Butter Making

[wheels]

Jim,

I end up getting 600ml cartons of dbl cream from Tesco for £1.67-ish and I get around 12oz of butter from this.

1200ml processed tonight produced 22oz of butter - Double Cream from ASDA.

Phil

[Codhead180]

First attempt at butter making in my new Kenwood Chef...............SUCCESS!!!!!! Horray!

[jillsouthern]

Hi Codhead,
Can you please state which model of Kenwood mixer you have used for your butter? I have been trying to make butter in an old glass jar with churner in the lid with some success and bread in the Kenwood that the Company recommended but it's one of those with the jug on top of the motor and I'm thinking I should have bought the old fashioned sort with the big bowl at the side of the mixing unit.
Cheers Jill

[saucisson]

I use the old style Kenwood chef (a 901) using the K beater and the mixing bowl.
Mine comes somewhere between the 2 models pictured here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenwood_Chef

There's no reason not to make in a food processor if that's what you mean by your Kenwood with a bowl on top.
Dave

[jenny_haddow]

I make my butter here with a Kenwood 901 and a K beater, and in France I use a food processor. Both work equally as well. The food processor has the edge over the 901 a bit because it is enclosed and the splashes stay inside the machine.

HTH

Jen

[Codhead180]

Hi Codhead,
Can you please state which model of Kenwood mixer you have used for your butter? I have been trying to make butter in an old glass jar with churner in the lid with some success and bread in the Kenwood that the Company recommended but it's one of those with the jug on top of the motor and I'm thinking I should have bought the old fashioned sort with the big bowl at the side of the mixing unit.
Cheers Jill

Hi Jill,

I'd been after a Kenwood Chef for ages, but being a bit 'tight' I waited until they were on offer. Got mine from here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kenwood-Classic-KM336-Kitchen-Machine/dp/B000Q7ZCFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1265298996&sr=8-1

It's my favorite gadget at the moment.

Cheers

John

[jillsouthern]

Hi Chaps,
The Kenwood machine I bought is the style if you follow this link http://www.kenwoodworld.com/uk/Products ... rocessor1/. I phoned Kenwood and said I wanted the best one for breadmaking and this has a bread blade and 1000w motor but it says don't run it continuously for more than 2 mins. I followed a recipe posted on here which said use a Kenwood on slow for 2 mins and max for 8. I tried this but the dough got very hot and I'm not sure the machine was very happy either. Am I on the right track or should I try and swap my machine for the traditional Kenwood with a big bowl to the side of the motor instead???? Suggestions please.

Thanks

[saucisson]

For bread I would suggest you want an old fashioned mixer, not a food processor. A good dough mix can take 10 or 15 minutes of dough hook stirring, stretching out the gluten into long strands. Chopping them with a blade won't give you long strands and no wonder the dough gets hot.

They may have sold you the best food processor they sell for bread making but they didn't advise you on the best machine they sell for bread making, so it may boil down to exactly what the question you asked was and whether they answered it correctly. It can't hurt to ask them if you can change it.

HTH

Dave

[Codhead180]

Jill,

I'm a bit of a gadget man and have a few machines for different tasks:

Firstly, I have a machine similar to yours which I use mainly for veg prep and sometimes pastry. I wouldn't attempt bread in it for the reasons you and Dave have given.

For my breadmaking I have a cheapy maker from Argos:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4229399/Trail/searchtext%3EBREAD+MAKER.htm. What I use this for is to make my bread dough, but not to bake it. It has a dough setting which mixes, kneads and proves it knocks it back again, kneads an proves it because it has a heating element in. I then shape my loaves let them rise and bake them and I have no failures at all.

The Kenwood chef is used for butter, cakes and most importantly mixing my sausage meat prior to stuffing.

If you want a general machine that can do the most tasks I would go for a machine like my Kenwood Chef as it is a good all rounder, and you can buy attachments for them.

Cheers

John

[jillsouthern]

Thanks Guys,
It seems I need a different machine, thanks for your advice.

One other thing. When it comes to butter making have you any tips on how to get the most water out? I went to the Victorian Farm place (as seen on TV) and the lady there did a fab demonstration but in large quantities and she had a huge free standing, what looked like a clothes mangle, to squash all the water out so the butter was really smooth. Any tips for "doing it at home"?

Cheers,
Jill

[wheels]

I shape it into a sort of flat rectangle on the work surface and then clout it with a rolling pin! (Maybe a slight exaggeration - but you get the idea?)

Phil