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I have a question. If milk is nature’s most perfect food, as we ALL learned in our science classes many years ago and have heard on many a dairy commercial, why isn’t butter perfect too? Why has butter gotten such a bad rap when it is simply the richest part of the milk that has been whipped to a frenzy? All I know is that butter is all-natural and has to be a whole lot better for you than the fake spreads that marketers have tried to pawn off on us as the nutritionally better alternative. We humans seem to always go down the road of trying to improve on what comes naturally and then wind up right back where we started, concluding that the original product isn’t so bad after all.  I have admitted my affinity for butter in past posts but I am in no way an addict to the stuff. Really. I can quit using it anytime. Really. I use it in moderation mixed with olive oil and am known to spread it sparingly on a slice of fresh homemade bread. Really. But there is simply no substitute for the stuff when it comes to sauces, cajun cuisine and toast.  So did you hear about the solar flares that scientists are afraid are going to destroy the earth? Well, not destroy exactly…just leave us in an electronic lurch which would pretty well destroy the majority of us who can’t live without a cell phone, computer or electric toothbrush. How in the world can I keep my precious butter from spoiling if our refrigerators aren’t running? Well, I can it, silly! I gathered all of the info I could from several sources on the internet and have started canning part of my butter when I find it on sale. The Indians in India have been canning clarified butter, called ghee, for ages and ages. I like to can my butter whole. Take a peek at what is working for me:  Wash jars in hot soapy water and boil in a large pot or wash on the sterilize cycle in the dishwasher. Place the jars on a cookie sheet. Here I am using 8 oz jars which hold about 1 1/3 sticks of butter. In this run, I used 9 – 8 oz jars for 12 sticks of butter or 3 lbs. Put the cookie sheet of jars into a 250º oven and heat for 20 minutes.  Place sticks of salted butter in a large pan. I do about three pounds at a time simply for ease. The larger pots get too heavy to manipulate and butter gets everywhere.  Slowly melt the butter on medium heat, stirring constantly with a metal spatula to keep from scorching on the bottom. A spatula with holes is ideal because the melted butter is pushed through the holes during stirring and helps to keep it uniform.  When the butter is totally melted but not quite boiling, continue to stir and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. A thick, white foam will appear.  While melting the butter, place lids in a pot of water and bring to a near boil to prepare lids. Turn heat down to keep lids warm.  Remove jars from oven and immediately ladel butter into the jars, using a canning funnel. Be sure and stir the butter around and dip deep, pulling up, in order to keep the butter uniform, as it separates. Fill to leave a 3/4″ head space.  Carefully wipe the edges of the jars with a damp cloth to remove any butter. Butter on the rims will cause the jars not to seal.  Place the lids on the jars and attach rings, tightening slightly. Place jars into a waterbath canner that has water already heated and enough to cover the jars 1″. The water needs to be heated because the jars of butter are hot and will crack in cool water. As soon as water begins to slowly boil, set timer for 15 minutes.  When jars have been processed for 15 minutes, turn off heat and allow to cool down in the water for another 10 minutes. Then, lift the rack to top of canner and remove jars with canning tongs.  When the jars are cool enough to handle, now comes the tedious part. Every few minutes shake the jars up and down in order to make the butter uniform. If you notice in this photo, the jars to the left have sediment on the bottom and foam on the top. Shaking incorporates this into the clarified portion. Go about your business, but about every 5 minutes, stop and shake the jars. As they cool, they will stay more and more uniform. I set a timer to remind myself so that I can do clean-up.  This butter is totally cooled and ready to store in the pantry. Aren’t they pretty? I read one homesteader’s take on canning butter and she said that they actually opened some from 1999 and it was still good. Don’t think I would keep it THAT long, but it wouldn’t matter because it wouldn’t last that long around here anyway!!  Canned butter is not quite as smooth as fresh butter, but if you are wanting a smooth, healthy spread, you can make the same recipe posted earlier with olive oil or canola oil. Just scrape butter from an 8 oz jar into the food processor or blender.  Add 1/3 cup oil. If you have canned your butter in larger jars, adjust amounts of oil. For example, a 1 pt jar of butter would require 2/3 cups of oil.  Process until smooth  Pour back into jar and allow to harden in the frig. It will go back to the consistency of smooth, spreadable butter. Pass the Lobster, please!! |
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Tags: Butter, canning, food processing, preparedness
This is completely and totally AWESOME information. I buy butter when on sale, and just like you, I can give it up anytime I want….I just don’t want to! lol. I live up in the mountains, and although I have electricity, I am always on the lookout for ways to make certain my food stores don’t spoil in case of loss of power. I’ll be busy next week canning butter.
Yay for you! I’m loving my cannned butter. It is so easy to open and use in cooking and by making it spreadable, I can just put it back in the jar and use it that way. For the two of us, I have 27 jars and that should last us nearly a year.
Found you through a link consumerqueen had posted and I’m so excited to know that butter AND cheese can be canned!! I buy lots of both on sale, but freezer space can get tight, so this is a great alternative!! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!
Aimee @ http://www.Justkiddingaroundatlanta.blogspot.com
Hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. I just had an afternoon snack of a croissant with my “healthy” butter made with the olive oil and butter, straight out of the jar and home canned blackberry jam. And of course, I had to chase it down with one of our teas. 🙂 I’ve been working hard and it made a good break! I’m actually using some of the canned cheese tonight with nachos!
OK, so I am going to have to invest in a pressure canner…
This looks awesome! I am hoping to can some veg this year too. One thing I thought I might start a conversation about is the price of butter. I can’t say that I really find it on sale.. I usually see it for about $3 a box 4 sticks) Is that a pound? I think it is… I was thinking that maybe Walmart has their GV brand for $2 sometimes but I can’t really remember. Have any of yall found good sales and what is the cheapest you have been able to buy butter for?
I have not canned butter, but I did can some margarine. I did it the same as you did, but after the jars cooled quiet a bit, I stuck them in a large cake pan with ice water and it helped them to set up faster (so you don’t have to shake all day), just kept shaking til they didn’t seperate anymore. And then set them in the refrigerator to finish setting. And you can usually find margarine for .50-.75 cents a package. This might be an option for those of you who don’t use butter, or don’t want to pay the expensive price for it.
Thank for the info, Carolyn!
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