Cultured butter. Make the most delicious butter that is humanly possible. I will give you three different options on how to make it. Your sourdough bread will thank you.
Measure out 1.3 grams of culture or 80 grams of yogurt.
Add some of the 500 ml whipping cream to the container and add the culture or yogurt.
500 ml whipping cream, 1.3 g flora danica culture, 1.3 g mm100 culture, 80 g yogurt
Give it a good stir, then pour in the rest of the cream.
Culture the cream
Seal the container and put it in your proofer set to 30°C/86°F if using a culture, or 43°C/110°F.
Leave it to ferment for 24 hours if using cultures or 48 hours if using yogurt.
When the time is up, have a taste of the cream. If it’s to your liking, put it in the fridge to cool it down, or you can put it back in the proofer for up to 72 hours in all.
Churn the butter
When the cream has been chilled, it’s time to churn. Put the cream in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached.
Start slowly, and be aware that once the cream splits, it’ll get messy.
You're done when the butter splits from the buttermilk.
Remove the buttermilk
Pour the entire mixture into a cheesecloth-lined strainer, set over top of a bowl.
Fold up the cheesecloth and squeeze. Pour the buttermilk into a suitable container and keep it cold. You can inoculate a new batch of butter using the buttermilk.
You can keep the buttermilk in the fridge for up to two weeks, or put it in the freezer where it’ll stay good for at least 3 months.
Wash the butter
Then it’s time to wash the butter. Fill a bowl with cold water. I like to add a few ice cubes to keep the temperature down.
Add the butter to the water, squeeze and work your way through the butter. The water will get milky. That's the buttermilk that’s being expelled from the butter.
Then remove the butter from the water. I like to put it back in the strainer from before. That way, excess water and buttermilk can drip out.
Fill the bowl with fresh water and ice cubes and rewash the butter. If the water is still milky, you should rewash it.
Put the butter back in the strainer.
Mix in salt
Grab a cutting board.
Weigh out the butter. Calculate the salt and MSG needed. If using MSG go for 0.5% salt and 0.25% MSG. If not using MSG, go for 1% salt.
Add the butter to the cutting board, and pour salt on top.
Then massage the salt into the butter using a plastic scraper. Once you’re satisfied that it’s been adquately incorporated, grab some plastic wrap.
0.5-1 % salt, 0.25 % msg
Pick up the butter with the scraper, add it to the wrap and then roll the plastic wrap around the butter.
Put it in the fridge until you need it. It will stay good in the refrigrator for months, but I doubt it’ll keep that long.
Video
Notes
This recipe is in part inspired by a recipe by chefsteps.com.