Mum's clever food hack saves on groceries

Sarah Gayton-Kay said she is making huge savings in her grocery bill by making her own butter. Photo / Supplied

The next time you spot discounted cream at the supermarket, have a go at this clever mum's hack.

An Aussie mum has sparked a frenzied home cooking fad this week, after revealing she shaved money off her grocery bill by buying discounted cream and making her own butter at home.

If the thought of churning your own butter conjures images of sweat, tears and aching limbs, rest assured.

The busy stay-at-home-mum said all she needed was some pure cream, a mixer and a spare 15-minutes to get the job done.

Sarah Gayton-Kay, from outer Melbourne, shared photographs of her home cooking efforts on Sunday, claiming this was her first attempt at making her own butter.

The avid home cook said she had always wanted to try to make butter for her family.

The busy mum-of-two decided to try her hand at making her own butter. Photo / Supplied

"I love baking, and making things from scratch has always been an interest of mine," Gayton-Kay told news.com.au.

So, when she spotted a sale on cream at her local Woolworths last week, Gayton-Kay decided to try her hand at the old-fashioned hobby.

Gayton-Kay purchased 3L of cream for a grand total of $3.20 (NZD$3.40), which ended up making her a hefty 1.3kg of butter. Usually a 2L Anchor cream costs $13.79 at Pak'n Save.

"Store bought butter can cost anywhere between $10-$20 per kilo, but mine only cost about $2.40($NZD2.50) per kilo."

Posting her recipe to the Mums Who Budget & Save Facebook page yesterday, Gayton-Kay said she was extremely "chuffed" with her home made butter.

Her post attracted more than 1000 likes and comments, with frugal followers everywhere vowing to give it a go themselves.

"I never thought to do this! This is great," one woman wrote.

Another said she tried out the recipe "after reading this post" and her butter turned out soft and spreadable.

People are sharing that they love the results from making their own butter. Photo / Supplied

How to make your own butter

There are hundreds of tutorials on the internet that complicate the process, but according to Gayton-Kay, making your own butter is simple.

All you need is some pure cream, an electric mixer (or mason jar if you're feeling up to a challenge) and a cheese cloth to squeeze it through later.

"To make butter, you just keep whipping cream until it splits into butter and buttermilk," Gayton-Kay said.

The splitting will occur after approximately 15-minutes in the mixer.

"You then need to rinse the butter, to make sure all of the buttermilk is gone, and then you can add salt if desired," she said.

Gayton-Kay says freezing your butter makes it last a lot longer. Photo / Supplied

Adventurous home cooks can also add a selection of herbs or garlic into their butter, to give it an extra kick.

Gayton-Kay said the hardest part of the process was mixing in her salt or herbs, as this requires a bit of elbow grease.

"It is almost identical to store bought butter, but being able to add as much or as little salt as you like, and knowing you did it yourself definitely makes it tastier," she said.

Freshly made butter can go off quite quickly, so Gayton-Kay recommended freezing it.

"I wrapped my butter in smaller portions and put most of it in the freezer so that it will keep longer," she said.

Gayton-Kay wrapped her newly formed butter into packs for the freezer Photo / Supplied

Homemade vs store bought

Gayton-Kay said her family is all "butter fiends", so they tried her homemade butter on its own first.

"Then we had it melted over cauliflower and broccoli with our dinner," she said.

Her social media post also revealed that a growing number of people prefer to whip up a batch of their own butter rather than purchase it at the supermarket.

"My partner and I have been making our own butter for a while. It's awesome and tastes way better than store brought ones," one woman wrote.

Another woman said she has been making her own butter for ages and "homemade butter tastes delicious".

Matt Arpana posted on the Markdown Addicts Australia Facebook page that he made his family several large portions of butter by whipping cream this week as well.

Matt Arpana revealed his own efforts at homemade butter. Photo / Supplied

Gayton-Kay said she was really impressed that homemade butter is such a popular trend, as it shows that people are "thinking about how our food is made".

"Even if it's only something as simple as butter," she said.

"We have become so accustomed to pre-packaged and convince food and there are plenty of people who know very little about the basics of cooking."