Homemade butter requires only cream and salt, though salt can be omitted. Legally, butter in the U.S. can only include cream, milk, salt, and some coloring. The key to making butter lies in agitating the cream to separate fat, which can be done with a churn or a stand mixer. A churn takes about 10 minutes. Historically, butter was made by agitating cream in a wooden barrel with a dasher, a process that varied in time depending on weather conditions.
Butter contains one of the most minuscule ingredient lists you can imagine: cream and salt, and it's even possible to omit the salt. In fact, according to law, any butter sold in the U.S. can't contain more than cream, milk, salt, and some coloring.
The cream just needs to be agitated enough so that the fat starts to separate, leaving behind butter and buttermilk, which is done by churning.
Once you get your hands on a churner, just pour in a few cups of heavy whipping cream and churn it until the butter starts to clump together. It should, hopefully, only take about 10 minutes.
Back in the old days, cream was poured into a wooden barrel that had a dasher fitted in the lid. The dasher was usually shaped in an 'X' at the bottom to agitate the cream, and the process could take anywhere from minutes to hours, depending on the weather.
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