How To Make Butter In A Kitchenaid: Step-by-Step Easy

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Why Make Butter at Home?

Making butter at home might seem old-fashioned, but it’s very simple, especially with a Kitchenaid stand mixer. You can make fresh, delicious butter with just one main ingredient: heavy cream. This process is quick, easy, and gives you control over what goes into your butter. Plus, you get fresh buttermilk as a bonus! Making butter in a Kitchenaid stand mixer butter is much faster than doing it by hand.

What You Need

Gathering your items first makes the process smooth. You only need a few things to turn liquid cream into solid butter.

Ingredients

• Heavy Cream: This is the star. You need cold, high-fat heavy cream. Look for cream that says “heavy cream” or “heavy whipping cream.” These have the most fat, which is what becomes butter. About 32-36% fat is best. Avoid ultra-pasteurized cream if possible, as it can sometimes be harder to churn. The best cream for butter making is fresh, cold heavy cream.
• Salt (Optional): Use fine sea salt if you want salted butter. The amount depends on your taste. If you want unsalted butter mixer style, just skip the salt part.
• Ice Water: You’ll need very cold water to wash the butter. Ice water helps remove extra liquid and keeps the butter firm.

Equipment

• Kitchenaid Stand Mixer: The main tool! You’ll use the powerful motor to whip the cream until it separates. A Kitchenaid stand mixer butter setup is ideal for this job.
• Whisk Attachment: The wire whisk attachment works best for whipping cream to butter. It whips air into the cream fast.
• Splatter Guard (Optional but Recommended): As the cream turns into butter, it can splatter buttermilk everywhere. A splatter guard keeps your kitchen clean.
• Spatula: For scraping down the bowl and mixing salt.
• Fine-Mesh Sieve or Colander: To separate the buttermilk from the butter solids.
• Bowl: To catch the buttermilk.
• Separate Bowl(s): For washing the butter.
• Measuring Cups or Spoons: For salt, if using.
• Plastic Wrap or Butter Mold: For shaping and storing your finished butter.

Picking the Right Cream

The quality of your cream directly affects your butter. Choosing the best cream for butter making is important.

• Fat Content: Always pick heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. These have enough fat to make butter. Whipping cream has slightly less fat, but often works too, it just might take a little longer for the whipping cream to butter change to happen.
• Temperature: Cold cream is key! Make sure your cream has been in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Very cold cream whips better and churns faster.
• Type: Regular pasteurized heavy cream is usually better than ultra-pasteurized. Ultra-pasteurized cream has been heated very high, which can change the fat structure and make it harder to clump together.
• Amount: A standard quart (32 ounces or about 950ml) of heavy cream makes roughly one pound (about 450g) of butter, plus some buttermilk. Start with one quart if it’s your first time.

How the Mixer Makes Butter

Making butter in a mixer is a physical process. The mixer’s whisk beats the cream hard and fast.

• Cream Structure: Cream is tiny fat balls floating in liquid (mostly water).
• Whipping: When you whip cream, you add air, making whipped cream. The fat balls start to bump into each other.
• Over-Whipping: If you keep whipping past the whipped cream stage, the fat balls bump even harder. They start sticking together.
• Clumping: More and more fat balls stick together. They form bigger clumps.
• Separation: Eventually, the fat clumps get so big they pull away from the liquid. The liquid left behind is buttermilk. The solid clumps are butter. This is the churning butter Kitchenaid process at work.

Step-by-Step Guide to Making Butter

Now, let’s get started with your Kitchenaid stand mixer butter project.

Step 1: Prepare Your Cream

• Make sure your heavy cream is very cold. It should come straight from the fridge.
• Do not use cream that is warm or at room temperature. It will not churn properly or will take a very long time.

Step 2: Set Up the Mixer

• Attach the wire whisk to your Kitchenaid stand mixer.
• Pour the cold heavy cream into the mixer bowl. Do not fill the bowl more than halfway, or it will splatter a lot. If you have more than one quart, work in batches.
• If you have a splatter guard, put it on the bowl now. Trust us, you’ll be happy you did!

Step 3: Start Churning

• Turn the mixer on to a medium speed. Speed 4 or 6 on most Kitchenaid mixers works well. Starting too high can cause splashing.
• Watch the cream change. This is the main part of churning butter Kitchenaid.
• Stage 1: Liquid Cream: It just looks like cream. This lasts for a minute or two.
• Stage 2: Thickened Cream: The cream starts to thicken. It might look like melted ice cream.
• Stage 3: Soft Peaks: The cream is becoming whipped cream. If you lift the whisk, soft peaks form and fall over.
• Stage 4: Stiff Peaks: This is perfect whipped cream. The peaks stand up straight. If you were making dessert, you’d stop here. But we are making butter!
• Stage 5: Curdled Look: Keep mixing! The whipped cream will suddenly start to look curdled or grainy. It might look like cottage cheese or scrambled eggs. This is the fat clumps forming. It might look like you ruined it, but you haven’t! This is exactly what you want.
• Stage 6: Separation! Keep mixing through the curdled stage. Suddenly, you will see liquid sloshing around the solid clumps. This liquid is the buttermilk! The solid is the butter. The mixer might make a different sound, and the butter will form a mass around the whisk. This is the separating buttermilk stage.
• How Long Does This Take? The whole whipping cream to butter process usually takes between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on your mixer speed, the cream’s temperature, and the cream’s fat content. Don’t worry if it takes a bit longer. Knowing how long make butter Kitchenaid takes just comes with practice. It can feel like nothing is happening, then suddenly, separation happens very fast.

Here is a simple look at the stages:

Stage	Look	Mixer Speed	Time (Approx)	Action
Liquid Cream	Just liquid cream	Med (4-6)	1-2 min	Keep mixing
Thickened Cream	Thicker, maybe like milkshake	Med (4-6)	2-3 min	Keep mixing
Soft Peaks	Whipped, tips fall over	Med (4-6)	3-5 min	Keep mixing
Stiff Peaks	Stiff, stands up	Med (4-6)	5-7 min	Keep mixing
Curdled Look	Looks broken, grainy, like curds	Med (4-6)	7-12 min	Keep mixing! You’re close!
Separation	Solid mass of butter in liquid (buttermilk)	Med (4-6)	5-15 min	STOP the mixer!

Step 4: Separate the Buttermilk

• Once the butter has clearly separated from the buttermilk, stop the mixer.
• Carefully lift the whisk with the butter mass on it. Use a spatula to scrape the butter off the whisk and into the bowl.
• Place a fine-mesh sieve or colander over another bowl.
• Pour the contents of the mixer bowl (the butter clumps and the buttermilk) into the sieve. The buttermilk will drain through into the bowl below. This is the separating buttermilk step.
• Gently press the butter mass in the sieve with a spatula to help more buttermilk drain out.
• Save the buttermilk! It’s fresh and great for baking or making pancakes.

Step 5: Wash the Butter

This step is very important for washing homemade butter. It makes your butter last longer. Any buttermilk left in the butter will cause it to spoil faster.

• Gather your separated butter into a ball.
• Put the butter ball into a clean bowl.
• Pour very cold water over the butter. You can add ice cubes to the water to make sure it’s cold enough. The water should be cloudy as it washes away more buttermilk.
• Using your hands (clean hands!) or a spatula, squish and press the butter in the cold water. You will see cloudy liquid come out. This is buttermilk being washed away.
• Carefully pour off the cloudy water. Try not to lose any butter.
• Repeat the washing process. Add fresh, cold water to the bowl. Squish and press the butter again. Pour off the cloudy water.
• Keep washing the butter with fresh cold water until the water you pour off looks mostly clear. This might take 3 to 5 washes or more. It’s key for washing homemade butter correctly.

Step 6: Salt the Butter (Optional)

• If you want salted butter recipe Kitchenaid style, this is the time to add salt.
• Place the washed butter in a clean bowl.
• Sprinkle fine sea salt over the butter. A good starting point is 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1/2 cup of butter, or about 1/2 teaspoon per quart of cream used (which makes about 1 lb butter). You can add more or less to your taste.
• Use a spatula or your hands to knead the salt into the butter until it is mixed evenly. Make sure the salt is spread throughout the butter. If you prefer unsalted butter mixer style, just skip this step entirely.

Step 7: Shape and Store

• Now your homemade butter is ready to be shaped.
• You can press it into a dish, roll it into a log using plastic wrap or wax paper, or use a butter mold for nice shapes.
• Wrap the finished butter tightly in plastic wrap or special butter paper.
• Store homemade butter in the refrigerator. It will last about 1-2 weeks in the fridge because it doesn’t have the preservatives of store-bought butter.
• For longer storage, you can freeze homemade butter. Wrap it well to prevent freezer burn. It will last several months in the freezer.

What to Do With the Buttermilk

Don’t throw away the liquid you drained off! This is fresh, tangy buttermilk. It’s different from the cultured buttermilk you buy at the store, but it’s excellent for cooking and baking.

• Use it in pancakes, waffles, or biscuits. The acidity helps these baked goods rise and makes them tender.
• Use it as a marinade for chicken. The acidity tenderizes the meat.
• Add it to smoothies for a tangy kick.
• Use it in recipes that call for buttermilk.

Store the fresh buttermilk in a sealed container in the fridge for about a week.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned when churning butter Kitchenaid. Here are some common problems and how to fix them.

Problem: The cream is taking forever to churn into butter. (how long make butter Kitchenaid)

• Cause: The cream might not be cold enough. Warm cream takes much longer, if it works at all. The cream might be ultra-pasteurized, which can be harder to churn. The mixer speed might be too low.
• Solution: Make sure your cream is straight from the coldest part of the fridge. If using ultra-pasteurized cream, it might just take longer. Increase the mixer speed slightly (but not so high it splashes everywhere). Sometimes, adding a tiny splash of whole milk can help ultra-pasteurized cream clump better, but cold temperature is the best fix. Just be patient; sometimes it suddenly separates after a long wait.

Problem: The butter is too soft or greasy.

• Cause: The cream might have been too warm when you started. You might not have washed it enough, leaving too much buttermilk in it.
• Solution: Always start with very cold cream. Make sure you wash the butter thoroughly with ice-cold water until the water runs clear. Kneading the butter in cold water helps push out the extra liquid fat and firm it up.

Problem: It’s really messy! Buttermilk is splashing everywhere.

• Cause: The mixer bowl is too full. You started at too high a speed. You don’t have a splatter guard. The separation happened suddenly and you weren’t ready.
• Solution: Never fill the bowl more than halfway with cream. Start at a lower speed (Speed 4) and increase only if needed and if your mixer setup contains the splatter. Get a splatter guard for your Kitchenaid mixer. Pay close attention during the curdled stage; separation happens right after that, so be ready to stop the mixer fast.

Problem: My butter seems watery and falls apart.

• Cause: This usually means you didn’t wash the butter enough, and there is still buttermilk trapped inside.
• Solution: Knead and wash the butter more in very cold water until the water stays clear. Properly washing homemade butter fixes this issue and makes the butter texture smooth and spreadable after chilling.

Making Different Kinds of Butter

Once you know how to make basic butter, you can try other kinds.

Unsalted Butter (unsalted butter mixer)

This is the simplest kind. Follow all the steps but skip Step 6 entirely. This is great for baking where you want to control the amount of salt exactly.

Salted Butter (salted butter recipe Kitchenaid)

Follow all steps, including Step 6, adding salt to taste. Remember you can add more salt later if needed, but you can’t take it out. Start with a small amount and add more if needed.

Cultured Butter

This takes a bit more planning. You add a small amount of live culture buttermilk or a specific butter culture to the heavy cream. Let it sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours until it thickens slightly and gets a tangy smell. Then, chill it well and churn it as usual. This gives the butter a more complex, slightly cheesy flavor common in European-style butters. The best cream for butter making cultured butter is still high-fat heavy cream.

Herb Butter

After making and washing your butter (before or after salting), mix in fresh chopped herbs, minced garlic, or spices. Knead them in well. This is great for topping steaks, spreading on bread, or melting over vegetables.

Benefits of Homemade Butter

• Freshness: It tastes amazing! Much fresher than store-bought.
• Control: You know exactly what’s in it (just cream and maybe salt). No added colors or preservatives.
• Buttermilk: You get fresh buttermilk for free!
• Fun: It’s cool to see cream turn into butter. It feels like kitchen magic.
• Cost: Sometimes it can be cheaper, especially if you find cream on sale.

The Science Behind the Change

Delving into how the whipping cream to butter change happens reveals simple science. Cream is an emulsion. Tiny droplets of fat are spread evenly throughout a liquid base. Think of it like salad dressing before you shake it – oil and vinegar separate. In cream, the fat and water want to separate, but proteins around the fat droplets keep them apart.

When you whip cream with the Kitchenaid stand mixer butter setup, you do several things:

1. Break Down Fat Membranes: The fast-moving whisk breaks the thin protein layer around some of the fat droplets.
2. Add Air: Air gets whipped in, making the cream fluffy (whipped cream stage). This also makes the fat droplets bump into each other more often.
3. Fat Clumping: As more fat droplets lose their protective coating and bump together, they start to stick. They combine to form bigger and bigger clumps of fat.
4. Phase Change: Eventually, the fat clumps become so large and numerous that the emulsion breaks completely. The fat solidifies into a mass (the butter), and the liquid that the fat was suspended in is released (the buttermilk). This is the moment you see the separating buttermilk.

The temperature of the cream is critical because it affects the state of the fat. Cold fat droplets are harder and less likely to smear or mix into a smooth mass. They prefer to stay separate until the whisk forces them to clump. If the cream is too warm, the fat is too soft, and it might just make greasy whipped cream or take an extremely long time to separate. This is why keeping the cream very cold is the best cream for butter making rule for easy churning.

The amount of time for how long make butter Kitchenaid takes depends on how fast the fat droplets are forced together and clump. Faster speeds and colder cream help this process happen more quickly.

Final Tips for Success

• Chill Everything: Not just the cream, but if you have time, chill your mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 15-30 minutes before starting. This keeps the cream colder longer.
• Cover Up: Use that splatter guard! Or put a towel loosely over the top of the mixer (be careful it doesn’t get caught in the whisk).
• Don’t Stop Early: It can feel like it’s taking forever in the curdled stage. Don’t stop! Keep going until you see the clear separation of solid butter and liquid buttermilk.
• Wash Thoroughly: We can’t say this enough. Properly washing homemade butter is the key to good texture and shelf life. The water must run clear.
• Experiment with Salt: Start with a little salt, you can always add more later if you taste it and want it saltier.
• Save the Buttermilk: It’s a valuable ingredient!

Making butter in your Kitchenaid is a rewarding kitchen project. It’s simple, gives delicious results, and connects you to a basic food process. Give it a try!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use half-and-half or milk to make butter?

No, you need a high-fat cream like heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. Half-and-half and milk don’t have enough fat content (usually under 18%) to churn into butter. You need cream with at least 30% fat.

How much butter will one quart of heavy cream make?

A quart (32 oz or about 950ml) of heavy cream usually makes about 1 pound (about 450 grams) of butter, plus about 2 cups of buttermilk.

Why is my homemade butter white or pale yellow?

The color of butter depends on what the cows ate. If they ate fresh grass, the butter will be more yellow because of beta-carotene in the grass. If they ate mostly hay or feed, the butter will be paler. Both colors are normal and don’t affect the quality of the butter itself.

Can I use frozen heavy cream?

You can use heavy cream that was frozen and thawed, but the texture of the cream might be slightly changed, and it might take longer or be harder to churn into butter. It’s best to use fresh, never-frozen cream for the easiest butter making.

How long does homemade butter last?

Homemade unsalted butter lasts about 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. Salted butter lasts a bit longer, maybe 2-3 weeks, because salt helps preserve it. For longer storage, freeze it. Frozen homemade butter can last for several months. Make sure it’s wrapped very well to prevent freezer burn.

What’s the difference between the buttermilk I make and store-bought buttermilk?

The buttermilk you make when churning butter is fresh, liquid buttermilk. It’s the liquid left over after the fat is removed. Store-bought buttermilk is usually cultured buttermilk. It’s made by adding bacteria cultures to milk (often low-fat milk) to make it thick and tangy. They taste different and have different textures, but both are great for baking. Your homemade buttermilk is thinner and more tangy.

Can I make butter by hand?

Yes, you can! You can whisk heavy cream by hand, use a hand mixer, or even shake it in a jar. A Kitchenaid stand mixer just makes the process much faster and easier because of its power and constant motion. Churning butter Kitchenaid is the most efficient method for larger amounts at home.

Do I have to wash the butter?

Yes! Washing homemade butter is a very important step. It removes leftover buttermilk trapped in the butterfat. If you don’t wash it, the buttermilk will cause the butter to spoil quickly and give it an off flavor. Washing also helps give the butter a firmer texture.

How do I make sure I remove all the buttermilk when washing?

Keep washing the butter with fresh, ice-cold water. Each time, squish and knead the butter to force out the cloudy liquid. When the water you pour off is clear, you have removed most of the buttermilk. This step is crucial for washing homemade butter properly.