Butter and ghee
Practical Action
Methods of processing
Fresh milk is first separated into skim milk and cream and the cream is then used to make fresh
butter or ghee. These processes are described in more detail below. To make lactic butter, milk
is fermented to yoghurt (see Technical Brief: Soured milk and yoghurt), and this is then churned
as for fresh butter. Whey has a butterfat content of 3.5 - 8.75%, depending on the type of
cheese being made (see Technical Brief: Cheese-making). It may also contain residual starter
culture from the cheese whey. The process is similar to that used to make fresh butter.
Fresh butter
The process is described in Figure 1 below.
Stage in process
Notes
Optional
Cooled and
filtered raw
Milk with a high fat content (Table 2) gives a higher butter yield.
Technical Brief: Dairy processing - an overview gives details of raw
milk milk quality.
Separate
Pre-heat milk to 36-40oC. Separate into skim milk and cream using an
| electric or manual cream separator (Fig. 2).
Pasteurise
Heat the cream to at least 63oC for 30 minutes (or 72oC for 15
seconds) in a stainless steel pan. For improved keeping quality of the
butter, it is advisable to exceed this minimum heat treatment (e.g.
75oC for one minute). Start timing when the cream reaches the correct
temperature and continually stir to ensure even heating and prevent
over-heating at the bottom of the pan that would change the flavour of
the cream. At a larger scale of production a jacketed pan may be used,
which reduces the risk of overheating (see Technical Brief: Pasteurised
Milk for details).
To below 4oC for several hours (or overnight) to 'age' the cream. This
Chill
|
allows the fat to partly crystallise, which helps the churning process
and improves the butter yield.
Churn
In a butter churn. Small butter churns (Fig. 3) have a paddle that is
rotated either manually or using an electric motor. At a larger scale, a
drum churn (Fig. 4) is rotated to churn the cream. Fill the churn to
40-50% of capacity to allow space for the cream to foam. Churn at
25-35 rpm for 5 minutes. Stop the churn and release the gases that
are produced. Churn again at 25-35 rpm for 20-45 minutes. The
cream gets thicker and it then 'breaks' to form ‘grains’ of butter and
buttermilk. Churn until butter grains stick together into large lumps.
Keep the temperature as low as possible during churning. If the
temperature is too high, there are greater losses of fat into the
buttermilk. Churning at low temperatures makes the fat droplets in
cream join together.
Separate
Drain off the buttermilk. It is either used as a drink or fed to animals.
Wash
Add the same amount of chilled or cold water as the amount of
buttermilk removed (water should be drinking quality). Churn at 10-
15 rpm for 5 minutes. Drain the water and rotate the churn at 10-
15 rpm for 10-20 minutes. Remove the butter.
Salt For salted butter, add salt (1-2% of butter weight) with continued slow
| churning to achieve even salt distribution.
Work/
Work the butter to the required consistency with butter pats (Fig. 5).
Mould
Mould it into solid blocks with the butter pats or press it into butter
| moulds that can have different shapes (Fig. 6), especially for use in
hotels or restaurants.
Pack/Store
Into greaseproof paper, aluminium foil, or plastic bags or tubs (usually
200 - 500 g) for retail sale. Small plastic single-serve portion pots
(10–15 g) of butter are another type of product that is supplied to
airlines and hotels in some countries. Store below 4oC in a refrigerator.
Figure 1: Processing fresh and salted butter (From Opportunities in Dairy Processing)
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