Butter is made through a process of separating cream from milk, ripening the cream through culturing or aging, churning the cream to separate butterfat globules from buttermilk, washing and draining the buttermilk from the butter, and optional salting or packaging for storage. Modern butter making is more complex than traditional methods of shaking cream in animal skin pots and allows for butter with improved taste and shelf life.

1. Butter How is it made?

2. History Along the history, butter has been used in many different ways. The old Greeks already knew butter as a really complete food. The ancient Romans also used it as beauty cream. Even the old testament mentions butter.

3. Then and now At its beginnings, butter was made by shaking milk inside some pots made of animal fur. Nowadays the process has become more complex. As a result we have a better butter which lasts more and tastes better.

4. The process

5. Milk and cream Cream is separated from milk. The cream can be either supplied by a fluid milk dairy or separated from whole milk by the butter manufacturer. The cream should be sweet (pH greater than 6.6), not rancid, not oxidized, and free from off flavors. The cream is pasteurized at a temperature of 95°C or more to destroy enzymes and micro-organisms.

6. Ripenning Sometimes, cultures are added to ferment milk sugars into lactic acid and produce the desirable flavor and aroma characteristic of cultured butter. This is something more common in European butters.

7. Aging Cream is held at cool temperatures to crystallize the butterfat globules, ensuring proper churning and texture of the butter. In the aging tank, the cream undergoes a program of controlled cooling designed to give the fat the required crystalline structure. As a rule, aging takes 12 - 15 hours. From the aging tank, the cream is pumped to the churn or continuous “buttermaker” via a plate heat exchanger which modifies the temperature to the required levels.

8. Churning Cream is churned, and eventually butter granules are formed, grow larger, and merges. In the end, there are two phases left: a semisolid mass of butter, and the spare liquid, which is the buttermilk.

9. Draining and washing Thus, the cream is split into two fractions: butter grains and buttermilk. In traditional churning, the machine stops when the grains have reached a certain size, whereupon the buttermilk is drained off. After draining, the butter is worked to a continuous fat phase containing a finely dispersed water phase. Then a washing process would ensure that all the butter milk is washed out of the butter. Otherwise the butter would not keep and go rancid.

10. Salting and working Salt is used to improve its flavor and shelf-life, as it acts as a preservative. Further, butter is worked to improve its consistency. Also there are factories which produce unsalted butter.

11. Packing and storage Butter is finally patted into shape and then wrapped in waxed paper and stored in a cool place. As it cools, the butterfat crystallizes and the butter becomes firm. *Whipped butter , which is made by mixing air or nitrogen gas with soft butter. The purpose of this process is to spread the whipped butter more easily at cool temperatures.*

12. Media: Here we have an illustrative video of how butter is made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwb2uZLSLhw

13. Butter in our homes Since we´ve improved the making process of butter we have make it more useable for all consumers. Even more, we have make it last longer so we can use it in our day life. Nowadays it`s weird to find a house where there is no butter in the fridge. It´s even harder to find someone who has never eaten it. We use it to make sandwiches, desserts… Here you have a really famous recipe whose main ingredient is butter 

14. Butter cookies Ingredients 1 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions In a large bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least one hour. Chill cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Press dough out onto ungreased, chilled cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly golden at the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

15. Your turn! We have learnt how butter is made (in a factory) We have learnt how to cook a delicious sweet with butter So now it´s your turn to enjoy this healthy food (it contains A and D vitamins) But be careful not to abuse because you can get fat!! (it is aproximately 40% fat)