Food Preparation and Preservation/ July 23rd, 2021

Today we are going to look at some of the amazing products that can be made from milk and cream right from the farm’s cow!

Butter Making

Livestock, more specifically cows, were an important addition to the homestead. The dairy they produced provided essential nutrients that kept settlers strong and healthy. The milk would be consumed directly or processed into alternative means of consumption.

One of the most common ways early settlers processed their milk was turning it into butter! Butter would be churned by hand in order to separate the fat (which forms the butter!) from the buttermilk. This chore was often given to the children as it was a simple, but important, task. Butter was used to grease pans to prevent sticking as well as add flavour to meals. The fat would also help pastries and baked goods keep their shape. The buttermilk would not go to waste, it would be used in a variety of recipes and would sometimes even be used to make soap!

To learn how you can make your own butter at home check out our butter making demonstration from last summer: https://youtu.be/gDbIL1xZKBQ

Ice Cream Making

Here we have Jenny O’Hara enjoying some ice cream with friends! (Colourized)

Milk wasn’t used for just essential purposes; when a family was well-off and was looking for some fun, they would use an ice cream maker!

The machine would be made of two compartments; the outer one would most often be built of wood and would be filled with ice and salt (the salt makes the ice colder!). The inner compartment would be made of a conductive metal to ensure it got super cold and would then be filled with heavy cream and sugar. In the early days of making ice cream, someone would stir the cream and sugar mixture by hand. This process ensured that the mixture didn’t stick to the inside of the inner compartment as it froze! When the ice cream machine was developed, a paddle attached to a hand crank was built into the inner compartment to make the stirring process easier.

Ice cream was a fun treat for settlers to enjoy and provided an opportunity for the community to get together and enjoy it together!

𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 & 𝓜𝓲𝓪