Butter

Butter is nothing more than highly concentrated milk: 20 liters (19 quarts) of milk are required to make 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of butter. Most butter used in America today comes from cow’s milk, although it can be make from the milk of almost any milk-producing animal. Butter is made from the milk of horses in Mongolia, of goats in Eastern Europe, of sheep throughout the Mediterranean, and of camels in Ethiopia.

Traditionally, dairy butter was created by churning cream by hand to solidify the fat to a spreadable consistency. The modern process of commercial butter making remains almost the same, though it has been mechanized. The main difference is that the skim milk and buttermilk remaining after the churning process are now also used as commercial products, whereas they were once used primarily as animal feed.