making salted butter from unsalted butter

To make salted butter, sprinkle salt over the butter and knead it in with your hands. Shake the strainer to drain off as much water as possible, then gather the butter into your hands and knead like dough to remove more of the water. Place the strainer under cold running water and rinse until the water runs through the strainer clear. (Note that this is not the thick, cultured buttermilk you’ll find at the grocery, but more like skim milk with tiny flecks of butterfat.) Retain the butter in the strainer and save the buttermilk for another use (for drinking, for cooking pasta or potatoes, or baking). Set a strainer or colander over a bowl, and transfer the butter and liquid strain off the buttermilk. Shake vigorously until the same thing happens: the butter solids separate from the buttermilk. (To make butter in a jar – which is a fun kids-in-the-kitchen activity – add up to 1 cup of heavy cream to a lidded glass pint or quart jar. At this point, reduce the mixer speed to low and mix slowly until the solids come together into a clump. You’ll see a thin, watery liquid accumulate in the bowl, and you’ll see small bits of solid butterfat. After about 6 to 8 minutes (more or less the process takes less time if the cream is warmer), the butter will begin to separate.

Making salted butter from unsalted butter