Victorian Butter

Instructions

Wash your hands and fingernails, then scald every utensil you will use, including the wooden churn. Leave the wooden pats and spoons in a bowl of scalding hot water under a clean cloth until you need them.

Pour the fresh milk into pans and leave it to stand overnight so the cream rises to the top. Scrape the cream off and pour it into the churn, holding the jug high so the stream takes in air and the cream churns faster. If you only have store-bought heavy cream, skip the settling and use it directly.

Churn at a steady, measured pace, turning the handle of a barrel churn or moving the dasher-staff of a plunge churn up and down. The cream first thickens into whipped cream.

Keep churning for another 30 to 35 minutes. The whipped cream turns thicker, harder to work and slightly powdery as it begins to separate, and it smells quite pungent at this point.

Continue until the buttermilk and butter part company. You will hear a distinct change in the sound of the churn, and it will feel heavier to turn.

Drain the buttermilk into a separate pail through a meshed cloth or strainer. Lift out the paddle and scoop all the butter out of the churn.

Wrap the butter in a clean cloth, tie it and squeeze out the excess liquid. Unwrap it, rinse it in spring water, which keeps it from turning rancid, and leave it to drain for at least 1 hour.

Divide the butter into smaller portions and pat each with the butter paddles to press out any remaining liquid. Then work in salt and any herbs sparingly with the paddles.