Saturday, August 25, 2012

Canning Butter


Canning Butter

After doing a LOT of research, I believe there is a SAFE way to can butter for long term use. There is much information on the internet about canning butter in your oven. DO NOT buy into it as it will only keep for about 6 months and it is not safe. Various home canners have reported to me that they have tried that method and within 6 months, a thin layer of black mold begins to grow on the butter. Others have tried a BOILING WATER BATH with only a slight improvement in the product.

Butter is a LOW ACID food; therefore, it will only get hot enough to kill all bacteria in a pressure canner. I found a few people who have said they found satisfactory results with canned butter that was dated 1999, however it WAS pressure canned.

I experimented with three methods of preparation.  All methods require vigorous shaking of the butter as it cools to keep it from separating.

First, I did one jar by simply filling it with soft butter. That jar (it was brand new) broke in the canner. Perhaps I didn’t leave enough headspace. I don’t know . . . 

Second, I melted the butter and stirred it well before filling the jars. This appears to be a satisfactory method, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the texture is not as smooth as the third method.

Third, and preferably, I melted the butter and brought it to a boil in a large pan. Allow enough room for it to foam up within the pan.  I continued cooking it at a slow boil for a minimum of 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. The last thing we want is a burnt butter flavor.


Fill the jars leaving standard headspace. Be sure to stir the butter well and scoop up from the bottom of the pan. Wipe the rims and place the lids and rings on tightly. Pressure can for 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure for ½ pints or pints.

After you remove the jars from the canner, allow them seal and to cool a bit before shaking them. Shake about every half hour until the butter begins to congeal. You may sit them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.



I assumed that I would need ½ pound of butter for each half pint, however, it required a bit less than that.  I ended up with two pints more than I had planned and still had an extra pound of butter left over. I had purchased 12 pounds of butter with the intention of ending up with 24 ½ pints. 

Butter was on sale at a good price ($1.99 per pound). Though I store butter in the freezer, I wanted some shelf stable butter as well. It’s great to take camping with you!

The next time I can butter, I plan to make some garlic butter and perhaps experiment with a few other herbs and spices as well.

22 comments:

  1. You said use "standard headspace" for the jars of butter. what is standard head space? One inch? I am so glad to get this information. I wondered about butter being low acid and others not using the pressure canner to can it. I do wonder though about shaking it after it has only cooled some. Hs it "paged" by then? The shaking could make the butter come out from under the flat other wise and leave it unsealed. The shaking was my other concern because of this concern. Thank you so much for your information to help us can up things for the future. Your instructions are good and inspirational too!! Sarah

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  2. Sarah, thank you for your comment.
    I am not sure what you mean by 'paged' but I was surprised by how rapidly it began to set up . .
    As far as the headspace goes, I try to never fill jars above the point where the rim would cover.
    The butter WILL separate after processing and so the shaking is necessary.
    I, too had a concern about the butter possibly seeping under the rubber part of the lid, but all of mine sealed very well and are still sealed well. I did tighten the lids again just to be sure before the shaking.
    I did a LOT of research before attempting this process and there is a LOT of information out there to process butter without actually pressure canning it. I have tried the oven method and it was not satisfactory for long term storage.
    I'm also guessing that the quality of the butter in the first place makes a difference. . . it may become slightly grainy but to be able to store it long term is important to me personally. I hope that I have answered your concerns satisfactorily. Again, thanks for the comment! Mary Lou

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  3. It has been a while since you posted. I hope you are doing fine and are just busy with life. I do really enjoy your blog and all the good information you have given us. I will keep checking back. Thank you again. Sarah

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    1. It has been awhile and I need to post something soon. Thank you for your concern. Yes, I have been extremely busy with life and some chronic health problems that flare up from time to time but I am doing pretty well . . . hopefully things will slow down a bit soon. Do keep checking back . . . some of my posts can be recycled such as the one on Fall Gardens. Regards, Mary Lou

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  4. It has been awhile and I need to post something soon. Thank you for your concern. Yes, I have been extremely busy with life and some chronic health problems that flare up from time to time but I am doing pretty well . . . hopefully things will slow down a bit soon. Do keep checking back . . . some of my posts can be recycled such as the one on Fall Gardens. Regards, Mary Lou

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  5. You certainly do have a lot of nice past posts! :) I will keep checking back. I hope you are feeling better and keep doing so. Enjoy all your activities..every minutes of them.! Sarah

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  6. Thank you Sarah . . . I have a bum foot that has kept be laid up for some time, but it is improving . . . do check back as I hope to be back in the swing of things soon! Thanks again.

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  7. Silly thing is at the end of Aug my foot got a problem too!! I hope both of our problems are resolved soon. Enjoy your holiday but don't over do even if you can. :) Sarah

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  8. Sarah, I sure feel for you. My Achilles tendon is very slow to heal and as a result, I favor it when I walk therefore I have my back all twisted out of shape. Growing old is not for sissies but some days I feel I have wimped out! Enjoy your holidays too . . .I will I know . . .

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  9. Just wishing you a Merry Christmas!! Sarah

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  10. Thank you Sarah and I wish the same to you and yours. I'm hoping come January that I can be healthy enough to get back at it. All fall I have dealt with things like a torn Achilles tendon to having pneumonia at the present time. . . God is good and this too shall pass. Thank you for your loyalty.
    Mary Lou

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  11. Just checking in to say I am thinking of you. :) Sarah

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  12. I am interested in canning some butter but have a question. I saw a video where a lady canned butter. After she boiled the butter, she skimmed off the foam before putting the butter in the jars. Is this necessary or can you mix the foam back in and fill the jars?

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    1. I did not skim mine. After removing it from the heat, the foam went down some. You could skim if you wish, however, you are then removing part of the butter. I feel satisfied with the results of my butter. The continued shaking of the jars as they cooled seemed to incorporate the foam with the rest of the contents satisfactorily. I hope this is helpful to you. :) Mary Lou

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  13. I 'am soooooooooo excited to find this blog !!! However I see you haven't posted since 2013, I 'am in hopes that you can still help !!! I have a question about caning butter , question is can I can homemade butter ?? My recipe says freeze butter but I would rather can my homemade butter If I can possibly get by with that . Can you help me out on this matter please?
    Thank you
    Deonna

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    1. Also wonder if I can make honey butter and as you said garlic butter ? have you tried any of these other flavors and canned them successfully? You'er input would be greatly appreciated please..
      Thanks soooo much !!!

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    2. Deonna,
      Thank you for your interest in my blog. I am all about safe canning practices for sure. There are a LOT of posts and blogs out there about canning/preserving butter in a host of unsafe ways. Pressure canning is the only method that will work for longer than a few months.
      I have never tried canning homemade butter but I fail to see any apparent reason why you could not do so safely. I personally have never canned honey butter but I think you should be able to do that safely with this procedure as well. Personally, I prefer to add fresh garlic for my garlic butter but again that is simply a personal preference.
      True, I have not added a post in a long time. I have experienced some rather serious health problems and I am just now becoming somewhat normal in my activities. The holiday season is upon us and of course I will be very busy during this time but I truly hope to begin adding new posts around the first of the new year if not sooner.
      Again, thank you so much for your interest and I hope you will share this with your like minded friends.
      Best wishes and happy canning!
      Mary Lou

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  14. Thank you sooooo much for posting this! I was considering oven canning my butter. Got everything ready to go, then realized I'd loaned some of my canning things to a friend. I could've emprovised but decided to wait until I got my stuff back, as it was getting late anyway. In the meantime, I lost my instructions and had to Google and that's when your post came up! So glad I waited. I would've been so disappointed with the results the other way. Not into wasting time or money!

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  15. Thanks for your comment. I agree, I too, hate waste of both time and money. It saddens me that there is so much misinformation out there and some of it is downright dangerous. Happy Canning!
    Mary Lou

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  16. How long is butter good with your method? I have heard of others who can at 10 lbs pressure for 10 minutes as you do, all the way up to 60 minutes at 10 lbs pressure. The longer processing time says it is shelf stable for 3 years. Just wondering what the difference in results would be.

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  17. Sadly there is no way to safely can butter. I know it's everywhere online and that grandparents did it. Unfortunately there are many bacteria today that were not around way back then. To be safe and protect familys it's not a good idea to can butter. Read more here: http://www.simplycanning.com/misunderstandings-in-canning.html

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  18. Sadly there is no way to safely can butter. I know it's everywhere online and that grandparents did it. Unfortunately there are many bacteria today that were not around way back then. To be safe and protect familys it's not a good idea to can butter. Read more here: http://www.simplycanning.com/misunderstandings-in-canning.html

    ReplyDelete