# butter



## omgoats

Hi, I have a stupid question I am new at this butter , cheese ,and well the whole goat thing .But anyway I have looked and read , and know that I have over looked , but was wondering on cream for milk do you let it get room temp before you mix it or stay cold? I tried the other day and it just looked like milk by the time it was done! I was told even I could not mess up on making butter . lol I showd them. :crazy anyway Thank You Jennifer


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## Madfarmer

Cold, or before it gets to room temp, anyway, has always worked for me with cow cream. I've only done goat cream a time or two. The idea is to have the butter be firm enough to work when you're done--rinse & get all the whey out of it, & that works better cold. Are you sure you had good, heavy cream? Did you give up too soon? It should progress from liquid to whipped cream & as you continue little bits of solid will form & there's your butter. When you have all you can get, you drain off the whey, & rinse & gather it all together. Keep rinsing & working it with cold water till the water is perfectly clear & you're done. dance:

Tom


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## omgoats

Thanks, I dont know if I give up to soon or not it blended for almost 20 min.When I dumped it in the cloth their was no clumps or anything in the towl. I was told that what you dump is buttermilk ? Can you use that to make cheese? Thank you for your help Jennifer


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## homeacremom

IMO, You get much nicer butter and a higher yield by working with room temperature cream. Even with room temp cream, you can strain the buttermilk off of the butter lumps simply by pouring through your fingers. Adding cold water as you begin to rinse firms up the butter to a nice consistency to wash and mold.
20 min. should have been enough to get at least flecks of butter. Usually I have butter in 15 or less. I don't have a real churn- still just shaking it in a qt. or two quart jar with a few marbles. I would think a blender would be faster. I'll admit to believing my grandma's advice that the rhythm you use to churn makes more of a difference than how fast you go. 
How did you collect your cream? It is very hard to skim what little cream rises naturally on goat milk. You may have had a very light cream/rich milk to start with.
Buttermilk as the byproduct of butter making is very different than cultured whole milk buttermilk like you get at the store when you buy buttermilk. You can use the "real buttermilk" from buttermaking in recipes calling for buttermilk, though you may have to adjust the amounts slightly. Real buttermilk is high in the lecithin that rubs off the cream molecules as you churn. That lecithin is what makes really rich tasting biscuits and may account for some of the healthful benefits of drinking buttermilk over plain milk. 
If you want to use buttermilk for a cheesemaking culture it has to be off cultured or sour cream butter full of the mesophilic bacteria.


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## Madfarmer

Assuming that your cream is rich enough, my guess is that the blender may be the biggest part of your problem. It doesn't let the fat particules clump together. You should see good, airy whipped cream a couple minutes before you start to see butter. A mixer would be better.

Tom


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## omgoats

I got it Yeah :biggrin dance:I did use my blender.On LOW speed this time. It worked in matters of min or two.There was very little to drain off of it .But I did the cold water to rinse .I was so excited lol I got the blender idea from my Aunt she has a jersey and thats how she made hers .But wasnt sure if it would work with goats.The 1st time I used a big spoon to get the cream off and set one day. This time two days and with a slotted spoon.That worked better for me.Thank you on the buttermilk question to.I did the butter thing now I am going to try soap or cheese. So excited. thank you again for all your help Jennifer


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## Madfarmer

I have the antique cream skimmer my mother used for years. It looks like half an over-sized clam shell with tiny drain holes. You might look at someplace like Lehman's & see if they still make 'em. Congrats on getting butter!

Tom


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## Sheryl

I have made butter with cows milk, but never with goats milk. I know you can see lots of cream rise to the top of cows, but on goats it isnt usually a lot. So how many gallons do you have to skim the cream off of before you have enough to make goat butter?

TIA

Sheryl


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## Madfarmer

I think it depends on the goat, and what you feed. All the goats I've ever had, (and that's not many) showed a definite cream line. The last one was an Ober, with very rich milk--roughly 1 1/2 cups per gallon. The poorest one was a reg. Alpine. It'd sure be nice if the small separators weren't so spendy!

Tom

Tom


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## omgoats

Sorry I have not got back to you on how long it takes to get the cream. I I agree with Tom on that


Madfarmer said:


> I think it depends on the goat, and what you feed. All the goats I've ever had, (and that's not many) showed a definite cream line. The last one was an Ober, with very rich milk--roughly 1 1/2 cups per gallon. The poorest one was a reg. Alpine. It'd sure be nice if the small separators weren't so spendy!
> 
> Tom
> 
> Tom


 It takes me about 5 to 6 days to get enouph for a pound of butter (about 8 gallon) give or take .Thanks for all your help. Jennifer


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## baileybunch

I was going to ask similar questions. I totally failed at butter (several times) last year! This year I have a Bosch mixer and will try that but I'm still saving up my cream.

I have a Novo Cream Separator and Alpine goats. Does anyone else have a Novo? I'm not sure I'm adjusting everything correctly. From two gallons of milk we got maybe 1 1/4 cups cream.  Is this average? What should I expect the amount of cream to be <from Alpine goats> per gallon? The milk didn't look "skimmy" enough...like it was "lowfat" and not skim.

I had trouble with my separator and the nice guy at Novo sent me a new part but I was afraid to adjust the little screw. I run the speed at the lowest.

How much cream do I nee to make a pound of butter?


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## Sondra

maybe this will help some Susie
http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,5609.0.html


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## omgoats

Hi Everyone Hope all had a good Easter. I have another silly question. How do you or can you make the butter spreadable? I have been using the jar and marbles . :blush2 My husband broke a butter nife getting it out of the bowl . :rofl no joke And it has been getting a strong taste to it . I rrinsed till the water came clean . Thanks for your help , love this sight


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## homeacremom

He broke a knife on room temp butter? You can make whipped butter that will come out of the fridge more spreadable or keep a small amount out. Old fashioned butter keepers (norpro is one brand) are supposed to help keep butter sweet longer at room temps...and keep it from melting in the summer. 
On flavor, try culturing sweet cream with a mesophilic culture. Salting also helps retain a sweet, mild flavor IMO.


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## Madfarmer

Look at www.givinggallery.com. They have a deal called a 'butter bell' that's supposed to keep it soft.

Tom


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## baileybunch

Sorry to keep ressurrecting this topic! Today I did great on my cream separation (Novo Cream Separator)! Key-using milk that is 100 degrees! From about two gallons of milk I got almost two cups of cream. I do have Alpines. 

From reading previous butter topics, I see that I'm not getting as much cream as I ought. 
Remaining questions: 
Someone said "8 gallons for a pound of butter"...this was 8 gallons of MILK, right?! 

I read another response that said "1 cup of cream will yield 1/2 cup of butter". Is that about average?

Using a mixer (Bosch) to make butter, will I use low speed? And the wisk beaters? 

After I make the butter I'll refrigerate, right? I read about "strong" flavor...don't want that! So, how long does raw butter keep in the refrigerator? Does anyone freeze butter for later? 

Sorry. Still trying to figure all this out! We use a lot of butter and my goal is to make our own raw butter instead of buying organic butter. 

Susie (who is SERIOUSLY thinking about a cow!) )


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## Madfarmer

Well, if you use a lot of butter, a good cow would probably be more effecient. Does your mixer have a paddle? That might work better than a whisk, although both should work. The average working career of a commercial dairy cow is three years. Which means they sell off 1/3 of their cows every year. If you can find a Jersey dairy close enough, you might get a deal on a cow with a lot of life left as a family milker.

Tom


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## homeacremom

Susie, I think the 8 gallons for one lb of butter was just top skimming cream, not using a separator.


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## baileybunch

Ohhh...I was concerned that it took 8 gallons of CREAM to make a pound of butter. Whew!

Thanks for the info Tom, we have been keeping our eye on the Jersey ads for some time but not quite ready to act. I do have the cookie paddles or bread paddles for my Bosch as well as the whisk/beaters. I just don't have the normal looking beaters like you see on a standard mixer. 

I might just try butter this week!

Susie (whose refrigerator cannot handle the amount of milk we get a day!)


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## KingsCoGoatGuy

Remember each line of does can have different butter fat contents. This is where milk testing comes in handy, Alpines arn't supposed to have high butter fat content they are to have high production.


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