice water over the solidified butter, and press a spatula over it to squeeze out the remaining buttermilk.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

5. Add salt and press through the butter.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

  • Pour ice water over the butter and continue to press out the buttermilk. You want to remove it all so that the butter doesn’t go sour after a few days due to the moisture inside.

6. Spread on bread or crackers and enjoy!

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

We absolutely loved our homemade butter.

It was creamy, smooth, and perfect.

It was an excellent addition to our grilled corn on the cob, and the kids even loved it on bread.

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

how to make homemade butter | teachmama.com

Was this an in-depth, totally boring science lesson at home? No way.

I didn’t even go into the details with Cora–or Maddy or Owen at dinner–about how it all happened. All the kids know is that heavy whipping cream is a pretty versatile kitchen staple. They know that occasionally I’ll whip it with some powdered sugar and vanilla to make sweet whipped cream for our ice-cream sundaes or other desserts.

They know that each morning I put a bit of heavy cream in my coffee.

They know that heavy cream thickens sauces and makes our pasta dishes more delicious.

And now they know that if it’s shaken, heavy cream will separate into buttermilk and butter. How cool is that?

Check out a quick video of our homemade butter making experience:

Do you subscribe to our YouTube channel? You SHOULD–for quick and easy learning at home ideas! Subscribe here.ย 
How does your family love learning in the kitchen? If you are a family of bakers, give my pal Audrey’s Cinnamon Bun recipe a tryโ€”it’s perfect with your homemade butter!

Please tell me: What do you do to make science fun at home? I’d love to know!

Leave a comment below!

__________________________________________

smart summer challenge teachmama.com

fyi: This post was written as part of a partnership with Bayer and Bayer’sย Making Science Make Senseยฎ (MSMS) initiative toย encourage summerย science fun. As always, all opinions are all my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are โ€œaffiliate links.โ€ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissionโ€™s 16 CFR, Part 255: โ€œGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.โ€ ย For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy.ย 

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gabrielle Tyler

    August 17, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    My kids will love making butter! thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  2. Julie @ Logger's Wife

    August 18, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    We did this years ago when I was around 8 or 10. I think we added a marble to the jar to speed up the process.

    Reply
  3. Teresa

    August 20, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    I made butter with my grandkids one day last winter when we were snowed in. It was so much fun and we were all surprised at how good it turned out to be. (We also added the marble.) thank you for sharing about your adventure with your science experiment!

    Reply
  4. Jess

    August 23, 2016 at 11:23 am

    Wow…what a neat idea! So pinned this! ๐Ÿ™‚

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

    Reply
  5. Katy SkipTheBag

    August 24, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    Awesome! How long did it take you to make by shaking it? I remember making it once using a stand mixer and that took 15-20 minutes. I canโ€™t imaging shaking something for that long!! Your posts would be perfect for the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop! http://skipthebag.blogspot.com/2016/08/waste-less-wednesday-blog-hop-2.html

    Reply
  6. CJ Huang @ Morsels of Life

    August 29, 2016 at 10:05 am

    jUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW YOUR POST IS FEATURED ON iNSPIRE mE mONDAY. ๐Ÿ™‚ Congrats! This was always one of my favorite experiments in school. ๐Ÿ™‚ (Not sure why, but I don’t seem to be able to use capital letters in this comment.)

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      August 29, 2016 at 2:18 pm

      thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, my friend!! you made my day!!

      Reply
  7. Roshni

    January 9, 2017 at 8:35 am

    I wanted to know if the cream you used is the same cream that can be collected after boiling milk. A heavy layer that settles on top after it boils and cools down.

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      January 10, 2017 at 7:30 am

      oh man. . . Roshni–I have no idea. I’m sorry!

      Reply
  8. Ele

    March 19, 2018 at 3:37 am

    Thanks Amy mascott. I had almost lost hope that I can make butter at home on my own as i failed every time. But this time following your tips to make butter, I was not only successful but found butter very delicious too. Thanks a ton!!

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      March 19, 2018 at 4:34 pm

      yay!! you’re welcome!!! so happy it worked for ou!!!

      Reply
  9. Elena

    June 11, 2018 at 12:01 am

    Just tried for fiirst time and uts success. My husband will be happy as he likes butter very much and its all bcoz of you admin. Thanks for the tips without which home made butter was not possible for me.

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      June 11, 2018 at 7:26 pm

      yay!! so glad it was a success–it’s pretty easy, right?

      Reply

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