Posted from the house I grew up in (but it's a different color now).
I'm thinking about buying a cow. A Jersey or Guernsey. Something with high fat content milk. My mom says I can't keep it here, so I'll have to bring it back to Tulsa with me.
I know you're thinking it, but are too polite to ask. For a woman who struggles with the care of dogs and cockatiels, why would I want to buy a cow? Well, it all started with scones. Scones should have clotted cream. Clotted cream comes from cream. Cream comes from milk. Milk comes from cows. It's just logical.
"Surely", you are thinking, "Surely it must be possible to acquire clotted cream in the US without actually purchasing, feeding, housing and cleaning up after a cow?"
**Here follows all the information I have gleaned from much googling. Don't bother reading it unless you're really interested in the production of clotted cream.**
Q: What is clotted cream?
A: "Thick, rich and indulgent with the consistency of soft butter, clotted cream is made by heating normal cream to evaporate some of the liquids. It has at least 55 per cent butter fat, giving it a pale yellow colour that is often topped with a deeper yellow crust." Source: BBC
Please note, it is not cultured like buttermilk or yogurt, nor is it whipped or churned like whipped cream or butter.
Q: Can't you buy clotted cream in the US?
A: Sure. You can get a 6oz jar for $6.29 at the English Tea Store. Plus shipping. And you shouldn't live too far from Philadelphia.
Q: But the production method seems straight forward: you take cream and you cook it. Can't that be done at home?
A: Yes. Google will provide many "recipes" for heating cream to the requisite temperature for the appropriate length of time. There are two primary techniques.
1: put heavy cream in the oven at 170 F for about 10 hours. Chill. Skim off the clotted cream.
2: mix heavy cream with milk and then heat in a double boiler on the stove, skimming the clotted cream off as it forms on the top.
Q: Simples! Have you tried it?
A: Yes! I tried the oven method. Veeery stiff clotted cream achieved.
Q: So, what's the problem then?
A: Presentation. Trying to skim a solid-ish layer of cream off a bowl of milk results in a dodgy looking end product. It's tough to keep the topside on the top. Maybe I'm just not a good skimmer. But since the end goal is to sell Americans on the idea of clotted cream, presentation is important.
Q: Well, the clotted cream you buy online comes in those little clear glass jars with a perfect crust on the top. No way anyone stands around skimming cream off lakes of milk and spooning it into those jars. How do they do that then?
A: They decant the cream into the jars BEFORE they heat it.
Q: And what happens to the milk at the bottom when the cream rises?
A: There is no separation. They start with cream that has a 55% - 60% fat content.
Q: OK. So can't you do that too?
A: Let's consider the legal milk fat limits of various products:
Cream with a 55% fat content cannot be obtained in the US (or the UK!) from a retail store.
Q: Given that the highest fat content cream available in the US isn't nearly "heavy" enough, let's consider the Raw Milk option. Buy unpasteurized milk fresh from the cow. Let sit. Separate cream. What's the fat content of that?
A: 35% or so. Equivalent to Heavy whipping cream.
Q: So how do those clotted cream producers do it?!
A: Centrifuge. (Calculators out.)
Q: Can you get one of those for home use?
A: Among the more fascinating discoveries I've made over the last few days, dairy separation centrifuges can be purchased primarily from manufacturers in India and Ukraine. I have not yet found a US manufacturer of home dairy separators. My hypothesis is that US milk goes directly into the national dairy processing chain while the milk produced in less developed countries with larger tracts of rural/hard to reach land still needs to be processed by local farmers. (I did find one German seller, so they mess with this theory.)
Still, even an Indian made separator ($600+) will max out at 45% fat in the cream.
Q: So how do those clotted cream producers do it?!
A: If I'm understanding this correctly, hermetic centrifuges with pressure regulators can achieve fat contents over 72%. This used model was listed for $19,900.
Q: And where does that leave the clotted cream project?
A: Yeah. With messy homemade, I suppose. Unless I can find a dairy producer willing to modify their production line. Seems unlikely. Sad times for the US scone and clotted cream cottage industry.
Q: You're not getting a cow then?
A: No.
I'm thinking about buying a cow. A Jersey or Guernsey. Something with high fat content milk. My mom says I can't keep it here, so I'll have to bring it back to Tulsa with me.
I know you're thinking it, but are too polite to ask. For a woman who struggles with the care of dogs and cockatiels, why would I want to buy a cow? Well, it all started with scones. Scones should have clotted cream. Clotted cream comes from cream. Cream comes from milk. Milk comes from cows. It's just logical.
"Surely", you are thinking, "Surely it must be possible to acquire clotted cream in the US without actually purchasing, feeding, housing and cleaning up after a cow?"
**Here follows all the information I have gleaned from much googling. Don't bother reading it unless you're really interested in the production of clotted cream.**
Q: What is clotted cream?
A: "Thick, rich and indulgent with the consistency of soft butter, clotted cream is made by heating normal cream to evaporate some of the liquids. It has at least 55 per cent butter fat, giving it a pale yellow colour that is often topped with a deeper yellow crust." Source: BBC
Please note, it is not cultured like buttermilk or yogurt, nor is it whipped or churned like whipped cream or butter.
Q: Can't you buy clotted cream in the US?
A: Sure. You can get a 6oz jar for $6.29 at the English Tea Store. Plus shipping. And you shouldn't live too far from Philadelphia.
Q: But the production method seems straight forward: you take cream and you cook it. Can't that be done at home?
A: Yes. Google will provide many "recipes" for heating cream to the requisite temperature for the appropriate length of time. There are two primary techniques.
1: put heavy cream in the oven at 170 F for about 10 hours. Chill. Skim off the clotted cream.
2: mix heavy cream with milk and then heat in a double boiler on the stove, skimming the clotted cream off as it forms on the top.
Q: Simples! Have you tried it?
A: Yes! I tried the oven method. Veeery stiff clotted cream achieved.
Q: So, what's the problem then?
A: Presentation. Trying to skim a solid-ish layer of cream off a bowl of milk results in a dodgy looking end product. It's tough to keep the topside on the top. Maybe I'm just not a good skimmer. But since the end goal is to sell Americans on the idea of clotted cream, presentation is important.
Q: Well, the clotted cream you buy online comes in those little clear glass jars with a perfect crust on the top. No way anyone stands around skimming cream off lakes of milk and spooning it into those jars. How do they do that then?
A: They decant the cream into the jars BEFORE they heat it.
Q: And what happens to the milk at the bottom when the cream rises?
A: There is no separation. They start with cream that has a 55% - 60% fat content.
Q: OK. So can't you do that too?
A: Let's consider the legal milk fat limits of various products:
| Milk Products: | Fat content US | Fat content UK |
| Skim(med) Fat-Free Milk | 0% | 0-0.5% |
| 1% Low-Fat Milk | 1% | 1% |
| Semi-Skimmed Milk | 1.7% | |
| 2% Reduced-Fat Milk | 2% | |
| Standerdised Whole Milk | 3.25% | 3.5% |
| Raw (Natural) Whole Milk | As the cow intended | |
| Cream Products: | Minimum Fat content US | Minimum Fat content UK |
| Half & Half | 10.5% | |
| Half cream | 12% | |
| Single (Light) cream | 18% | 18% |
| Light Whipping cream | 30% | |
| Whipping cream | 35% | |
| Heavy Whipping cream | 36% | |
| Double cream | 48% | |
| Clotted cream | 55% | |
Cream with a 55% fat content cannot be obtained in the US (or the UK!) from a retail store.
Q: Given that the highest fat content cream available in the US isn't nearly "heavy" enough, let's consider the Raw Milk option. Buy unpasteurized milk fresh from the cow. Let sit. Separate cream. What's the fat content of that?
A: 35% or so. Equivalent to Heavy whipping cream.
Q: So how do those clotted cream producers do it?!
A: Centrifuge. (Calculators out.)
Q: Can you get one of those for home use?
A: Among the more fascinating discoveries I've made over the last few days, dairy separation centrifuges can be purchased primarily from manufacturers in India and Ukraine. I have not yet found a US manufacturer of home dairy separators. My hypothesis is that US milk goes directly into the national dairy processing chain while the milk produced in less developed countries with larger tracts of rural/hard to reach land still needs to be processed by local farmers. (I did find one German seller, so they mess with this theory.)
Still, even an Indian made separator ($600+) will max out at 45% fat in the cream.
Q: So how do those clotted cream producers do it?!
A: If I'm understanding this correctly, hermetic centrifuges with pressure regulators can achieve fat contents over 72%. This used model was listed for $19,900.
Q: And where does that leave the clotted cream project?
A: Yeah. With messy homemade, I suppose. Unless I can find a dairy producer willing to modify their production line. Seems unlikely. Sad times for the US scone and clotted cream cottage industry.
Q: You're not getting a cow then?
A: No.
Hmmm, so clotted cream achievable, but skimming is the problem. Can't it be done with the help of gravity ? Messy idea follows: Put heavy cream in Removable Bottom Baking Pan. If too runny, seal it off with some pastry crust first. Pour heavy cream in. Put it in the oven at 170 F for about 10 hours. Chill. Now for the messy part: Put the pan in a large flat container of some sort, on top of something smaller than the removable disc at the bottom. Push gently down on the side of the pan to break the crust/let the bottom free. Liquid cream/milk underneath the clotted cream should flow into the container. Stop process before clotted cream runs out as well (albeit much more slowly), leaving you with a disk of clotted cream. With a bit of luck/skill, you do not damage too much the "clotted cream" disc by pushing it out of the pan from the bottom. Then find appropriate recipient to contain it without breaking the nice yellow top "crusty" part. Just an idea. If you try and make a mess out of it, we want pictures. ^_^
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Thomas
My wife, who is more sensible than me ^_^, suggests you use gauze cheesecloth at the bottom of the pan when you are heating the cream, and that should help you separate the two phases once the clotted cream forms and you lifted it up with the cloth (you will lost the "yellow crust", on the other hand, I am afraid). There could be trials and errors at the beginning to find the proper thread count by square inch for the gauze to use. But she said that Cornish farmers in the old days didn't use $19,900 hermetic centrifuges with pressure regulators either. Which, I thought, is a fair point.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in your clotted cream experiments !
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
DeleteThanks for the suggestions. I had been thinking about cheese cloth as well, so I will buy some and try it and report back. Of course, your wife is right about the centrifuges!