Homemade Grass-Fed Butter

Butter is one of the healthiest fats for us. It contains many essential vitamins, including vitamin K2, which is crucial for the delivery of calcium to our bones and the elimination of excess minerals from soft tissues to prevent calcification of vulnerable areas such as arteries and kidneys. It also contains about 400 different fatty acids including omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has many health benefits including reducing body fat, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and inflammation, and improving bone mass.

But not all butter is equal. When butter is made with milk from a grass-fed cow, the butter contains much more of these important nutrients. For example, compared to butter from grain-fed cows, grass-fed butter has five times more CLA and much higher concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin K2.

Grass-fed butter can be expensive to purchase, but if you have a good blender or standing mixer, it can be made quite inexpensive and easy to make yourself. Our family has invested in a Vitamix, which we use all the time for all sorts of recipes, and it is perfect for making butter!

Yield: 1 cup of butter + 1 cup of buttermilk (to use in another recipe or to drink)

Ingredients and Equipment:

• 500 mL grass-fed heavy whipping cream
• Salt to taste (optional)
• Blender or standing mixer
• Fine strainer
• Spatula

Directions:

1. Turn the device on low speed and slowly increase to moderate speed, and then to high speed.
2. Blend/mix until the mixture is thick (this can take a few minutes). In a blender, you can hear a change in the sound of the machine.
3. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula to bring the ingredients into the center of the container/bowl.
4. Reset the device to medium speed.
5. Turn the device on and blend/mix for 5 seconds, stop and scrape the sides again.
6. Repeat this process several times until you see the butter clinging to the mixer or collecting at the center of the blender and fluid (buttermilk) appears.
7. Blend/mix for a few more seconds until solid butter sets up in the center of the container/bowl.
8. Place the butter in a fine strainer to drain out the buttermilk, which you can use for another recipe or to simply drink. Use a spatula to press the butter against the strainer to remove as much buttermilk as possible.
9. Transfer the butter to a bowl and add salt to taste.
10. Store in an airtight container.