More about butter

I feel like half the stuff I write on here or talk about with people have to do with butter, and/or that Lynette and I now make all of our own butter.  Realistically, it's not all I talk about, but when presented with the opportunity I find it hard to resist the chance to tell people about it.  Last week, Robin Davis, the editor of the The Dispatch Kitchen (The Columbus Dispatch's food section) put a call out on Twitter for anyone that makes their own butter.  I figured a lot of people would probably email her, and I probably wouldn't hear back, but I sent an email anyways.  Low and behold, she got in contact with me and I told our butter story.  Her article was in today's food section.  I have to say, I feel very humbled with the other people mentioned in the article:  Kevin Caskey, the chef from Skillet , Warren Taylor, the CEO of Snowville Creamery, and Kate Djupe of a kate offering.

If you haven't read about our first experience making butter, I did a blog post back on January 8th.  It was way easier than I thought, and after tasting the result I knew we'd most likely be making all of our butter from that day forward.  You see, we had already made the decision to stick with Snowville milk, and that was pretty much by taste alone.  The decision about the butter was really no different.  It was obviously also a big deal because I knew what Snowville was all about.  I knew how their cows were raised and treated, and the general benefits of anything from an animal that was raised the way they should be.  In this case, cows that ate grass, oh the revelation!

Within 3 weeks or so, we ran out of the butter we originally made and made some more.  After that second making, I saw an announcement from Slow Foods Columbus that they were putting on a few butter making classes with none other than Warren Taylor from Snowville.  Even better, this class was completely free!  I hopped on the chance and reserved my spot for the February 12th class.  It was awesome!

Before:

After:

I've always heard how Warren is a ball of energy and his reputation definitely proceeded him.  He was by no means out of control, but it was entertaining, extremely informative, and great to get around a bunch of like minded people.  Just the knowledge gained about milk, fat contents, how different dairy products are made, etc. were reason enough to be happy I went, but he also talked a lot about the health benefits of grass fed vs. grain fed.

While choosing to spend the extra for Snowville milk, and spend the extra time to make our own butter out of their whipping cream could easily be decided on taste alone, it's good to know that there are numerous health benefits too.  We will be continuing to buy only their milk, and will continue to make our own butter from their cream.  Also, if anyone asks, I will still continue to enjoy telling our story!