During the construction of developed socialism, in the year around 1983, the authorities explained to the people that butter is a product that is harmful to the body. Say, it contains a lot of fats, cholesterol and other things. Is it just because of concern for the health of workers that butter disappeared from the shelves, or was it the collapse of the country's economy - is not for us to judge. But as the proverb says, "the need for inventions is cunning." The builders of socialism began to make butter from milk. And they used ... a washing machine.
Now other times have come, and the product can be bought at any store. But is this butter? Experts say that about 64% of the brands presented are counterfeit. Sometimes under the name "Butter" spread (or even margarine) is sold. It also happens that the product does not contain milk fat at all. In this article, we will talk about what real butter should be like. We will also provide a selection of recipes demonstrating how to cook this food product yourself.
How to choose the right oil
Every year, Roskachestvo publishes ratings of the best products on the domestic market. In 2018, 82.5 percent of fat content among butter was won by the “Cheburashkins Brothers”, “Asenievskaya Farm” and “Vologda Traditions”. GOST also corresponds to the products of such companies as “Village House”, “Crossroads”, “Karat”, “Prostokvashino”, “Ekomilk”, “Farm”, “Thousand Lakes”. And which butter is recognized as the best of foreign brands? This is Belarus Export.
When choosing butter in the store, always carefully read the inscription on the package. The catch can lurk already in the name. It should be that the product is not called “Maselko” or “Maslitsa”, but directly and unequivocally - “Butter”. The composition should be very concise: cream from cow's milk. By the long shelf life, we can judge how much the manufacturer has placed stabilizers and emulsifiers in his product.
Pros and Cons of a Home Product
Of course, to go to the store and buy a beautiful bar of the finished product is much easier than to cook it yourself. But this is where the cons of homemade butter come to an end. Let's now look at the merits of this product. Firstly, homemade butter is very tasty. You only compare it once with a store product - and you will lose the desire to buy the latter. Secondly, it is safe. You certainly will not use palm oil, emulsifiers, preservatives and transisomers for yourself and your family (these carcinogens are found in cheap fats that are used in falsifications).
Thirdly, as a result of your work, you will receive not one, but two products. Buttermilk will be the second. It is also called skolotini or butterdish. This product can be drunk like kefir, make pancakes and other pastries, as well as sauce, on its basis. Fourth, you can experiment with tastes by making butter butter brackish or sweet, sweet or sour, yogurt or with toppings (chocolate, vanilla, shrimp, etc.). Finally, you save a lot of money. After all, you do not have to pay for delivery, storage and trade margin.
What is butter
Before making any product, we must understand what it is. Butter is an emulsion obtained by whipping or separating the milk of cows (less often than other cattle - buffalo, goats, sheep, zebu and yaks). But how is a solid product made from a liquid product? Both cream and oil are emulsions.
In the first product, the dispersed medium is water. Therefore, cream is a liquid product. The fat in them is a dispersed phase. In butter, the opposite is true. Fat becomes a dispersed medium in which (to a greater or lesser extent) water is present. Therefore, the oil in terms of liquid capacity is divided into types: “Traditional” (82.5% fat content), “Amateur” (80%), “Peasant” (72.5%), “Sandwich” (61%) and “Tea” (fifty %).
Technological process
After a brief chemistry lesson, we will finally consider how to convert a liquid emulsion into a solid one. The modern food industry uses one of two main types of cooking butter. The first is traditional, which people have been using since the Neolithic era. It is called churning. As a result of continuous and methodical whipping, the liquid phase begins to separate from the fats, which acquire a solid consistency. By this separation, buttermilk and butter are obtained.
This technological technique is quite accessible for the housewife. The main thing is to have cream. How to get them from milk? The whole product itself will stratify over time. This can be easily verified by pouring milk into a glass jar with a tap at the bottom (this design is called a separator). A few hours later, cream will gather on top. They can be collected by draining the skim milk remaining from the bottom. The second method of producing oil at home cannot be repeated. Complex apparatuses transform liquid cream into a solid emulsion by chemical reactions.
How to make butter
So, the only process that we can apply at home is pathania. What is it and is it difficult? In ancient times, people used a primitive device, which was a tall and narrow bucket with a stick, on which a circle with slots was fastened. Fat cream was poured into the bowl. Women were usually engaged in chasing. It was believed that whipping cream was a certain kind of magic (later we will understand what this belief was based on).
Only women managed to butter butter. Perhaps the men simply did not have the patience? It was necessary to methodically raise and lower the stick with the nozzle, simultaneously rotating it to increase the area of friction of the fluid with the buttermilk blade. But if you don’t have a traditional churn at home, don’t be upset. A mixer would be a better alternative. It’s good if the device has a function of switching speeds. No mixer too? Then we will use a strong, hermetically sealed container and ... a glass ball. So, get ready to butter.
Getting cream
How to get one single oil ingredient? You can simply buy cream. It is better to do this on the market - a raw, unpasteurized product is sold there. Very tasty homemade butter is also obtained from a store product, if it:
- high fat content (from 30 percent and above);
- subjected to prolonged pasteurization (at 63-65 degrees for half an hour).
Do not buy cream with sugar. Also, the so-called ultra-pasteurized product, which is obtained by instant heating to 90 degrees) is not suitable. The best way to produce butter is to manually extract the cream from whole milk. Even if you don’t have a separator, you can collect them on top of the liquid with a spoon.
Getting to the churning
Now that we have the cream, let's start making butter. At this stage, it is important to know that heat is our worst enemy. Therefore, in advance we put in the refrigerator the main ingredient, the whisk of the mixer and the dishes in which we will make butter at home. We also need a wide bowl of ice water. When everything you need is well cooled, pour two liters of cream into the dishes. Do not forget that there may be spray when whipping. Therefore, the dishes should be high. We put it in a bowl of ice water. We immerse the nozzles of the mixer and start the device first at the lowest speeds.
If you have a traditional butter churn, pour cream into it and wield a stick, turning it each time. To obtain oil requires 10-20 minutes of continuous vigorous work. If you don’t have a mixer, wash the glass ball well, dip it in a strong dish, pour cream on half the bowl, tighten the lid tightly. Shake without stopping for 20-30 minutes. By the sound of the ball (when it hits something soft), you will guess that the oil is ready.
Mixing Chatter
The appliance provides a unique opportunity to monitor all phases of the process and, accordingly, control them. At first, the cream is simply covered with foam. Then they will become more dense. Then the cream will begin to form soft peaks. They will reach for the whisk, not immediately falling like a liquid, but leave a slight elevation. At this stage, the rotation speed of the mixer blades should be increased. Then the mass will become elastic, shiny.
Culinary specialists who want to use whipped cream for creams stop working at this stage. But we need to get oil, so we will continue. After some time, the cream from white will turn into pale yellow, they will acquire a granular structure. At this stage, reduce the speed of revolutions. And soon we will understand why in ancient times it was believed that butter is a miracle. At a certain moment, as if by magic, buttermilk would stand out from the mass, separating from the solid substance.
The final stage
Now we need to ram the butter to the desired fat content. Drain the buttermilk and continue to knead the solid substance, squeezing out excess fluid from it. We work either with hands chilled in ice water or with a wooden spatula. When all the buttermilk has been expressed, rinse the oil. This step cannot be neglected, because otherwise the product will turn sour during the day. We rinse a piece under ice water until the flowing liquid becomes clear.
Butter Recipes
In Europe, especially in France and in Germany, they love sour-milk product very much. Such an oil can be obtained from thick fat sour cream. Beat it immediately at high speeds. At first, sour cream will become liquid. Do not worry, this is a common chemical process. Then it will turn into a thick cream. Gradually, small grains of oil will begin to appear in the mass, which will stick together in one lump.
Ordinary cream will beat much faster if you add lactic acid bacteria to them. It can be sourdough, yogurt or buttermilk. Add a tablespoon of the product to 240 milliliters of cream. The resulting oil must be squeezed and rinsed well. This is especially necessary if you are going to cook food with a product in a pan. Poorly washed fried butter begins to foam, spray splashes in all directions. In addition, such fat quickly bites and becomes inedible.
Melted butter
The product we received still contains between 18 and 40 percent moisture. And therefore, such oil is sprayed in a pan. Its boiling point is 120 degrees. But if we melt the butter, water will evaporate from it, and milk fats will settle. Such a product was invented in India and it is called "gi" or "ghee". Cooking such butter in the oven.
We cut our or purchased product into pieces on a baking sheet. We set the oven to the smallest fire - 80-90 degrees, not more. The cooking time of the ghee depends on the amount of butter, as well as how much water is left in it. Therefore, the process of overheating must be monitored. If we have a kilogram of oil, then after about an hour and a half we will see that the product is stratified. A very thin film resembling foam formed at the top. It must be carefully collected with a spoon in a separate jar. Below it is the middle layer, similar in color to amber. This is “liquid gold,” as ghee is called in India. With ghee we fill individual jars. From below we have darkened milk fats. We put them in a jar of foam.