Thursday, May 15, 2008

How To Can Butter

How To Can Butter

Ok, so why can butter you ask? Well because, one you can and it's fun and two, because I am working on food storage and with prices going up and up and gas the way it is and just a whole bunch of other reasons and I got this butter--Challenge Brand--for 99 cents a pound and if I can it, it lasts up to 3 years, but if I freeze it--only a few months.

Isn't it pretty! I love the buttery yellow jars. This is when they were in the cooling stage, so you can see various shades of creamy yellow.



Ok, so how do you can butter? Here's what you do.......

Use a high quality butter--Land O' Lakes, Challenge etc. Some cheaper brands will tend to separate, but you can experiment with your favorite brand and see how it does.

Ten pounds of butter will fill approximately 11-12 pint jars. I prefer the widemouth, but regular will work too.

Sterilize jars then heat in a 150 degree oven for 5 minutes.

While jars are heating, melt butter slowly in a very large pot ( I had to use 2 pots), until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour melted butter carefully into heated jars. Jars will seal as they cool. After jars have cooled for a couple of hours or til they are room temperature to the touch, give the jars a swirl to help prevent separation, being careful not to tip jars to the side, so nothing runs under the rim to break the seal.

Place jars in the fridge for several hours or overnight to allow butter to set back up. After they have set, remove from fridge, label them and store in pantry. Butter will store at room temperature for up to 3 years.