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["clanSkeen" <sgian AT planetc.com>]

> Would any of you mind sharing that info with someone from another list? 
> She >would like to make butter and wants it to taste like her 
> grandmother's.

It is likely that her grandmother's butter tasted the way it did more 
because of the cow's diet and environment than how the butter was made. 
Butter from grass fed cows is rich and deep yellow,  Butter from grain fed 
cows is bland and nearly white unless color has been added to the butter or 
to the cow's feed.

The breed of cow has somewhat to do with it.  Jersey and Guernsey cows give 
milk that is very high in rich butterfat and separates cleanly when the milk 
stands.

A third factor that affects the taste is the ripeness of the cream.  Very 
fresh cream makes sweet but somewhat bland butter.   After the cream ripens 
(sours) a bit the resulting butter is more flavorful but not as sweet. 
Ripened cream also yields more butter than fresh cream.

Let the milk stand overnight in the refrigerator and the next day a cream 
line will be visible.  Skim off the cream.  Let the cream warm up to as 
close to 60 degrees Fahrenheit as you can get.  Then churn it in a churn or 
one of those 'Daisy' cranked butter churns.   It generally takes about 15 
minutes but it can be shorter or much longer.  You can also put the cream in 
a mason jar (no more than 2/3 full) and shake the jar until the butter 
comes.

Dump off the buttermilk, you can sour this and use it or it makes great 
animal feed.  Put the butter in a bowl and work it with a wooden paddle, 
like a wooden spatula or turner.  Get the paddle wet first so the butter 
won't stick to it. Press the butter back and forth expelling the milk. 
Rinse the butter in cold water working it a little with you hands to wash 
out the last of the milk.

Then you can salt it or not, a generous teaspoon per pound.  Unsalted butter 
goes bad (rancid) rather quickly in the refrigerator and eventually does so 
in the freezer.  Salted butter lasts a long time.

James