The Nizhnevartovsk Museum of Local History houses a butter churn — a special vessel used to make butter from slightly soured milk. A butter churn looked like a low (a bit more than 60 centimeters), narrow tub, made of ten polished wooden bars. They are connected with three metal hoops. Coopers used the same method to make barrels and wooden jugs for storing various food and liquids. A butter churn has a removable bottom. It is fixed with the help of special grooves. The outside of a vessel is colored with brown oil paint.
Russians learned to churn butter in the 9th century. The best sorts, which were served in rich families, were made of whole milk, cream, and sour cream. The so-called “kitchen” butter was used for everyday cooking. It was made of soured milk.
A lid and a dasher, as well as a vessel, were obligatory parts of a butter churn. A lid was made of the same wood as a tub. Linden was usually chosen as the material for that tool, because its wood was easy to process, it did not have a pungent smell, and was easily washed. A tub had to be tightly closed to prevent the raw material from splashing out. A dasher looked like a long stick with blades attached to one end. It was lowered inside a butter churn through a hole in the lid and used to churn butter.
The cream was cooked from the evening. Milk was boiled and left overnight to form cream. In the morning, it was necessary to skim the cream off the milk and pour it into a butter churn. In addition, newly drawn milk was gradually added to that mixture. The whole mass had to be vigorously churned with a dasher until the flakes of milk fat would gather into small pieces, and then into bigger parts. Butter was considered ready when a solid, dense, homogeneous piece was formed in a wooden tub. It was well rinsed in cold water to remove unwanted specks and residual cream.
Homemade butter was not stored for a long time. That is why the housewives added salt in it or melted it. Melted butter did not spoil so soon and tasted well. Finished butter was stored in small wooden or clay bowls, which were covered with a sheet of cloth or paper.
Russians learned to churn butter in the 9th century. The best sorts, which were served in rich families, were made of whole milk, cream, and sour cream. The so-called “kitchen” butter was used for everyday cooking. It was made of soured milk.
A lid and a dasher, as well as a vessel, were obligatory parts of a butter churn. A lid was made of the same wood as a tub. Linden was usually chosen as the material for that tool, because its wood was easy to process, it did not have a pungent smell, and was easily washed. A tub had to be tightly closed to prevent the raw material from splashing out. A dasher looked like a long stick with blades attached to one end. It was lowered inside a butter churn through a hole in the lid and used to churn butter.
The cream was cooked from the evening. Milk was boiled and left overnight to form cream. In the morning, it was necessary to skim the cream off the milk and pour it into a butter churn. In addition, newly drawn milk was gradually added to that mixture. The whole mass had to be vigorously churned with a dasher until the flakes of milk fat would gather into small pieces, and then into bigger parts. Butter was considered ready when a solid, dense, homogeneous piece was formed in a wooden tub. It was well rinsed in cold water to remove unwanted specks and residual cream.
Homemade butter was not stored for a long time. That is why the housewives added salt in it or melted it. Melted butter did not spoil so soon and tasted well. Finished butter was stored in small wooden or clay bowls, which were covered with a sheet of cloth or paper.
