How Do You Can Butter For Long Term Storage? 3 Tried Ways

 

 

Who among us does not use butter almost every day! Personally, I prefer butter over oil in most recipes, not only because it tastes better but also because it is much healthier than oil.

As one of the lovers of preserving food for long periods, I will share with you the three best-proven methods for preserving and canning butter for long periods.

 

In each of the methods that we will use, there are some advantages and disadvantages, and we will explain them in detail

Now let’s get started!

 

How Do You Can Butter For Long-Term Storage?

 

You may have noticed that any method of preserving butter for long periods must be done after melting the butter, but do you know why?

 

Why should you melt the butter before canning?

 

As a general rule, butter should be melted before canning to get rid of water, impurities, and salts, leaving you with pure fatty butter.

 

Based on what was mentioned, the three methods that we will explain must first melt the butter and for this, I will share with you the correct way to melt the butter.

What is the correct way to melt the butter for long-time storage?

 

1. Put all the butter in one large bowl, without any additions
2. On a very low heat, leave the butter until it begins to melt.
3. Never use a wooden spoon to stir in a circular motion so that the butter does not stick to the pot or burn at the bottom of the pot.
4. Leave the butter on low heat until it is completely melted
5. You will notice that there is a layer of foam on the surface of the butter that should be removed and you can collect it in a small jar and then use it later in sandwiches (try it with fried eggs, it is great)
6. When the butter starts to boil, you can start canning

 

Now that the butter is ready, let’s start with the three ways to preserve butter for a long time

 

1- Canning butter without Pressure canner?

 

This is one of the quickest ways to preserve butter.

All you have to do is put the butter in the jar after making sure that the jar is clean Then you shake the jar very much once every 15 minutes in order to make sure all the butter fat is well cohesive.

Repeat this step until the butter has completely cooled.

 

Advantages of this method: The most important advantage of this method is that it is easy and fast

Disadvantages of this method:

• The shelf life of butter varies between six months and a year only
• It is not 100% safe compared to canning using a Pressure Canner

2- Canning butter using a Pressure canner?

 

In this way, we will use the Pressure  Canner to can butter, and the method of use is as follows:

• Put about a liter of water in a Pressure canner and then let it boil over a high heat
• Turn off the heat, then put the butter jars and close the Pressure canner
• Turn on the stove again on high heat for ten minutes
• When you see steam rising from the Pressure canner hole continuously
• Apply the Pressure Regulator to a 10lb. for about 75 minutes
• Note: When the pressure reaches 10 pounds, the fire must be reduced.
• After the 75 minutes have passed, turn off the heat and wait until the pressure reaches zero
• When the pressure reaches zero, remove the pressure Regulator and open the lid
• Put the butter jars on the rack to cool

Advantages of this method:

This method is the safest because it ensures that there are no harmful bacteria due to pressure.
This method is considered the best in terms of the longevity of butter keeping up to five years.

Disadvantages of this method:

The length of the butter preparation period for preservation, as well as the cost, if we take into account the price of the pressure canner as a cost factor.

 

Personally, I prefer this method, as it gives me a sense of safety while I use butter because I am sure that the food I prepare for my family is free of any harmful bacteria.

 

Even if this method takes longer, it does not compare to providing a safe meal for my family.

 

3- Freezing Butter for a long-time storage

 

The third and final method in this post is to preserve butter by freezing

It is not different from the first method. We will put the butter in the jar, noting that we leave about two inches of space before closing the jar, then leave the butter until it cools completely and put it in the freezer, noting that the jars should be small in size

Advantages of this method:

Lack of time to prepare butter for preservation

Disadvantages :

Butter stays good in the freezer for one to two years.

The difficulty of immediately using butter, as it will be harmful to put the butter in the microwave until it melts and can be used.

I think that this method is the least practical among the three methods because it requires preparing the butter again when it comes out of the freezer.

 

Conclusion:

As a general rule, butter can be canned for long-term storage by melting and then placed in an airtight jar, using a pressure canner or freezing.

Noting that using pressure Canner can preserve butter for up to five years.

 

Useful Resources

How does bottling preserve food? A Full Beginner Guide

 

External Resources.

NCHFP