Cultured Butter Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes cultured butter? ›

Cultured butter is made from pasteurized cream that's been exposed to live bacterial cultures (much like the cultures used to make yogurt and cheese). The bacterial cultures jumpstart a fermentation process, which thickens the cream and gives it a tangier, more complex flavor.

– Cultured butter typically lasts for 10 days in the refrigerator. – Butter easily absorbs other odors so make sure it is tightly-sealed. – You can also freeze butter – it will last for several months.

Sometimes referred to as “European-style butter,” cultured butter is treated with live cultures and allowed to ferment before it's churned. This results in butter with a stronger, more lactic flavor. Cultured butter generally has a higher butterfat content (typically 82–85%) than standard American butter (80–82%).

You won't be able to tell a butter is cultured by looking it at, but you can certainly taste the difference. The culturing process results in a butter that is slightly tangy, almost cheesy and more complex.

The founder of the cultured butter company Pepe Saya, Pierre Issa, told Delicious that in warmer climates like Australia, "you can only leave it out for around two to three days in summer and five to seven days in winter. After that, it's gone.

The first clue that your butter has gone bad will be the smell. Any sour or off-putting smell means it's a goner. Same goes for taste: If it tastes sour or off, toss it out. 5 And don't worry, a small taste of rancid butter won't hurt you.

It's also worth noting that cultured (unhom*ogenised) butter, like that made by Pepe Saya, tends to go off quicker than the hom*ogenised blocks found in the supermarket aisles. While it's unlikely, there also the chance that butter left out may become contaminated by a secondary source, such as a dirty utensil.

Cultured butters contain probiotics, live microbes with proven health benefits. Standard butters, known as 'sweet butter', do not. Cultured butters taste AMAZING! Most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate butter because it contains only trace amounts of lactose (<0.7g/100g).

The best option would be fresh, raw cream from pastured Jersey cows. Milk from Jersey cows has the highest fat content, which is why they are primarily dairy cattle. In addition, the fat in their milk has larger globules in it which makes it perfect for churning butter.

Jersey cream makes churning faster, due to larger butterfat globules. Just using run of the mill cream from the store probably means that you are starting off with better ingredients than the average butter. But if you can find non-ultra heat treated cream from pastured cows, that will vastly improve the flavor.

How much butter can you get from a gallon of whole milk? ›

1 gallon of milk will usually yield 1 to 1.5 pint of cream. The cream will churn to approx. 1/3 to ½ lb of butter.

The butter has a bright acidity that cuts through fat and makes baked goods shine. Using cultured butter in baking allows all of those nuanced flavors to carry through into the final product, adding a savory complexity to anything you bake. You might not know it's there, but you'll know something special is going on.

European-style butter

European butters have a higher butterfat percentage than American butters, and have become the butters of choice for many chefs, bakers, and passionate home cooks.

This being said, cultured butter is more expensive than your regular box of butter. You'll likely want to use it in recipes where the butter really stands out.

Cultured butters contain probiotics, live microbes with proven health benefits. Standard butters, known as 'sweet butter', do not. Cultured butters taste AMAZING! Most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate butter because it contains only trace amounts of lactose (<0.7g/100g).

Martano says Vermont Creamery's cultured butter has notes of buttermilk and hazelnuts. The use of live cultures is what sets cultured butter apart from regular butter, creating a more pronounced butter flavor. "In short, it's a more buttery butter," says Martano.

European-style butter refers to a cultured butter that has been churned longer to achieve at least 82 percent butterfat. Traditionally the butter is allowed to ferment to achieve a light sour taste, but you're more likely to find butter made with added cultures. Either way, you still end up with a tangy butter.

Although the cultures in buttermilk, crème fraiche and sour cream are the ones that are traditionally used to culture butter, yogurt also works surprisingly well and is widely available.