I like the concept of this tool, and I enjoy most of Chef'n's very smart products. The idea is that you can make a small amount of butter in one container, without having to use cheesecloth for straining. It works, to a point. I made two batches of butter in it so far, and was able to use both. Simply set one cup heavy whipping cream out for 6-8 hours, then poured it into the butter maker jar. I shook it for a short amount of time until the butterfat solidified (only about 3-4 minutes needed). Strain off the buttermilk from the sieve side of the jar, and save if you wish. Then, using cold water, run several batches of cold water through the sieve, until full, then pour it off. this rinses the buttermilk from the butter solids, so it keeps better. The more buttermilk you get off the butter solid, the longer your butter will have before it goes rancid. once you're getting a clear rinse, you can pour off the last liquid, then open the bottom part of the container, and tap the jar gently until most of your butter drops into the bottom dish, which doubles as a serving dish. I stirred in salt gently at this point, with small spatula. However, the product contains directions for making honey butter and garlic butter during the shaking stage, which I haven't tried yet. Upsides: 1. delivers on the promise of an essentially one-dish process free from cheesecloth and additional strainers and dishes. 2. kinda fun, and often I have to buy more heavy cream for a recipe than I really need, so this is a nice way to use the extra. 3. tastes pretty good, you can season to your taste and leave out any nasty added preservatives or emollients. 4. you can culture the cream to get a euro-style cultured butter. I tried this by adding a spoonful of greek yogurt to one batch, and the results were just fine. 5. only makes a small amount, which is great for just one person. I only bake occasionally, so I don't need highly-preserved pounds of butter waiting in my fridge for the next project. by using this, I have cream for my coffee and enough butter for toast and other small uses for a week or so. Works for me. The downsides: 1. despite seeming well designed for the most part, it DOES still leak the tiniest bit when shaking. the first time it didn't, but the second time it did. only the tiniest bit, but maybe wrap in a towel or paper towel to absorb any drips and keep them from flying all over your kitchen. 2. only makes a small amount. It turns 1 cup of cream into about 1/2 cup butter. The cream I bought cost $3.99 for a half-pint (organic heavy whipping cream from Trader Joe's) A pound of butter at the same trader joes was listed at $3.49. So unless you source your cream from a very cheap location or own a dairy farm, you're not saving cash. 3. does still leave a bit of buttermilk in the butter. you'd do well to squeeze the butter lumps in a paper towel to get as much buttermilk out as you can to keep it from going rancid. 4. one-use tool. However, when working with dairy, you kinda want a one-use container to keep clean and dedicated. and this doesn't take up much space. I'm a fan of chef'n's other tools, and they've done a great job for a pretty rare need in most cases. But now and then you can put some nice bread and butter appetizers over the top with this, and if you can source your heavy cream cheaply and well, then you've got a nice, workable easy kitchen project.
