Homemade Butter

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Most of what I've read recommends using raw, unpasteurized cream, which was hard to find (and expensive when I did).

Anyone here have success with pasteurized cream from a grocery store? All I can find in my local Kroger is the Ultra Pasteurized, which most recipes seem to discourage for butter.

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The more pasteurization you start with, the lower the quality of the butter you're going to end up with. Some of the really good flavors that homemade butter is known for come from plopping the cream on the counter overnight and letting the bacteria present in raw or lightly pasteurized cream do its thing. The more pasteurization the cream goes through, the fewer bacteria will be there and the less depth of flavor you're going to get. On the really high end of pasteurization it's not inconceivable that it can even alter the structures of the fats and proteins enough to affect how well the cream will even want to turn into butter.

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And yes, I am a cheap bastard.

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Keep us posted. I'm curious if you can make butter from heavy cream cheaper than a creamery. You're going to get about half as much butter as the cream you start with and the rest will be buttermilk. The creamery sells that buttermilk, but you're going to be stuck with it. Unless you REALLY like pancakes and biscuits, I'm curious if it'll be worth it.

I never really considered making my own when I was on a keto diet.. kerrygold at Costco is not too expensive and great quality.

It is definitely not cheaper to make it yourself from scratch, unless you own a cow....best local bulk prices on butter are found at RestoDepot (plugra) and Costco (varies, depends on sales). Widest selection of butter variety is at Dorignac's.

One weekend, I was on a nostalgia kick and I wanted to get the full pioneer experience. I made this yellow cake with fresh hen eggs and heavy cream. I whipped the cream with my Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment (just like the pioneers did,) until the butter formed about 8-10 minutes later. I rolled and salted the butter, then I reserved the buttermilk for the cake. Popped that sucker in the oven. After cooking it for almost double the amount of time the recipe calls for, I had a nice, moist cake.

I used a modern oven, and an electric mixer whilst I made this in my climate controlled kitchen. In the old days when sugar was a luxury, and the workdays were way more laborious, a cake really was a special treat.

I can see why they were reserved for holidays, birthdays, and very special occasions.

I make it like that. A quart of heavy cream will give you a bit less than a pound of butter and about 2 cups of buttermilk give or take. Start slow with the whisk then speed it up and just watch it go. It does take about 10 minutes. Then I wrap it in cheesecloth and squeeze the rest of the milk out of it. I like to salt it and add chopped herbs then roll it in wax paper.

Most butters bought at the grocery are fine if cooking but if you are using on bread I prefer a good Kerrygold or even Plugra. Aluminum wrapped butter won't take on other flavors, wax paper wrapped will. But I like the Kerrygold grassfed.

Call the LSU ag center. There is a dairy association linked through them and they should be able to put you in touch with a dairy near you (there are a ton of them around LA) who will probably sell you the cream directly;
On keto you need the grass fed for the mct's, so don't forget to ask about that when you talk to them.