Even though I am actively praying and looking for a cream separator, I wanted to give making cultured butter from whole milk one more try before I threw up my hands and declared it was not possible or not worth the effort. Truthfully, I still feel the yield is too low to make it worthwhile, but this time (as opposed to last time), I am sure that I did it right and got the most possible butter I could out of the milk I cultured.
Jerri at Homesteader Supply shared this technique with me. It works, it really does. And the butter is to-die-for! Wow! From a quart of cultured milk, I got 4 tablespoons of butter. Not alot. 
But super duper good butter, even so! It gets me excited that if I ever get a cream separator, I’ll be able to use this process with great yields – because I’ll start with cream instead of milk.
What’s happening with this method is that instead of taking straight cream and turning it into butter (culturing is optional), you take whole milk, culture it, and churn the milk – but because the milk is only 4 to 5 percent cream, that’s all that turns into butter. The rest you capture and save to use later, as cultured milk.
The Recipe: Cultured Butter from Cultured Goat Milk (Not Cream)
Yield: about 1/4 cup of butter from 1 quart of milk, depending on butterfat content of your milk.
Take one quart of raw goat milk, its temperature doesn’t matter. (I used milk still warm from milking.) Add about 1/8 teaspoon of mesophilic MM or mesophilic MA culture. Mix it up so the culture distributes fully. Cover with a cloth and secure with rubber band or ribbon. Leave out until thick, about 24 hours. It should taste like sour cream. Transfer to refrigerator to chill all the way.
Put 2 cups of the cultured milk in mixing bowl of mixer or in blender (don’t use a Vita-Mix, it will get hot). Add 1 cup of cold water. Turn on mixer or blender and let it run. In my Bosch on speed 3, I had to let it run 20 minutes while watching for clumps of solids floating in liquid. If it is pasty, not solid, let it go longer. When the butter solids are formed, pour all the contents through a fine strainer, catching the liquid in a bowl beneath. Save the liquid for later use, for soaking or baking.
Wash the butter solids under cold running water. It will thicken and harden from the cold water. Rinse until water runs clear. Transfer to a bowl and mash it with a spoon to release the rest of the water. When no more water comes out, the butter is done. Salt to taste and store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
About Goat’s Milk and Separating Cream
I’ve been researching this – hoping for a non-mechanical solution to getting cream from our goat’s milk. But I’m not finding anything useful. At Mother Earth News, a writer suggested putting a gallon of milk in a shallow pan in the refrigerator for 24 hours to allow cream to rise to the surface. I would love to do this, but I have not the fridge space. Other methods that work for cow’s milk, where the cream rises to the surface of whatever jar and gives inches of cream, do not work for goat’s milk. This is because goat’s milk is naturally homogenized – the fat particles are the same size as the rest and they stay mixed together.
So I am waiting for a cream separator. Actually, I’m waiting for a good deal on one and antique is fine as long as there are no tin parts! I prefer a hand crank, just cuz someday I might not have much electricity available. If anyone wants to buy me one, I won’t refuse. 
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What is a cream separator? Off to google it.
Christie – Did you figure it out?
It uses centrifugal motion to separate the cream from the milk. You can get them either electric or hand crank. New ones are from $300 to $500 – ouch. A good antique could be $100. I am hoping for a good deal – like around $25! 
But I would be willing to spend more for a good one, just not $300!
I got plenty of raw goat milk, and I am ready to try this recipie! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Sue! I did try this – and it works. Only it doesn’t yield much. If the milk is 5% cream, 5% of the whole milk will turn into butter. Let me know how it goes for you!
Sure enjoyed this article and the recipe for goats milk butter. I had no idea that one could make it without a cream separator because every one I asked said it was required. I knew there had to be a way! I also read the Mother Earth article and will keep it and yours together along with any other recipes I can find for goats milk butter sans separator. Thank you so much!
a shallow pan or a wide bowl are definately needed for a decent yield but maybe you could find a cools spot? not the fridge? I know i know fridge but maybe? I have had good success with it that way but I may try this! i looked it up as i just separated some cream from a few gallons and wanted to see what this post had been about. Snap! lol
NOW if you or a dear one is industrious enough ( my DH is but hasnet got to it yet…we are ssure to have little to know electric someday so hand crank of course like my flour mill
…which he is finally putting to an old bike!!! )
I have an ‘exlosion’ of an old hand crank machine that i may be able to find a gain for you. It has all the work done just follow it and make the centerfuge as they did.These are the original cream seperato! How lucky was I to find that? Let me know and i will ge tit too you.
Teri – Thanks for the ideas and you tested it, too! I do have a cream separator now – not that I’ve used it yet. I am waiting for other projects to be done so we can build a little table for it and install it.
at this point we shake ours in a jar lol eventually we want a hand crank one. What is the difference between cultured and not health wise and storage wise when you are just using cream do you know? And does it taste different?
Teri – The cultured butter has more probiotic benefits, and it also stores longer. More good cops to keep the bad cops down!
(You know I am referring to bacteria.)
wow i have to apologize for the terrible spelling! no more posting late at night for me!
I’m not sure what kind of goats you all have that you’re not able to get the cream at the top of the jars?! All of our goats (French Alpine, Oberhasli, Oberhasli/Boer and LaMancha) their cream rises to the top. It takes a few days though (3/4) and all of our friends that have Nigerian Dwarves have even richer cream.
We make the yummiest butter and amazing cheeses too!
Frankie — We have Nubians. Certainly some cream rises to the surface, but nothing like cow cream. Plus I’m pretty impatient to save the milk that long.
How much cream do you get in 3-4 days. Some of our goats have creamier milk than others. Have you noticed that, even within the same breed? Anyway, good for you on getting all that cream!
Hi!
I am a 27 year old with a 1 year old, a 2 year old and a 3 year old.
We live in British Columbia on 2 acres. I have decided to start living off the land. Just made Almond milk and almond cheese, delish! Our goats have yet to have babies, so I guess we have to wait until April or May?? As you can tell, Im super new at this and have NO CLUE what Im doing!! Any advise or anything would be amazing!!
My raw goat’s milk separates naturally as fast as it can! I had a glass gallon jug full sitting outside on my porch (exposed to sunlight and temperature between 55 and 65 degrees) and in just one day all of the cream (about 1/3 of the gallon jug) was sitting on top of the skim milk. It had cultured and separated and I wish I had used it to make butter, but instead I made feta.
Now I am absolutely obsessed with the idea of making goat’s milk butter. I wonder why no one is marketing artisan goat’s butter…
What a great article. I was wondering, could I culture my cream with some buttermilk. I would think it would be the same. Maybe not as tasty though. The cream from our raw goat’s milk rises to the top too, but not too much. SOmetimes, though, I will get a ton of cream, like 2 c. from it, but that is rare. The people we buy it from have various types of goats, Nubians, and others.
Carolyn — Yes, you can culture it with buttermilk. It would be tasty.
Hello. I am newer to the whole foods movement, and WAPF, I am so excited learning everything. I have a few of questions about goat’s milk, I wonder if anyone could answer? First, is raw goat’s milk as rich in the enzymes and probiotics as raw cow’s milk? I cannot seem to find this answer anywhere. Second, I have some leftover buttermilk, from the store, expired March 30, do you think it would be ok to use still to culture my butter? It is not a thick puddy yet… And third, I have fresh buttermilk from making Goat’s butter yesterday, but it is not cultured, could I use that to make cultured butter somehow? Now I know this may seem like a dumb question, and it probably is, but I am very new to all this, so please bear with me….
I am really excited to get my hands on your fermenting book, I made my first lacto fermented ginger ale, my hubby loved it! That was my first lacto fermented anything, I am an uber newbie to fermentation. lol
Thanks for your time, I love your site!!
Carolyn — Welcome! While goat’s milk and cow’s milk are not exactly the same, both are beneficial in enzymes and beneficial organisms. Goat’s milk is often easier to digest for some people.
If your expired buttermilk has active cultures and still smells fine, I think you can use it.
I don’t see how your leftover buttermilk (if not cultured) can make cultured butter. What you would want to do is just leave your raw goat milk out to culture by itself or add something cultured to it (like your expired buttermilk… assuming it is still good). Or yogurt with active cultures. A kefir grain.
Thanks for stopping by!