Step-by-Step Guide to Making Homemade Butter from Milk or Cream

Making butter from raw, unpasteurized milk or fresh cream is a fun way to create your own dairy product—and it’s not as hard as it may seem! In this article, we’ll teach you all the steps to make your own butter, from preparing the milk and cream, to creating the butter and storing it. With these steps, you’ll have yummy, homemade butter in no time.

Making Your Own Butter

Skim cream from raw milk or let fresh cream stand until it reaches 50-60°F (10-15°C). Pour the cream into a jar and shake it until butter forms, then pour the butter into butter muslin to separate out the liquid. Wash the butter in ice water until the water runs clear. Knead the butter until there is no more liquid.

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 4:

Skimming Cream from Raw Milk

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1
Refrigerate the raw milk for at least 24 hours. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized.^{[1]
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services

Go to source} Put you raw milk in a wide-mouthed jar with a lid, and let it chill in the refrigerator for 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 so you can easily separate it.
- 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.
- If you're making butter from heavy cream instead of raw milk, skip these steps and move on to the next part.
2
Use a ladle to skim the cream from the top of the milk. Once the cream has risen to the top, remove the raw milk from the refrigerator. Slowly dip a sterilized ladle into the cream and spoon it into a glass measuring cup. Continue to skim until there is no more cream at the top of the jar.^{[2]
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- To sterilize the ladle, place it in boiling water for 10 minutes or run it through the dishwasher.
- If you get raw milk in the winter, it 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.
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3
Stir in the buttermilk if you want to culture the butter. For slightly tangy, cultured butter, stir ½ tablespoon (7 ml) of buttermilk into every 1 cup (240 ml) of cream you skimmed. If you want classic butter, skip this step and leave out the buttermilk.^{[3]
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- 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.
4
Transfer the cream to a sterilized jar. Sterilize an empty quart (0.9 liter) jar and lid by submerging them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Then, slowly pour the cream into the sterilized jar and screw the lid on top.^{[4]
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Publicly-funded center dedicated to educating consumers about research-backed safety practices for preserving food

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- If you prefer, run the jar and lid through the dishwasher to sterilize them.
- 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.
5
Ripen the cream in warm water 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.
6
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. It should be between 50 and 60 degrees F (10 and 15 degrees C). Save the bowl of ice water for later.^{[6]
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- Chilling the cream will make it easier to shake or churn into butter.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Preparing Heavy Cream (Alternate Method)

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Pour fresh, heavy cream into a chilled bowl. If you don’t have raw milk, heavy or whipping cream can be used to make butter. Heavy whipping cream has the highest fat percentage, so it’s the easiest to turn into butter. Chill a large bowl in the refrigerator, as this will prevent the butter from melting later on if you choose to whip the cream into butter with a mixer. Then, pour the cream into the bowl.^{[7]
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- If you plan on shaking the butter in a jar, the bowl doesn’t have to be chilled.
- Don’t fill the bowl to the brim, as the cream will expand before turning into butter.
- For best results, use raw cream, which can be bought from a local dairy. If raw cream is not available, vat-pasteurized cream is the next best option, followed by ordinary pasteurized cream. Ultra-pasteurized (UHT) cream will also work, though the flavor likely won’t be as good.
- Avoid cream with added sugar.
- The cream’s fat percentage tells you how much cream will turn into butter. 35% or higher is recommended.
- If you’re using the cream from raw milk, skip these steps and move on to the next part.
2
Add cultures for a stronger flavor (optional). If you want a more complex, tangy flavor than regular sweet cream butter, add cultures to help ferment the butter. Try adding either buttermilk or plain yogurt with added cultures, using one tablespoon (15 ml) for each cup (240 ml) of cream. Alternatively, add packets of culture, like C21 Buttermilk Culture, following the instructions on the packet.^{[8]
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- If you’re using raw cream, skip this step, as it ferments on its own.
- The acid in the culture speeds up the breakdown of fat and liquid, which shortens the churning time.
3
Let cultured cream stand at room temperature for up to 72 hours. In many cases, the cream will only need to stand for about 12 to 24 hours. Check on the cream every few hours to see its progress. When it is properly cultured, it will be slightly thick, foamy, and smell sour.^{[9]
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- If you didn’t use culture additives, just leave the cream out until it reaches 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit (10-16 degrees Celsius). This makes it easier to churn while still being cold enough to make the butter firm.
- If you’re going to shake the cream into butter by hand, transfer the cream to a jar with a lid. If you’re going to whip it with a mixer, leave it in the bowl, or transfer to another chilled bowl if you left the cream out for several hours.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Shaking and Straining the Butter

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1
Shake the jar for 5 to 12 minutes. Once the cream has properly chilled, keep the lid on the jar and vigorously shake the cream until it begins to feel heavy. The butter should start to clump on the sides of the jar as it separates from the buttermilk.^{[10]
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- If you don’t want to shake the butter, 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
Pour the butter and buttermilk into butter muslin. Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and lay a piece of butter muslin in the strainer. Open the jar and slowly pour the liquid and solid butter into the strainer. The buttermilk will pass through into the bowl and the butter will be collected in the muslin.^{[11]
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- 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.
- Use the buttermilk that you pour off for making ricotta cheese or baked goods like cakes, cookies, and pancakes.
3
Keep the butter in the muslin and wash it in ice water. Gather the ends of the muslin together so that the butter stays in the center. Continue holding 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.^{[12]
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- The water will become cloudy as the milk solids are washed off of the butter.
Once the water becomes cloudy, dump it out and replace it with fresh ice water. Continue to wash the butter until the water becomes cloudy, then replace the water. Repeat the process until the water remains clear. This means you’ve washed off all the milk solids that would cause the butter to become rancid.^{[13]
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Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Kneading and Storing the Butter

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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.^{[14]
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As you knead the butter, a bit of liquid will pool in the bottom of the bowl. Tilt the liquid out of the bowl and discard it. Continue to knead until there is no more liquid in the bottom of the bowl.^{[15]
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3
Add flavorings to the butter (optional). If you’d like to make salted butter or add a unique flavor, knead in ½ teaspoon (2 g) of salt, herbs, or seasonings. Then, taste the butter and add more seasonings as needed. Try mixing in one or more of these seasonings:^{[16]
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- Chives
- Orange, lemon, or lime zest
- Rosemary or thyme
- Garlic or ginger
- Parsley
- Honey
Scoop the butter into a small storage container with a lid. Store the butter in the refrigerator and use it within 3 weeks. If you didn’t get all of the milk solids out of the butter, it may last closer to only 1 week. Or, freeze the butter for 6 to 9 months.^{[17]
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Community Q&A

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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.

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How do I make butter from milk powder?

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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.

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Is butter from raw milk healthier than normal butter?

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

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Tips

Raw butter contains immune-boosting vitamins like vitamins A, E, and K. It also contains healthy saturated fats and antioxidants and can improve cholesterol.^{[18]
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If you'd rather use a food processor to mix the butter, pour the cream into the machine and run it on medium-low speed until the butter and buttermilk separate.

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Warnings

Drinking raw milk has its health risks. Because it is unpasteurized, it may contain harmful germs, bacteria, and even parasites that cause diseases. Refrigerate milk and all dairy products and never leave them out for more than 2 hours. To minimize risk of disease, opt to drink pasteurized milk instead.^{[19]
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services

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