Food Waste
Food waste has become such an issue in the UK. It’s hard to believe but more than 8 million families in the UK struggle to put food on the table – and yet, around 10 million tonnes of food waste ends up in landfills each year.
It has been estimated that the average family in the UK wastes nearly £60 a month by throwing food away.
If we could all reduce our food waste it would not only save us money but also reduce unnecessary packaging waste. If we all make a few minor changes and start using up the food we buy, together we can make a significant difference.
We just need to be a little bit more creative with our leftovers and come up with ways to use food that is near or just past it’s sell by date.
If you’ve ever been in the supermarket you’ll notice they nearly always have pots of cream reduced in price as they’ve reached their sell by date. If you see them you should buy some and follow the recipe below to make your own butter. Or, if you have some leftover cream in the fridge use that rather than wasting it.
Making Homemade Butter
Let the cream reach room temperature.
Making Butter in a Jar
- Half fill the jar, put the lid on and shake it for 30 to 60 minutes – this is hard work !
Making Butter with Electric Mixer or Food Processor
- Put the cream into the mixing bowl.
- Mix until you see the cream turning slightly yellow and then you’ll see little bits of butter appear and a thin liquid, the buttermilk. The mixture will now quickly start to clump and is separated from the buttermilk.
- Drain the buttermilk off – you can save this to use for baking.
- Now wash the butter with clean cold water (the water needs to be very cold so it doesn’t melt the butter). Add the cold water to the butter in the mixer and whisk on a low speed for a minute.
- Drain the water off and repeat the washing process until the water is really clean, you may need to do this several times.
- Squeeze all the water out using your hands.
- Your Butter is now ready to eat
Homemade butter can be kept in the fridge for a few days, if you add some salt it will last longer. And, it will last for at least three months in a freezer (if you are going to freeze the butter, don’t over-salt or flavour it).
Washing the Butter is important if you’re keeping it for a few days as it will stop it going rancid. If you’re eating it straight away you could skip that step.
What are your favourite recipes to use up food to stop it going to waste? If you’re interested in reading more about Food Waste check out my Blog on Zero Waste – Easy Tips to Reduce Food Waste
