Most Old Order Amish make their own butter, although as dairy farming becomes less common, more and more are switching to store-bought. That's too bad, because nothing beats homemade butter.  I've heard it's technically easy to make homemade butter. You just fill a jar with cream, cap the jar and then shake and shake and shake and shake the jar. Pass the jar around to the kids, the husband, whomever and just keep on shaking the cream until it solidifies and begins to pull away from the sides of the jar and keep on shaking until it is finally solid.  Then spread and enjoy!  The first photo is of some homemade butter given to me by an Amish woman in Fredonia, Pennsylvania.  The second photo is of organic store-brand butter from Kroger.  The store-bought is definitely more pale and that's organic.  Buy some generic brick of no-name butter and it's even more pale.  So I suppose a good barometer on how fresh the butter  is the color, look for a deep yellow like the top picture.  Now that is fresh butter!
Barb W.
When my husband was a small boy he made butter for his class. He started with cream from his grandpa's cow and like you said shook it until there was butter. The city kids thought it was cool.
amanda
The best butter is made from a cow that eats fresh grass daily. When I make butter with the milk from AnnBelle (our Jersey cow) it has its richest yellow color when she has been eating fresh grass. When she has only hay through the winter, the butter is not as yellow but it still tastes so much better than the store bought stuff.
Oh, its also VERY addicting! YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!
Blessings,
Amanda
Matthew 6:33
Nancy LaLiberte
Can you make butter from whole milk from the grocery store, or does it need to be un-pasturized straight from a cow/farm?
Jill
To make butter you will need heavy cream and a bit of salt. I make butter with my Kitchenaid mixer. Just pour in the heavy cream, put on the wisk attachment, turn it on med. high and let it go! Once it becomes butter, form it into a ball with your hands and rinse it under cold water, squeeze out the remaining water, and kneed in a bit of salt, if desired. Then use the left over buttermilk in some homemade biscuits, and then spread on some of your homemade butter! YUM!!!
Merissa @ Little House Living
I make my butter in the blender. Just pour in the cream, turn it on and that's it! I use the buttermilk in a chocolate buttermilk bread I make:)
Tom
Have seen many young Amish children with a jar in their lap making butter.
Sharon Cole Tutt
I grew up in Iowa and my mother made butter often, or rather my sister and I took turns using an old wooden churn. My mother would save up the cream until she had enough for us to churn. The color of the butter varied on the time of the year and what the cow grazed on. Personally I did not like the taste of homemade butter. Now I realize that by saving up the cream, sometimes it wasn't as sweet when it got churned and that probably affected the taste, everyone else liked it though.
Lola LB
How much heavy cream will make 1 pound of butter, for instance?
Wilma Walker
I think about 4 cups. Not sure as I am one that doesn't measure.
Carolyn Price
My dad was a dairyman during a big part of my growing up years. He brought home large milk cans of cream, which we made into butter. Mom put it in a quart canning jar and we would take turns shaking it, or sometimes we would roll it back and forth to each other. I have not tasted butter that good sense. When my daughter was in indian maidens ( kind of like girl scouts except it was with the YWCA ) On our night to have the meeting at our house of course we were in charge of games, refreshments etc. I did the butter thing, along with hot homemade biscuits, and homemade jam. They had the time of their lives, and learned something new. I would highley reccommed that for girl scout, or any type of meeting with children. They really do love it. Thanks again Keven.
Kentuckylady717
You can make butter in about 10-15 mins. buy heavy whipping cream, pour in mixer and beat on high......seems it took about 10 mins....the milk separates from the cream, so you just take a big spoon and press the butter up against the bowl, then you scoop all the butter out .....put it in a bowl with water and keep pressing it against the bowl until all the liquid is out..(this is called washing the butter ) salt the butter to taste, put in container and cover and refrigerate...I did not wash my butter.....I just pressed all the milk out of the butter, added salt and covered and put in frig.....some say to wash it, makes it last longer.....I used a quart of heavy whipping cream and it made about an 8 oz. container of butter...then you can take the remaining milk from the butter and keep to make cornbread , some even use it in pancake batter.....the butter really is good, but I don't really think you save any money by making it yourself.....
Wm Justice
The butter I churned with my grandmother in her wooden churn was pure white and unsalted. I will never forget sitting around the dining table with my grandfather enjoying our desert of her biscuits topped with her butter and molasses. Heaven on earth it was.
Kentuckylady717
Yes homemade butter from freshly milked cows,you churn and it is white....and oh so good....when I was growing up, we used to buy it from a lady who had a cow and we called it COW BUTTER.....so so good.....Seems like it was .50 a lb. gal. of milk was .50 that sure was the good old days.....
Nana
My mother-in-law used to make butter in a glass jar churn with a crank and wooden paddles. She sold it on Saturday mornings as she had a list of "regular" customers. The health dept. made her quit selling as it used unpasteurized milk made from the family's pretty little Jersey cow.
Kevin
Nana, that is too bad that regulations had to strangle such a cottage business like that, nothing better than homemade butter!
Bev
My mother made fresh butter every time we were at relatives farms and she got fresh cream from the cows. It was wonderful to come home from school to find a fantastic treat of fresh baked bread with homemade butter. I lived in the big city of Denver, Colorado. But many relatives lived on farms. I even learned to milk cows and worked in the fields during summer vacations. I loved it. I would have spent every summer there if I could have.
Kevin
Mmmm, thanks for telling us, Bev, I can practically taste the homemade butter as you describe it!