# Mason jars full of milk - Butter?



## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

So I have been milking for less than a week now, and I have 8 half gallon mason jars filled to the brim in my refrigerator, and I have yet to see a cream line floating on top.. When I remove the lids, I can see the thick cream at the top, but I don't see a line in the mason jar. I need to be able to separate the cream so I can make butter but I am wondering why I don't see a line? Do i need to let it sit out?

I do happen to have a cream separator I bought from Russia last year, but I have no idea how to use it and the last thing I want to do is waste a half gallon of milk experimenting with it. Any suggestions?


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## apachedowns (Mar 14, 2010)

Not sure what type of goats you have but some goats have more fat settle than others...I have nigerians and I can clearly see the seperation. If you have a seperator (elec or manual ?) the electric pretty much does the job for you and you will get use to it quickly....you can also scoop off the top surface (a ladel) and put in a seperate container if you like to make your butter. I find the seperation easier if I freeze the milk and then put it in the fridge...it seems to seperate better and I scoop off the butter fat and make butter from that....


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

I thought about ladling off the top but i can't see a line so don't know when I will hit milk. These are alpine goats and it's a manual separator and there were no instructions :-/


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I normally try to avoid separating milk at all cost but then again I don't make butter. I suggest putting your milk in the freezer until it freezes solid for a few days then set it out at room temperature to thaw. I should completely separate since you have had it in the frig for a while.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I skim mine all the time... I use a fork to get the thickest part then once I see milk I stop. I put it in a separate container and freeze it til I've accumulated at least a pint then thaw it and use my stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make butter.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

We were able to find instructions for our 1938 Mongomery Ward separator. I believe my husband just googled, cream separator, instuctions, antique. Something like that, and he found a sight dedicated to restoring old cream separators and finding the manuals for them. You may be able to find something that way?
I love mine and actually have a surplus of cream in my freezer.
I have never had much luck trying to skim off the top.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

Well I did luck out this afternoon. I spent a few hours and found a video of some lady on youtube with the same separator I have, and she showed how to put it together. I had it all wrong and didn't have the nut to the centrifuge tight enough....

Long story short, I put a half gallon of milk through the separator at room temperature, and I ended up with enough cream to fill a small peanut butter jar, the glass kind called Teddy.

So then I found another video on Youtube of some lady making butter by shaking it in a jar for 15 minutes, so I did that with mine and it made butter!!! A whole huge glob of white butter, right in the middle!! I am so shocked right now. After emptying the buttermilk and rinsing with cold water, it ended up having a lighter consistency than regular butter even when cold, I think that either I didn't do it long enough, or something else was wrong. 

If anyone knows anything about making butter this way, I would really love to hear it!!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Don't throw away that buttermilk!!! I is great in pancakes or for other baking.
I churn my butter in a Whip-o-Matic. (Funny contraption from the 70's that I found at a thrift store.) My butter does come out pretty light and airy. I freeze it and then grate it and store it frozen. I do not use that much butter usually so it tends to turn *goaty* on me.
I am so happy you found out how to use your separator. I usually do two-three gallons at a time, fresh out of the goat.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

Me too! I bought some cows milk to make butter because I am not milking right now. I tried a couple of different techniques and in the end the dogs got the milk. I amused my husband if nothing else, but would love to say "I made homemade butter".


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

nubians2 said:


> I bought some cows milk to make butter


Did you buy homogonized milk from the store? Cuz if you did; it is impossible to get it to separate again. Trader Joe's sells whole, non-homoginized milk that can be used for cheese and butter and such.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

I did indeed save the buttermilk for pancakes tomorrow morning!! I am excited about the butter to say the least, but I think I will try and find a way to make it in my kitchenaid without having to shake a jar for 15 minutes. I was going to use the leftover milk after separation to make a parmesan but my cultures wont be in the mail until Thursday so I just fed the milk to my other goat kid, he really enjoyed it!


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## .:Linz:. (Aug 25, 2011)

Yum! Next time, try culturing your cream first, too - soooo good! We've made butter in our KitchenAid stand mixer, just make sure you put the splatter screen on if you have one and cover it all with a dishtowel since you need to start with the mixer on high speed and it splatters everywhere at first. But we actually prefer using a hand mixer. Oh, and it helps if you use a stainless steel bowl and put it in the fridge or freezer to chill it first, or set it in a larger bowl of ice water. Ours always turns out light and airy as well - almost like really solid whipped cream.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

.:Linz:. said:


> Yum! Next time, try culturing your cream first, too - soooo good! We've made butter in our KitchenAid stand mixer, just make sure you put the splatter screen on if you have one and cover it all with a dishtowel since you need to start with the mixer on high speed and it splatters everywhere at first. But we actually prefer using a hand mixer. Oh, and it helps if you use a stainless steel bowl and put it in the fridge or freezer to chill it first, or set it in a larger bowl of ice water. Ours always turns out light and airy as well - almost like really solid whipped cream.


You mean put the butter in the fridge before using it? That's what I did. It's chilling now. Excited to try it! I salted it also.... Does it taste like cows butter or better?


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

I like it better. I really like it melted on steamed vegetables. Of course, my only comparison is store bought butter. I do not have access to fresh, raw cow's milk. I am sure that butter would be very yummy.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

I want to try it on toast, but I'm soooo nervous, lol. I don't know why. I can drink the milk whole, but I'm nervous to try the butter!!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Let us know how it turns out. Smear some on those pancakes tomorrow too.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Goats milk butter is by far better tasting than storebought....because it's FRESH, oh...and after it's chilled, you'll notice little pockets of milky water as you slice through it, I still haven't gfigured out how to express all the water/milk from it when I make it, still tastes good though.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

YEs!! I noticed that milky water and was trying to Think of ways to get rid of it.... Perhaps squeezing it in cheesecloth?


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## .:Linz:. (Aug 25, 2011)

LegendsCreekFarm said:


> .:Linz:. said:
> 
> 
> > Yum! Next time, try culturing your cream first, too - soooo good! We've made butter in our KitchenAid stand mixer, just make sure you put the splatter screen on if you have one and cover it all with a dishtowel since you need to start with the mixer on high speed and it splatters everywhere at first. But we actually prefer using a hand mixer. Oh, and it helps if you use a stainless steel bowl and put it in the fridge or freezer to chill it first, or set it in a larger bowl of ice water. Ours always turns out light and airy as well - almost like really solid whipped cream.
> ...


Are you asking about the culturing or the chilling?

To culture the cream, there's a good list of options on how to do that here. Though our cream is raw, we added some Buttermilk/Sour Cream culture. We only had a chance to make the cultured butter once, and it didn't make that much, but boy was it good! A great thing about culturing the cream for butter is that the resulting buttermilk is also cultured and you can use that to culture your next batch for butter, or don't whip it and you'll have wonderful creme fraiche.

The chilling, I meant to chill the mixer bowl (if using a stand mixer) or a stainless steel mixing bowl (hand mixer) before churning the butter, much as you would when making whipped cream.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

The answer about whether I used store bought cow's milk is no. I have a neighbor down the road that has a Grade A Dairy with cows milk. I have never tried fresh cows milk and so we bought some and I figured I would make butter. We weren't crazy about the milk flavor and the butter didn't work for me. So I will wait til I have goats milk again and try then.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

You can use a fine muslin cloth for butter from what I have read.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

nubians2 said:


> I have a neighbor down the road that has a Grade A Dairy with cows milk.


Wow! That is what I want. I love my goat's milk but I prefer cheese made from fresh raw cow's milk. And I cannot find any. I have to resort to smuggling a couple of gallons down from Washington when I visit my daughter.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Butter muslin is the material that muslin dish towels are made from. It's a finer weave than cheese cloth, works pretty good for draining and squeezing the water out. You can get it by the yard at fabric stores.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

Wow!! Butter muslin! Ok, I will try and buy some! I should also say that the pancakes with goat butter were AMAZING this morning!! lol.

We are in the process of starting a grade A dairy, but Rhode Island is crazy with the laws. It's going to cost us $30k, so we are a year or two away from being able to do it!!  Time will see what comes our away!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Hey! I had pancakes with goat butter this morning too. Along with a fried egg fresh out of the chicken. I love this country life!!!
Good luck with your dairy venture. My husband and I are too old to ever see a profit if we tried to do it legal in CA.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

Thanks luvmyherd!! That is great about the eggs, I pick out about 6 of them a day myslef


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