Wednesday, October 8, 2025
62.6 F
Beckley
More

    How to make butter at home—West Virginia style

    The process of making butter is known to be older than civilization, and a limitless variety of butter-making methods certainly exist—ranging from the production of in southern Asia to in northern Europe.

    Advertisement
    Clay butter churns were preferred by mountain folk, according to Comstock.

    Simply put, the making of butter requires that microscopic globules of butterfat in cream be agitated, or churned, until the membranes surrounding them breaks, allowing the globules to bind together into a solid mass.

    Finding the ingredient to make butter today is relatively easy. You only need one ingredient—heavy cream. You could use cream from raw milk from the neighbor's cow or purchase heavy whipping cream with a high-fat content from the store. The Mother Nature Network recommends that can be managed in any kitchen almost anywhere.

    But the mountain folk of West Virginia had their own methods, surely not so different than others, but often influenced by tradition and climate. In the 1970s, historian Jim Comstock published his own description of butter-making as he witnessed it. The following is adapted from his description in the West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, Vol. 4., pages 744-755.

    Advertisement

    BUTTER MAKING

    There may be all kinds of churns in other places, but in the mountains, a churn is almost always a four- or five-gallon stoneware jar. It has a loosely-fitting cover in which there is a hole. Through this hole, a wooden rod protrudes, on the other end of which is a dasher, which is usually a cross-shaped block of wood or a disk with holes in it.

    To make butter, you take your richest milk, and skim the cream from it, then pour the cream into the churn jar. The skim milk that remains is a thin watery substance. It may be drunk—if you like it, or if you need it—but most people feed it to their pigs, which seem to thrive on it.

    The churn is then left in a place which is not so cool as to prevent the cream from clabbering. In the winter it is placed in the root cellar or next to the stove if the weather is cold.

    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement

    When the cream turns just enough so that when the churn is tilted the liquid holds together in one form, separating cleanly from the sides of the container, it is ready to churn. If it sours too long, the cream will curdle and separate and it is then no longer good for much except pigs.

    The butter-making itself is simple. You move the dasher up and down for 30 to 40 minutes while waiting for the butter to come. The first indication that something is happening is when the cream becomes thick. At this point, it is like whipped cream. A little while later, the butter breaks, and you have a churn full of thin buttermilk in which large flecks of butter are floating.

    Keep moving the dasher, and in a few minutes, the butter gathers together, separating from the buttermilk almost entirely, but not so much as to prevent plenty of small yellow specks from floating around in it when you get ready to drink it later.

    Read also:

    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement

    When the butter has gathered, the churn lid is removed and the butter is either scooped out with the dasher or a sieve or the buttermilk is poured off through a strainer. The next step is to rinse the butter thoroughly with cold water and to salt it if desired, as it usually is by most mountain people.

    The butter may then be molded, usually in round molds which leave a decoration of some kind imprinted on top of the piece of butter, such as a flower or a sheaf of wheat. Some people work the butter back and forth with a paddle before molding, to expel any buttermilk which may be remaining. The butter is then placed in the spring house, ice house, or the refrigerator if there is one.

    It should perhaps be added that mountain people consider fresh buttermilk one of the best things to drink that was ever invented. It also makes the tightest and best tasting biscuits, pancakes, and any other baked product where the recipe calls for milk.


    Legend of Burnt House lives on through strange town name

    The legend of Burnt House is linked to a favorite West Virginia ghost story.

    Motorists traveling the old Staunton Turnpike between Weston and Parkersburg, West Virginia, are sure to have noticed the little village of "Burnt House" and wondered about the name.

    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement

    Like every good town name in the Mountain State, there’s a good story behind it. In this case, it’s a ghost story—one of the region's best-known ghost stories.


    Sign up to receive a FREE copy of West Virginia Explorer Magazine in your email weekly. Sign me up!
    David Sibray
    David Sibray
    Historian, real estate agent, and proponent of inventive economic development in West Virginia, David Sibray is the founder and publisher of West Virginia Explorer Magazine. For more information, he may be reached at 304-575-7390.

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Hot this week

    Swing into autumn with West Virginia’s three new Almost Heaven swings

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials at the W.Va. Department of...

    Mysterious Wetzel County worm invasion wreaked havoc in West Virginia in 1918

    LITTLETON, W.Va. — In the summer of 1918, a...

    Exclusive dinner series at Pipestem Resort State Park showcases new menu

    PIPESTEM, W.Va. — Tickets are now available for a...

    Risk of West Virginia wildfires increases in 2025 amid dry autumn conditions

    MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The crackle of autumn leaves underfoot...

    Polemic Run, West Virginia: A roadside journey hidden off the expressway

    BIRCH RIVER, W.Va. — Each day, more than 10,000...

    Topics

    Swing into autumn with West Virginia’s three new Almost Heaven swings

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials at the W.Va. Department of...

    Risk of West Virginia wildfires increases in 2025 amid dry autumn conditions

    MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The crackle of autumn leaves underfoot...

    Investigator: West Virginia ground-zero for UFO research, ET encounters

    GREEN BANK, W.Va. — A renowned paranormal investigator says...

    Duck, goose, waterfowl hunting season in West Virginia open October 4

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several migratory bird hunting seasons will...

    Autumn colors continue to unfold across 'Almost Heaven,' West Virginia

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Autumn is sweeping across 'Almost Heaven,'...

    Related Articles

    Popular Categories