How to Make Butter From Leftover Cream

Updated: April 29, 2020

how to make butter

I really didn’t want to share this silly video with you. I mean, what does churning butter have to do with bone health anyway? (Oh, I guess we could research up some connection between the amazing fat-soluble vitamins in hand churned butter and bone density – but it would definitely be a stretch!)

Anyway, my wife Viv (AlgaeCal’s COO) and Monica (AlgaeCal’s Content Manager) overruled me!

So here you go. Have a chuckle at my expense.

Watch the video below.

how to make butter

Dean’s Homemade Butter

Monica Straith
How to make Butter from leftover Cream!
3.67 from 3 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Course Breakfast
Servings 1 container
Calories 821 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • water cold

Optional

  • 1/2 tbsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisk
  • 1 large bowl
  • 1 strainer

Instructions
 

  • Take 1 cup of organic whipping cream and place into a large electric mixer. If using a hand mixer or mixing by hand, place into a large bowl.
  • If using an electric mixer, set on low speed, then raise to medium speed. If using a hand mixer, turn on low and then raise to medium speed. Or if by hand, whisk away! (About 2 minutes)
  • Once most of the whipping cream has turned solid, take a strainer and pour the remaining cream through it. Either into a bowl or cup. This excess cream is called buttermilk! You can save it and use it in baking or drink it! (It’s delicious).
  • Once your butter has been separated from the buttermilk, rinse with cold water to get rid of the remaining buttermilk. Repeat until the water runs clear. * Removing the excess buttermilk prevents your butter from going sour.
  • Place your homemade butter in a container or butter dish! (Use within 2-3 weeks) Enjoy!
  • Optional addition: Add 1/2 tsp. of salt to your butter and mix well before placing into your butter dish.

Notes

Use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Nutrition

Calories: 821kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 4gFat: 88gSaturated Fat: 54gCholesterol: 326mgSodium: 3578mgPotassium: 178mgVitamin A: 3500IUVitamin C: 1.4mgCalcium: 155mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
how to make butter

Ok now you know what kind of silliness goes on in my house on an otherwise quiet evening.

Let me know if you enjoy us getting a bit personal once in awhile. Please give us your thoughts in the comment section below the blog post.

Article Comments

3.67 from 3 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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  1. Dean Neuls

    January 25, 2016 , 9:41 am

    I was a little apprehensive about sharing personal content that is pretty much irrelevant to bone health, but was talked into it! What is your advice? The occasional piece like this helpful to get to know us at Team AlgaeCal, or should we keep it purely professional? Pls comment! 🙂

  2. Alla Seyder

    January 26, 2016 , 5:37 am

    Hi Dean
    I liked this video very much ! it’s always nice to see real people behind strictly professional mails . I think, it’ll encourage people to share their concerns, thoughts with the team of real and nice people more than with just signature on the mail

  3. Nora

    January 26, 2016 , 5:38 am

    great looking butter… go the extra step and put it in a press with the personalized stamp.

  4. Monica

    January 26, 2016 , 8:12 am

    Such a good idea, Nora!

    I’m going to try the stamp next time…

    – Monica @ AlgaeCal

  5. Scarlett Barger

    January 26, 2016 , 5:47 am

    Very interesting. I had no idea you had to “rinse” butter to get rid of the excess cream. I enjoyed it.

  6. Susan

    January 26, 2016 , 5:52 am

    Loved it! As a longtime customer of AlgaeCal products, I look forward to your professional videos. Adding a personal video occasionally I think is a good idea; a personal touch adds a new dimension to Team AlgaeCal.

  7. Monica Heinemann

    January 26, 2016 , 6:03 am

    I think it was fun to watch and informative. I remember as a young girl making butter at school, the teacher put cream in a jar and each student shook the jar until it turned to butter, which we enjoyed on crackers afterwards. Nice to go back to that memory. I just may try to make my own butter for the fun of it.

    Thank you! and please feel free to post more videos.

  8. Anna Mutin

    January 26, 2016 , 6:13 am

    Very nice! I enjoyed it.

    Thank you for this information I will try making butter myself. Where you bought this hand mixer?

    Anna

  9. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 8:26 am

    Hello Anna, this churn was in our family since I was a kid because we had a jersey milk cow and made butter ourselves. I’ve seen them in antique shops now and then. Or Amazon will have some probably. Have fun! You can make it with an electric kitchen mixer quite well too.

  10. Joy

    January 26, 2016 , 6:24 am

    Not silliness at all, great to see this, and so easy! Everyone should learn the basic skills of our grandparents’ days…..back to basics and knowing where our food comes from!

  11. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 9:04 am

    I sooooo agree with you Joy! Thanks for your comment. My Dad at 75 has an ever expanding organic garden that feeds us all. He sends fresh veggie care packages overnight on the bus so that we can eat the real thing! Viv and I make a huge smoothie with his veggies (along with 2 or 3 eggs) as our morning habit.

  12. Carrie McGee

    January 26, 2016 , 6:26 am

    Sweet! Health issues can be so serious and frustrating, and I really enjoyed the fun of your video this morning.

  13. D.

    January 26, 2016 , 6:27 am

    I just tried making my own butter a few weeks ago…and was very proud of myself for being able to use my extra cream. It was fun watching your video and learning the reason for rinsing well. I think it was great that you shared your knowledge.

  14. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 9:00 am

    I didn’t mention that the butter was really tasty too! I think it was extraordinary but could be my imagination 🙂 How was the flavor (in spite of not rinsing so well)?

  15. Phyllis Owens

    January 26, 2016 , 6:42 am

    I liked your presentation. The video does let us know who you are on a more personal level. I liked the content because it is helpful and practical although I think maybe someone that would buy algae cal might not use milk products. I don’t except on rare occasions but I liked the video so much I want to share it with my family so it’s a “YES” for me.
    Phyllis Owens

  16. sue crowder

    January 26, 2016 , 6:59 am

    I love homemade butter. I buy fresh milk from a friend and I have made butter from the wonderful thick cream off of the fresh milk. I also have made homemade cottage cheese. I think the younger folks need to know how my grandparents and theirs lived and how they had to rely on the know how to make these things. They could not run to the store and buy these goody’s. Nothing silly about this.
    Sue

    .

  17. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 9:00 am

    Thanks for your comment and totally agreed that the younger generation can really benefit from getting closer to where food comes from. I used to milk our jersey cow daily as a young guy (I think early teens) and one day a neighbor came over when milking was about to start. We joked that he had to pump the cow’s tail to make the milk come out and he did it! We had quite a laugh!!!

  18. Sheryl

    January 26, 2016 , 7:00 am

    It was nice because you were humble and gentle. When it is constant, insinsere, and what have you, I grow tired of such methods.
    Yours was very tasteful! In more ways than one.?

  19. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 8:55 am

    Very punny Sheryl! And your point is well taken as well.

  20. Stephanie Evans

    January 26, 2016 , 7:06 am

    Wonderfull! Enjoyed this very much!
    It is inspiring me to try making butter too.
    Wife and Monica are right!

  21. joann Jones

    January 26, 2016 , 7:11 am

    Please share, it was so sweet.
    Thank you

  22. Ruth

    January 26, 2016 , 7:18 am

    Love the video and your sharing. I am going to try that. Thanks.

  23. Patricia Haase

    January 26, 2016 , 7:36 am

    Love this personal side to AlgaeCal 🙂 I think it makes us customers feel so much more part of it. I would love more videos along the way like this please. Just a note to say i took a tumble on Thursday – went down with a thump – and guess what – no broken bones yay. Although i have had to take a yearly infusion on advice from my rheumatologist to slow down bone loss from steroids i firmly believe my AlgaeCal Plus must be working well to walk away from that fall without a break. Thank you for all your do! I very much like buying from companies with good ethics and a human touch and that is what AlgaeCal is to me. Warmest wishes from Patricia xx

  24. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 8:53 am

    Patricia, thanks for your kind comment! I just LOVE talking with our customers but sadly don’t have much time these days if we want to meet our objective of reaching more folks. So glad you managed to walk away fracture free! Wishing you the very best of health. And thanks again for taking your time to participate.

  25. Lesley O’Brien

    January 26, 2016 , 8:07 am

    Thank you….who would have thought? This will be very useful.

  26. Leona

    January 26, 2016 , 8:41 am

    Thank you for sharing. We used to making butter when I was a kid. I just had a “Butter Making Party” for some of my friends who had never made butter. We shook our butter it instead of using a mixer and we had such a good time doing it. I had made homemade rolls and we put our butter on them. It was absolutely delicious.

  27. Dean Neuls

    January 26, 2016 , 9:06 am

    Leona, that sounds amazing! Be sure to invite team algaecal to your next one k. hahahaha! Thanks for contributing!

  28. Ellie

    January 26, 2016 , 9:10 am

    This was extremely disturbing as I am vegan and have read numerous studies and articles and dvds on the horrors of animal agriculture…… The dairy industry causes pain and suffering to cows….and their calves (taken away early so HUMANS can steal their milk). They are raped to keep them giving milk and overmilked and overmilked till they are spent and then killed so humans can eat their flesh!
    Dairy also LEECHES calcium from the bones of humans. No one requires dairy after weaning…..especially milk from another species. Also, cancer feeds on dairy. *read Dr. Campbell’s THE CHINA STUDY. And also note COWSPIRACY – the revealing dvd that brings out the environmental destruction of our planet because of the water consumption and cutting down of our rain forests so the land can feed the cows instead of the starving people in this world. The planet and all on it is on the verge of destruction. Please…….look into all I have shared. Thank you.

  29. Monica

    January 26, 2016 , 10:01 am

    Hi Ellie,

    Thank you for your comment and I’m sorry you did not enjoy the video. We appreciate all views and we understand that everyone follows a different lifestyle, including diet. This video was not trying to get into anything serious about dairy versus non dairy, etc., but was more of a lighter, get-to-know-us post.

    I am very familiar with the resources you have shared. Unfortunately, Dr. Campbell’s ‘The China Study’ and its claims are not supported by the data and have been debunked in the scientific community. Campbell left out important data to further his agenda – which is not how you report science. For an excellent review of The China Study and its actual findings, please go here: https://deniseminger.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/ I’ll also note that The China Study is not peer-reviewed research, meaning it has not been through the rigorous scientific process to ensure accepted standards have been met.

    We are not trying to come across as pro-dairy here at AlgaeCal, we are pro- unbiased and valid science. Our aim is to inform our readers with all the knowledge so they can make an informed decision about their health. Whether that’s dairy, plant sources or animal sources for calcium – there are great choices for everyone of every lifestyle.

    – Monica @ AlgaeCal

  30. Jayne

    January 26, 2016 , 9:18 am

    Even though I am vegan, I very much enjoyed the video. I have never made butter and it would never have occurred to me to rinse it in cold water, so I learned a few things. I’m glad you shared it and I hope you will continue to share things like that from time to time. Our world has become so cold and people so distant from each other that it just kind of warms the place up.

  31. Monica

    January 26, 2016 , 10:04 am

    Hi Jayne,

    Thank you so much and glad that you learned a few things :). We will definitely continue to share stuff like this more often!

    – Monica @ AlgaeCal

  32. Colette Stanley

    January 26, 2016 , 11:04 am

    Enjoyed the video. This more personal human contact was nice.
    Learnt to make butter. I remember when I was a child my mother made her own buttermilk that we all enjoyed.
    My home is strictly “organic” I find it’s a way of avoiding general bad treatment of nature and animals on top of all the good health benefits.

  33. Monica

    January 26, 2016 , 11:41 am

    Hi Colette,

    Buttermilk is just so good! Great to hear you are strictly organic and definitely agree about the overall benefits!

    – Monica @ AlgaeCal

  34. Melissa

    January 26, 2016 , 3:56 pm

    This was a wonderful trip down memory lane…not mine exactly…but I remember my mom talking about milking cows and making butter as a girl. Then in WWII they learned to make margarine because they couldn’t get butter. I love butter and joke that bread is the vehicle God provided us with to enjoy more butter. I really liked seeing Dean in the kitchen as a real live person who can enjoy a simple pleasure (even if it more work than purchasing it already made). Thank you.

  35. Monica

    January 27, 2016 , 8:48 am

    So glad you enjoyed it, Melissa! Thanks for sharing your/ your mom’s memories. It’s nice to think back about even the simplest things like butter 🙂

    – Monica @ AlgaeCal

  36. Roshni

    January 9, 2017 , 5:38 am

    I wanted to know if the cream you used is the same cream that can be collected after boiling milk. A heavy layer that settles on top after it boils and cools down.

  37. Dean Neuls

    January 17, 2017 , 4:06 pm

    Hi Roshni

    Thanks for the comment and checking out our video. The cream I used was organic heavy whipping cream, which I pour into the jar at the beginning of the video. You should be able to find some at your local grocer. Good luck, and I hope you give this recipe a try!

  38. Kim

    February 26, 2023 , 9:24 am

    I tripled the recipe, it took quite a bit longer to turn to butter. It turned out really good. $4.99 for the cream, made 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 cups of butter.

  39. Chelsea Dugas

    February 28, 2023 , 8:01 am

    Wow, so happy to hear the recipe turned out well even when doubled, Kim! Enjoy! 🙂

    – Chelsea @ AlgaeCal

  40. Dave Hayes

    April 13, 2024 , 6:27 am

    1 star
    I use three different brands of heavy whipping cream, the same machine the same amount of time from three different recipes. All I got was Cool Whip and a dish no butter at all do not attempt to do this at home. You were wasting your money.

  41. Yoori AlgaeCal

    April 15, 2024 , 3:20 pm

    Thank you for sharing this feedback, Dave, and I’m truly sorry that this recipe did not work out for you! This must be so frustrating after having to try with three different brands of heavy whipping cream, and I’d be happy to share this feedback with our team.

    Dave, if you are open to experimenting some more, we suggest try using heavy whipping cream with a high fat content (usually 36-40%). Another tip we have is to thoroughly chill the heavy whipping cream before whipping. Cold cream whips better and separates into butter more effectively! A friendly note that butter takes time to form, especially if you’re making it from scratch. Keep whipping until you start to see the mixture separate into butterfat and buttermilk. I hope this helps, Dave! 🙂

    – Yoori

This article features advice based on cutting-edge research from our industry experts to give you the best possible information to support your bone-building journey.

Lara Pizzorno
MDiv, MA, LMT - Best-selling author of Healthy Bones Healthy You! and Your Bones; Editor of Longevity Medicine Review, and Senior Medical Editor for Integrative Medicine Advisors.,
Dr. Liz Lipski
PhD, CNS, FACN, IFMP, BCHN, LDN - Professor and Director of Academic Development, Nutrition programs in Clinical Nutrition at Maryland University of Integrative Health.,
Dr. Emma Gasinski
PT, DPT, RYT - Physical therapist and certified yoga teacher with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals,
Dr. Lawrence (Larry) A. May
MD, FACP, Harvard Medical School Graduate, Physician, Author, Public Speaker - Doctor of Internal Medicine at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center and author of several articles and books, including the widely utilized and best selling medical textbook Primary Care Medicine,