Chapters 8.54
8.54-Low-Cost Butter/Yoghurt/Cheese Churner
Alara Ozden, University of Guelph, Canada
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Ozden,A. (2022) Low-Cost Butter/Yoghurt/Cheese Churner,In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org
Background
Dairy products can be important sources of vitamins and minerals. Milk protein is important for young children because it stimulates insulin like growth-factor-1 (IGF-1), and can help with bone growth, and bone mass acquisition (Givens, 2020). Low milk consumption can especially affect girls negatively more than boys (Givens, 2020). Girls have a harder time with intaking enough calcium, iodine, magnesium, and other important nutrients (Givens, 2020). For pregnant women, not drinking milk can affect the cognitive abilities and iodine levels of the offspring (Givens, 2020). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, milk contains all the essential amino acids that a human needs (Muelhoff & Bennet, 2013). Low-cost butter/ yogurt/ cheese churners are important because these foods help to preserve the nutrients found in milk in places without refrigeration and add value to raw milk. According to USDA, while milk lasts for 6-8 days, butter can last up to three months (Longer Durability, 2020). Storing dairy as a butter can be much more beneficial to both farmers and non-farmers. For example, in Ethiopia, there have been multiple projects to improve the lives of dairy farmers across the country (SNV Netherlands Development Organization, 2020). Most of the farmers were able to get a credit from local farming co-operatives. In a documentary by the Netherlands Development Organization, an Ethiopian milk farmer would be prevented from drinking milk beyond 200 days per year due to fasting periods (SNV Netherlands Development Organization , 2010). Due to lack of correct storage methods, the milk would go bad, and she could not pay her workers. So, she decided to borrow money from a local cooperative and learn how to pasteurize her milk and churn it into butter or cheese (SNV Netherlands Development Organization , 2010).
Churner Options
According to the World Bank over 90% of the world has access to electricity (The World Bank, 2019). Currently there can be many electric churner options that can be found on websites such as Alibaba for low cost churners (e.g. Figure 1). The prices can range up to 50 USD for electric options.
Figure 1. An electronic option costing $50 USD for more professional churning
Figure 2. Cheap $1 USD Churner in Alibaba
Alternative Options
According to the World Bank, almost all the places without electricity are in developing countries (The World Bank, 2019). For these places, low-cost, non-electric churners are available costing as little as 1 USD (see Figure 2). There also can be traditional options. For example, in Ethiopia, they use clay pot and a three fork stirrer. They first stir it with the stirrer and than churn it in the clay pot by shaking it [International Livestock Research Institue (ILRI), 2015].
An alternative machine could be a salad spinner (Figure 3). Salad spinners are normally used to wash and dry vegetables. Salad spinners consist of a secure lid, drainage outlet, and an outside bowl to put the water in to wash the vegetables. One of the biggest advantages of a salad spinner is that it can cost less than 7 USD at AliExpress. Although a disadvantage would be the effort and time it takes to produce the butter with this method.
Figure 3. This is a image of a salad spinner (Image from AliExpress, 2021).
In a YouTube video made by a couple, rather than using milk to churn butter, they use “kaymak” (Türker, 2020). Kaymak is traditionally made by slowly boiling raw milk and then simmering it for two hours over low heat (Kaymak recipe: Turkish style cooking 2021). The cream is skimmed and left to chill for a mild fermentation, for several hours or days after the heat source has been turned off. Kaymak contains a high proportion of milk fat, usually about 60% (Kaymak recipe: Turkish style cooking 2021). In the west, in recipes for homemade churned butter, almost all of them are seen using heavy cream which can be hard to find in developing countries. One can make it at home, but it requires mixing milk with butter for a long period of time. Therefore, compared to the Western way of churning butter, using kaymak can be much easier. With kaymak, yogurt also gets produced which is another useful instrument for making butter. While making butter with yogurt, the inner bowl of a salad spinner can be beneficial, due to its drainage technology, making it easier collect the chunks of butter. In a YouTube video, Yücesoy claims that while making butter traditionally, she mixes the yogurt as much as she can with cold water and then scrapes some parts of the jug where she could find butter (Zengin, 2021). She takes the parts that were formed and then washes them. Another way of using the salad spinner would be to cover the holes in the drainage bowl with a cloth. This method would also collect the butter chunks that form quite easily.
A documentary by the Netherlands Development Organization also mentions that for butter and cheese to be formed through churning it would need to have the correct fat percentage (SNV Netherlands Development Organization, 2010). It is common for companies in developing countries to mix milk with water to increase the volume, which then makes it harder to churn ('Made in Milk' - the story of Hirut in Ethiopia 2010). That is why it is important for dairy farmers to also have access to lactometer measurements or produce their own milk to ensure there is no contamination from water. It is important to educate dairy farmers about this.
Critical analysis
It is also important to target butter churners only to societies were dairy/butter consumption is high. In 2014, total milk production in Africa was 46,907,955 tonnes which was 6% of world average production (Matiello et al., 2017). According to FAO, across Africa and Asia, milk contributes to only 3-4% of dietary energy supply, 6-8% of dietary protein supply, and 7% of dietary dairy supply (FAOSTAT, 2019). This compares to nine percent of dietary energy supply in Europe. So, even if there were alternatives to churning dairy, it is important to consider if a specific target country will benefit from it (FAOSTAT, 2019).
In the end, even given such constraints, the ability to make a low-cost butter can be very important to the farmers across the developing world. It prevents smallholder farmers from wasting their milk. However, people should also not be afraid to use traditional methods: for example in a video filmed by the International Livestock Research Institute, the traditional way was faster at churning butter than the modern day the institute had given them [International Livestock Research Institue (ILRI), 2015]. Churning is important for dairy farmers as it lets people make a larger profit and lets them store their milk as butter. Aid agencies should work to find ways to offer low-cost churners including subsidies ro through cost-sharing with farmer co-operatives.
Practical resources to get started
2. Alibaba link for a churner https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/1L-Hand-made-glass-butter-churn_62043091759.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.724c4850zNmdIL
3. Alibaba link for a churner https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Multifunctional-food-processor-with-chopping-slicing_60098501267.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.724c4850zNmdIL
4. Alibaba link for a churner
6. Alibaba link for a churner
8. Alibaba link for a churner
9. $30 model https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/electric-butter-churn-milk-mixer-Kitchen_1600349727180.html? spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.724c4850zNmdIL
10. Alibaba link for a churner
11. $50 USD model https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/CHURNER-MACHINE-NEW-WITH-GOOD-QUALITY-_1600282034739.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.724c4850zNmdIL
12. Alibaba link for a churner https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/dairy-health-food-or-health-risk-2019012515849
13. This article talks about the benefits and the negatives of milk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD8ajJ6s108
14. Traditional way of doing ghee (India) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH2q1GrA0so
15. Modern way of making butter at home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A0PoOtY3nU
16. Smallholder dairy farmers in Ethiopia that came together thanks to a aid program. They get to earn their living through this program. https://ocul-gue.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_GUE/1neq0sb/cdi_proquest_journals_2586790608
17. Article talking about how laborious it is to make ghee in Uganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl-beCOW_2E&t=76s
18. This video is about how shea butter, is made by hand. The process is not very similar to butter, but maybe same churner can be used
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