Why might I have trouble making butter from Crème Fraîche?
I tried making cultured butter today from a supermarket variety crème fraîche. For some reason the butter hasn't split from the whey although I've "churned" it with the hand mixer for 20 minutes or more.
This recipe for cultured butter suggests that about 2 to 5 minutes is needed with a food processor, and my previous experience with the hand mixer is about 10 minutes for sweet butter.
I checked the ingredients list of the crème fraîche and I don't see anything unusual: cream* and an unspecified culture. That's it. No artificial thickeners for example.
What could be the problem?
Update:
I'll just note one avenue I've already explored: temperature. I've tried varying the temperature during churning from just above freezing to around room temperature.
* The cream is "högpastöriserad" which is Swedish for a pasteurization process where the cream is held at 80°C for 5 seconds. I'm not sure this term translates directly to a common English term.
Best Answer
If you were using supermarket cream, the reason would be very clear: it is not only pasteurized, but also homogenized. This means that it has been mechanically emulsified to prevent the butter from separating.
I don't know if the cream for creme fraiche is homogenized too before creme fraiche is made, but with your result, I'd suspect homogenization too. It won't show up on the label as an ingredient, as it is done by forcing the cream through microfilters.
Pictures about "Why might I have trouble making butter from Crème Fraîche?"
Can creme fraiche be turned into butter?
Then we graduated to using creme fraiche to make cultured butter \u2013 which is closer in flavour to the distinctive, faint sourness of good European butters....Ingredients.QuantityIngredient1 teaspoonfine salt, (optional)1 more rowHow long does it take to culture butter?
Seal jar well and shake aggressively until combined, or whisk well if using a bowl. Cover jar or bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let mixture sit in a warm area of your kitchen for 18 to 36 hours; it should thicken and taste rich and tangy.What temperature does cream need to be to make butter?
Start with the cream at about 50-60\xa1F to make butter. If its too warm, the butter will be very soft and will be more difficult to rinse and knead later on. If too cold, the fat will have difficulty consolidating. You can start with fresh sweet cream or culture your own cream for more flavor.The science behind butter | Make your own butter from cream
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