Anne Larsen first wrote to us with a comment at one of our blog articles about making yogurt in the Instant Pot (click here). She was using the pot to make her soft cheeses as well: The Instant Pot’s yogurt cycle makes superb fromagina, fromage blanc, and chevre. It can handle two quarts of milk at a time, which none of my other methods can
Why Butter Sculptures?
It’s fair season and all across the country there are butter sculptures for our viewing pleasure. It’s a “thing.” They’re kind of a fun thing, and kind of a weird thing, so I wanted to do a little research on the subject … Overview State fairs are probably the biggest patrons of the art. The Ohio State Fair, for example, goes all out. This year,
Dianne Miller in Imnaha, Oregon
Dianne Miller and her husband, Sam raise purebred Nubian dairy goats on their 9 acres of land in the mountains of northeast Oregon. It’s beautiful country, on the border with Idaho. Imnaha is, in fact, the the easternmost settlement in Oregon. According to Wikipedia, the population is 159, but Dianne thinks there are around 250 people in the area. She knows about a third of
Storing Butter – Part 4
This is the last in a 4 part series about butter – Making It (1), Flavoring It (2), and Molding It (3). Storing Butter Homemade butter generally doesn’t keep as long as store bought at room temperature, because, without preservatives it is more vulnerable to ambient bacteria in the air (particularly if it is unsalted). However, once you’ve made your butter, you can leave it
Molding Butter – Part 3
This is the “strictly for fun” segment of this 4 part series on making butter. In the first article, we learned to make butter. In the second, we learned to flavor it and in the 4th, we will learn how to store it (butter crocks, butter bells and all that). The process itself of molding butter is ridiculously simple. And, yet, the result is delightful.
Flavoring Butter – Part 2
Welcome to our 4-part series about butter. Part 1 is about making butter, Part 3 is about molding it and Part 4 is about storing it. Flavors Galore! Flavored butter (also known as compound butter) is fun to make and it’s the perfect gift or party favor. Mostly, it just involves mixing ingredients together and adding them to softened butter. You can start with unsalted
Slate Roof Creamery
It’s rare that I stumble on a website and wind up doing a post about it. In this case, I was following a thread from the Fancy Foods Show and it brought me to a small company in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania which makes specialty butters from the milk of grass-fed dairy cows. The butter looked so good to me that I had to share it with
Making Cultured Butter with Raw Milk
A little culture never hurts! Sweet cream butter is yummy, but cultured butter has the addition of good bacteria. So, why not add it in? It’s very easy to culture your cream before making it into butter. One way is to add a small amount of yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream to your cream, leave it at room temperature for 12-24 hours, then chill it.