Have about a gallon of very cold water chilling in the fridge. Or have very cold water ready to use.
Let your cream come to room temperature about 30 minutes before you start.
Pour the cream into your stand mixer and use your splash guard or a towel to prevent splashing.
Start mixing on medium-high with the whisk attachment. It will start to become grainy after about 5 minutes.
Continue to mix past the grainy stage until it starts to come together. You will notice that it has completely separated from the buttermilk. This happens rather quickly, so make sure you watch closely.
Stop your mixer and drain the buttermilk into a container for later use.
Take the solids and press into a ball
Using very cold water, put your butter ball into the water and knead it to release the rest of the buttermilk. You can use a wooden spoon to do this if you don't want to touch the butter.
Drain the cloudy water, add fresh water and knead it again. You will repeat this process until the water is mostly clear and all the remaining buttermilk has been worked out of it.
Once all the buttermilk has been removed you can now salt to taste. Knead your salt into the butter until it is well combine.
Transfer the butter into a container for storing or shape it into a brick and wrap it in parchment paper.
Store salted butter in the fridge for about two weeks, One week if you made unsalted, and up to three months in the freezer.
