The science behind butter | Make your own butter from cream

While you might know that we churn cream into butter, I'm guessing you don't know about all the cool food chemistry that goes into making butter.
The best part is you can create your own butter at home using just cream and a small container with a lid.
Start by pouring the cream (an oil-in-water emulsion) into a container, seal it, and shake the liquid until it turns into a water-in-oil emulsion aka butter. This will take about ten minutes of agitation so it's also a great arm workout.
By shaking the container of cream, you're actually changing the microstructure of the product by whipping in air bubbles, partially merging oil droplets, and creating fat networks. All these structural changes are important for transforming oil into butter.
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[@conquerorganicchemistry5949]

that explanation helps a lot. i finally understand butter, it's just overly shaken whipping cream. lol

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

YES, isn't that funny?! Some classic food science behind both those products :)

[@ThePrimeMinisterOfTheBlock]

Perfect. That gives me enough that I can figure out what the process of clarifying butter does - boils away the remaining water and separates the oily fat from the solid fat crystals

[@ThePrimeMinisterOfTheBlock]

Ngl, I was not expecting cream to be an emulsion. I wonder if you can break hollandaise by shaking it

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Ding, ding, ding! You got it :)

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Hollandaise sauce was actually the topic of one of my final exams during my bachelor's degree! It's an extra tricky because it's a foam and an emulsion

[@dinkumthinkum4794]

Great explanation, very clear and informative! Thank you!

[@raaji9874]

Thanks Abbey for the clear explanation.

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

You are welcome!

[@diwakarvaish8516]

Thanks for the knowledgeful video. I did this process since by childhood but did not know the science behind it.👍

[@One化學]

This film really help me know more about butter! Thanks a lot for your work.

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

I'm so glad you enjoyed :)

[@md.atikurrahman3514]

Awesome explanation of making butter from cream.

[@ltmonika3247]

Omg as I'm reading the book Butter by Elaine Khosrova. What good timing!

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

How's the book? Do you recommend?

[@ltmonika3247]

@@AbbeytheFoodScientist yes! Less science and more history/culture, but if you like that then I'd recommend :)

[@lisathiel6843]

Great presentation Dr. Thiel!!!

[@elizabethinman6902]

What a great explanation, thank you!

[@j7ndominica051]

What is the structure of a violently mixed butter and water in bulletproof coffee, which gets quite light without any milk? Egg yolk can be part of it, but doesn't seem to make much difference. Butter making is good as a science project, but not cost-effective, and doesn't yield a unique product that cannot be bought. Cream is very expensive, perishable, and a holiday treat.

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Oh, this is awesome I hadn't heard of bulletproof coffee before. The ghee (solid fat) would probably make a similar fat network as we see in butter, especially under all the agitation. Within the coffee, this fat network could trap some air bubbles to make it a light, airy texture. For the foam on top, there's some studies that have shown coffee has surface active particles that go to the air interface and stabilize air bubbles. This is called Pickering stabilization when solid particles stabilize an interface.

[@thebakermaker1500]

So because of the crystals in the cream you can make butter but if you just whip olive oil it would never solidify because of a lack of the solid crystal?

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Yes, exactly! You won't be able to build the fat network without the solid fat.

[@Nanarodriguez8]

Very clear ! :)

[@xlss8467]

Amazing explanation ❤️

[@PrettyGrossMKay]

Just wisking until separation occurs only takes a few minutes. Then rinse in cold water to prevent butter going ransid. Otherwise good presentation.

[@3ekaust]

Where i come from butter is just for recipes from other countries or cakes, so i never really understood how the whole churning thing works

[@nerdyberi]

Wonderful video

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Thanks for the visit

[@FlameHashiraAries]

Thank you

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

You're welcome

[@neginhamidi6707]

Dear Abbey, Thank you very much. I need to say, your email seems not work for sending messages from us!

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Ahh, I'm so sorry! Did you try my at [e-mail]

[@allahuakbar7717]

Great video

[@marcellef8302]

Interesting 🤔

[@AbbeytheFoodScientist]

Thank you!

[@inderdev786]

👍