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I have not, but I am right now - I happen to have some cream that I was wondering what to use for. I am currently shaking the bejeezus out of it. We'll see what happens.

AFTERACTION REPORT - OPERATION BUTYRIC LIBERATION

The very first thing to happen was that I wished I still worked at Home Depot, that I might have easy access to a paint shaker.

PROTIP -shaking by arm is a mug's game, if you have alternatives.

For example, flat beater on the Kitchenaid. I did shake all the way to "exceptionally stiff peaks" before I remembered owning such an appliance, and transferred the embryonic butter to its care. 45 seconds later, I have a lovely, light gold mound of buttery goodness. I kinda want to make toast. Very fresh and light (as we would hope). Now, I think I may salt it and put it on standby for Mother's Day supper.

Plus, when the zombie apocalypse comes, as long as I sock away some marmalade, I am set.

Your mom sounds awesome, engmcmuffin!

Homemade butter is the best. If you sour the cream a bit before, you can take your butter to a whole new level. More culture, yo!

Like Micheal Z, I have made butter before, but not on purpose. Aside from the academic, I can't really see much point in making butter. It's certainly not any cheaper. Compound butters are where it's at.

I'm with engmcmuffin's mom! Making butter is a really good class cooking project. It's fast and the students enjoy it. We make a bunch of little jars of butter and then mix each one with a different herb or spice and do a tasting with bread.

Debralu, the plunger is called the "dasher." My late Mother was a teacher and used to go around to other schools after retirement and show the kids antiques like a butter churn, butter molds and a meat grinder. The kids were fascinated; even with the Food Channel, Discovery and others all they knew of food production was industrial.

I do like Byard's Home Depot idea. I wonder if I could hook the dasher up to my reciprocating saw?

Remember, kathyvegas, a little butter imparts a whole lot of flavor and the "corn and chemistry set" alternative is spackling your innards. All things in moderation--unless the oatmeal is in cookie form.

@jscarey....advice well taken. I'm sure I'll get queasy before I overdose. Good thing I like oatmeal.

Yes, we made lots of butter when I was young as we had dairy cows and lots of cream. We had one of those jar butter churns. Now I make it once in a while when I have cream to use up and I use either my mixer or a jar depending on how much I have. It is wonderful stuff on most anything. Especially good with new radishes from the garden.

I also made butter in grade school, 3rd grade I think. We used little baby food jars and shook them FOREVER! I remember that we ate our butter on zuchinni bread the teacher brought in. How cool is that?

Like many I made butter in elementary school. Actually my entire class made potato bread from scratch in either 1st or 2nd grade.

The class of 15~20 kids was split into 4-5 smaller groups. One boiled and mashed potatoes, one made dough, one beat cream into butter (*by hand* with a whisk), and I think the rest cut up some fruit and made salad.

Probably helped that our classroom had a fully functional kitchen...

I just learned today from my father that his mom made butter from scratch when they lived in Cuba... she boiled fresh milk right off the cow and took the "nata" on top to make the butter, whisking it with a fork. I wish I had known that about her when she was still alive... It was a nice Mother's Day moment learning new things about my grandma.

Anyone have any tips on making cultured butter? I do love the taste of European style butter more. I've already begun looking up places to get fresh quality cream to try this endeavor, but something about intentionally letting dairy sour in a standard fridge makes me antsy that I'll do it wrong and spoil that lovely cream.

I made butter the first time in kindergarten, all of us in the class taking turns shaking a glass jar while we sat in a circle. The first adult time making butter was when I was inspired by a NYTimes article in 2007. Thankfully the article reminded me to cover my mixer with plastic wrap because it was a mess! Butter was fab, but I didn't use the buttermilk. Wasn't sure if I could use it the same way you use cultured buttermilk from the grocery store. Does anyone know if it's a direct substitute in recipes?

After reading this yesterday I realized I had cream in the fridge that needed to get used soon so I made butter with my immersion blender. I added a bit of salt to make it taste like really butter. It tasted so fresh and was great on corn on the cob because it melted so easily. I don't know if it was the lack of terrible preservatives or texture but I still prefer store bought to homemade.

@DELICIOUS: I make butter regularly by pouring whatever leftover cream I have into a bowl at least 2.5 times the volume of the liquid cream and using my hand mixer on medium high. As a few people noted, you get butter from (over)whipping cream. You'll get to the point of whipped cream with nice fluffy peaks, whip it a little longer and soon you will see the smooth whipped cream becoming more granulated and a little yellow. Keep whipping until it starts to spatter (now is when you are glad to have used a large bowl). Uncultured buttermilk--which looks like watered down milk--will separate from the butter clumps.

At this point I get out my rubber spatula and squish the butter together to remove some of the excess liquid and pour that into a separate container. (note: excellent for use in biscuits and scones, but less tangy than cultured buttermilk) I bring the mixer back in to eke a little more liquid out and then smoosh the butter into a rough ball and store in a little glass jar in the fridge. I don't add salt at all, but that's a matter of taste.

@DaveFaris - Fresh made butter is free from chemicals and is much much sweeter than regular store-bought butter. It's basically extracting and refining the most delicious flavor and fat parts out of cream. If you have some warm, oven-fresh sourdough, there is not much better than a slab of sweet cream butter melting into it.

I periodically make my own butter. It's one of the simplest thing you can make and the results arne wonderful. Plus, it makes a really nice gift for friends if you do compound butters and the like. I generally just shake the jar, which I really don't think is all that dime consuming or tiring, but one certainly can make overwhipped cream instead.

Hmm, now all I can think about is buttered corn on the cob.