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Cultured Butter

My helper has come and he set to work straight away weeding in the vegetable gardens. I think this is where his passion is. The gardens. He has even pitched his tent in by the vege gardens.  It was a busy day though. Showing someone where everything is takes time and the poor fellow was feeling a bit over informed by the end of the day.

As he brought cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers in from the garden I got the jars out and began the preserving. It all worked very well.  Though, as things were still the the developing stages and he is still getting a handle on how things work, I forgot to get the camera out for a walk around. cultured-butter-006

I did make cultured butter though.  I had been talking to my daughter on the phone, she works in the food industry in Melbourne and she gave me the idea. Basically I added yoghurt to the cream.  About a tablespoon per cup  (1/4 cup per gallon) into the raw unheated heavy cream. Then I let it sit overnight and churned it in the morning. The result was astounding. Tangy butter. Plus we had the added bonus of cultured buttermilk.  No-one can have too much culture.

I read that I can also make this butter with the kefir starter, so I look forward to trying that.  Today I am going to use the cultured butter to make my favourite lemon butter cake.  I will write the recipe out for you tonight.

Yesterday I caught four more of the white laying hens who have been loitering in the barn. I  put food in the big dog crate and they just walked right in so I shut the door.  They are now in with the  baby layers. I have already taken 6 roosters out of that flock and put them in the fattening tractor. I think the people must have sold me a straight run (an unsexed group) instead of pullets.  I have plenty of hens though, even the four I kept back from the last meat chicken batch might make good layers. Though they will not like the layers diet. Much leaner.

My helper  will begin work on the new run for the chooks asap.

But today we will be gardening again. Soon we will be back in order.

I have a good lead on a swiss heifer. The man told me that this year the good ones are selling anywhere between 5 and 10 Thousand dollars. These are show cows but goodness! Not in my price range though! I hope to get mine for a lot less than that. A lot less.  I will take you and Camera House  when I go over to peruse the animals in question. Maybe as soon as this Sunday. cultured-butter-011

Daisy is still holding her own. At least the milk has stopped leaking out the side of the teat, and her production is dropping but she is getting increasingly frustrated with being locked up on the concrete pad. Just a little longer though, more grass means more milk and more milk means more pressure. She also has a massive mastitis infection in the injured quarter again that I am treating too.  Even though it is two steps forward and one step back, I do feel that we are gaining ground ever so slowly.  Poor old Daisy.

I hope you all have a lovely day

Your friend on the farmy

celi

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48 responses to “Cultured Butter”

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  8. I nearly skipped by today…. your post title being the reason. However, I took a deep breath, held my nose and read every word! Gold star pretty please! Am I the only follower with a Lactose Intolerance? Glad the helper arrived and prepared to pull his weight. Good luck with the swiss heifer.

    Reply

    • Nope, me too! Never touch the stuff, but I do like a little real farm butter. Celi wrote a blog awhile back saying many lactose intolerances decrease/disappear with whole raw milk.
      Laura

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      • Laura, I tried the whole raw milk (delivered warm from a farm) when I was a child, no good, even the smell of it turned my stomach. I come from a family where bread was put on butter instead of the other way round. I was the only one in the household with the problem, but there was one member of each branch of the maternal family going back the generations and now right down to my grandnieces/nephews with lactose intolerance.

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      • Celi, it is not the worst that could happen, living alone makes it easy. Visitors need to let me know they are coming or else bring milk for their coffee. I have a good varied diet cooked from scratch without the dairy, so I do well.

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        • Oh i am sure you do and the modern ultra – pasteurised milks are not worth much anyway as far as nutrients.. I promise to bring my own when I come for a cup of tea!. wuldn’t that be just grand… c

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          • You’ll have to bring your own milk when you come here for a cuppa too Celi ………..wouldn’t that be grand, Kate could pop down from up north…anyway sidetracked. I’m not lactose intolerant, but haven’t used dairy products for over 30 years, not since I realised the industry here doesn’t treat cows and calves very well, it’s my small protest. Things might’ve changed but I don’t think my system could cope with dairy now. But your butter looks yummy.

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  11. Oh my, my mouth watered when I saw that butter. The buttermilk I had on the farmy during my stay is the only buttermilk I have ever had that I liked/loved! Tima looks like her usual mischievous self. Glad the fellow is working out. It can be a tad overwhelming at first. He’ll get the hang of it, hopefully. I know I was full of questions when I arrived and didn’t feel like I was getting it until right before I left. Next year tho. 🙂

    Wonderful day to you and your Woofer (does he have a name?). I’m sure he is loving your cooking.

    I’m off to the post office and then to quilt another top on my magic machine!

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  12. Oooh your butter sounds great! Let me know how the Kefir butter goes, as I am producing more Kefir than I know what to do with at the moment. Can you still freeze the Kefir butter you think? Still hoping you will post your ice cream recipe one day 🙂
    Glad your helper has got a ‘veggie’ state of mind! Nice to get everything in and preserved as soon as it’s ripe.

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  13. You probably know this …. but show animals almost always sell for a ridiculous amount more than working/production animals. However, show animals often do not make the best workers! Good luck with finding your girl.

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