Kids In The Kitchen: Homemade Butter

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Getting kids in the kitchen is the best way to get them to try new foods. It also helps them to understand where their food came from, how it was made, and maybe it will help them appreciate some of the hard work you put in daily to feed them.

That’s all sweet and everything, but really. It’s just a good way to:

A.) Keep an eye on them so you know they aren’t breaking something/someone.

B.) Keep them occupied so they aren’t trying to break something/someone on purpose.

So, here’s a fun little experiment with edible results. This is good for kids old enough to shake a glass bottle, and NOT throw it across the room. For example, my two-year old can not do this just yet. Throwing is her favorite. *sigh*

We are going to make butter, purely by the act of shaking.

What you’ll need:

1 small glass jar. (a mason jar works well, an empty baby food jar, anything with a tight sealing lid)

Heavy Whipping Cream

Salt (if you like salted butter)

Directions:

Fill jar about 2/3 with heavy cream. Add a pinch or two of salt, if desired. I think salted butter its better for spreading, but it’s a personal preference.

Put the lid tightly on the jar.

Hand off to child.

Tell child to shake and keep shaking…..

….don’t stop shaking!…

After about 5 minutes or so of shaking (maybe a little less), you’ll have whipped cream. Pretty cool, right?

Keep shaking….and shaking….and shaking.

Another couple of minutes, and you’ll notice the cream starting to get “lumpy” feeling. You don’t even need to open the jar yet to see this happening.

Keep shaking.

Another minute or two later, you’ll hear what sounds like one big lump in the jar, and liquid sloshing. Open it up, and you’ll find a mass of butter! The liquid around the outside is buttermilk. Yep! That’s where it gets the name. You can save that or drain it off down the sink. Either way, you want it out of your butter.

Give a couple more good shakes to make sure there’s no more butter milk left in there. Buttermilk will make your perfectly good butter spoil sooner.

That’s it.

Your kids just made homemade – fresh butter. It will last in the fridge about 7 days (or so).

Hope your kids enjoy making butter, and you enjoy some peace in the kitchen…for a couple of minutes anyways!