What is the Best Cream for Making Butter?

Making butter is one of the few culinary endeavors that begins with one ingredient and ends with two. Since there is only one ingredient going in, you better make sure that it is of high-quality. Your butter is only as good as the quality of cream that you make it with.

Always buy heavy cream or whipping cream for churning butter. Any brand will do. You need the higher fat content. Heavy cream is approximately 40% butterfat and 60% milk solids and water. The best option would be fresh, raw cream from pastured Jersey cows. Milk from Jersey cows has the highest fat content, which is why they are primarily dairy cattle. In addition, the fat in their milk has larger globules in it which makes it perfect for churning butter.

Ideally, you can get a raw milk delivery service or source local milk from a co-op near you. To find out where you can get raw milk in your state, check out Real Milk Finder. You can also connect directly with local farmers with FarmMatch.

Whenever I get raw milk, I let it sit overnight in the fridge. Then I skim the cream from the top and use this for churning butter. Cultured cream makes delicious, tangy butter, which is known to many as “European-style butter”.

One can use pasteurized cream for making butter, however the quality and flavor will not be the same as using fresh cream. Though churning your own butter from store-bought cream will still be better than average store-bought butter. Avoid buying cream with additives. Not only do the additives stabilize the cream, making it more difficult to churn into butter, but they are also unhealthy for you.