I visited Ole’ Remus over at The Woodpile Report and found a recipe for canning butter. Now I know butter freezes just fine but I am, as much as possible, trying to get away from relying on my freezer. The northeast ice storm over Christmas left most of my town without power for the better part of a week. It was a real wake up call about just how much we rely on that pesky grid. I have been gradually working toward canning, drying, salting, cold storage and lacto fermentation for preserving what I grow and forage but fats were a problem. You need them for calories, nutrition and to make things taste good but they have a limited shelf life so I was delighted to find the directions.
The first step was to find both an inexpensive and local source of butter. I put the word out and the brother of a friend offered to get me 36 pounds wholesale. The deal was struck and the butter arrived a couple of days ago.
The process is pretty straight forward.
Slowly melt the butter over low heat. The recipe is for 11 pounds and that just fit in an 8 quart pot. While the butter is melting, wash a dozen pint canning jars and set in the oven in a pan of barely simmering water. Put the jar lids and rings in a pot of simmering water, turn off the heat under them and keep them hot until you need them.
Keep stirring the butter as it melts. Foam will start to rise. I needed to raise the heat a bit at this point because you need the butter to come to a boil. Once it does, reduce the heat and keep the butter at a strong simmer for 7 minutes. Remove form the heat and ladle into hot jars. The trickiest part was wiping the jar rims. They get pretty greasy. Top with lids and rings. Be careful when you handle the jars. They are, of course, really hot. Now comes the fun part. Every couple of minutes you need to shake the jars or else the butter will stratify into 3 distinct layers. This is hard at first because the jars are so hot. I used some fancy rubber gloves I got for cheese making and that worked well. Just be careful to wipe the jars well because they are pretty slippery. After a bit, the jars are cooler and easier to handle. When they have cooled to just above room temperature, put the jars in the refridgerator and keep on shaking every couple of minutes. All of the sudden, the stuff sets up and you are done.
A couple of notes. Some of the jars lids took about 20 minutes to ping. I was just about ready to get out my canner, thinking they weren’t going to seal when they finally did. I used a white flour sack towel to wipe the jars and I don’t think the grease stains will come out. Not a big deal but I would be careful to wear an apron or clothes you don’t care about. I had some butter left over that wouldn’t fit in the jars and we have used ot today. It’s pretty good-maybe a bit gritty before it melts.
I will can another batch today but I am going to get Bruce to help. I think it would be easier if one person stirred while another ladeled. I love learning how to do stuff like this. When the cow dries up, I will probably miss butter as much as drinking milk, more even because I bake so much. My goal will be to have 50 pints of butter put up. Now I just need to get Bruce to put another set of shelves in the basement and stock on cholesterol medicine.
January 23, 2009 at 1:52 am
Hi Kathy,
Saw your comment on my friend’s blog.I think you have a very interesting idea for a blog topic. Good Luck.
February 1, 2009 at 10:22 pm
This is a great find! But how long does the canned butter last?
Also, can you put links to the blogs you reference just so we can find the right ones? It would be greatly appreciated, especially in the “lost in the blogging world” post!
Thanks for everything!
March 19, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Did you shake the jars before they pinged? That’s the only part I can’t seem to get answered… thanks 🙂
March 19, 2009 at 5:02 pm
A couple of the jars pinged quickly. Most pinged during the shaking process. Good luck.
September 8, 2009 at 10:58 am
How would you store after finished. I’m really interested in stuff like this. I’ve been doing research on how the people in the oldies lived and i want to learn more if anyone has any info let me know.
January 4, 2010 at 11:49 pm
This is all good and fine, but is not “canning” in the sense that the butter is sterile and safe to store for a long period of time. This is nothing more than sticking melted butter in jars and shaking it up. Butter is a low-acid food and must be pressure-canned to be safe.
January 20, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I have been canning butter this way for quite a while. Tips: Don’t start shaking until jars have cooled enough to touch. Also elimate the mess by careful pouring. I use a funnel and just need to wipe the rims.
Buter will keep fresh for several years without refridgeration. Shake well every 5 min. until butter is well set.
April 7, 2011 at 6:29 pm
thanks for the tip. I was wondering too how to solve this issue. Glad i was able to read your post to use butter.