As with all of our products, we have tested the butter kit rigorously before unleashing it on to the site. Once we get into a process or ingredient, we love experimenting tweaking the timings, the ingredients and the methods just to see if we can get a better result. Based on the butter experiments we have completed so far - and we definitely have toned our biceps, if not our butts -  here are a few things we have learnt... 

QUALITY IN, QUALITY OUT. As seems to be the case with many concoctions requiring only a few ingredients, the better the stuff you put in, the better the stuff that comes out. It works perfectly well with supermarket cream but, if you can get something a bit more gucci, do.  

KEEP THE BUTTERMILK: yup, you can use it for scones but you can also use it for pancakes. We have been pouring it off the butter, then pouring it back into the churner, adding the eggs and flour etc and mixing it back up ready for the next morning. 

DON'T WORRY, IT FREEZES: if you get a bit gungho and have created your own butter mountain, don't worry, it freezes a treat. This is also where you can get clever, flavour some with garlic or herbs before freezing. Become that person with superior freezer organisational skills. 

SOURED CREAM EXPERIMENTS: the idea behind using some sort of soured cream is that it gives more flavour and tang to the butter. Our experiments with this continue but the best results we have had so far have involved blending soured cream with regular. More on this to come when we nail the mix.

DON'T RUSH THE SQUEEZING. some good paddle action and careful washing ensures it last longer. 

IT TAKES A WHILE: most of the instructions and guidelines we have read, in our opinion, underestimate the time it takes for the butter to churn. All seems lost, then in moments, the cream goes past the point of no return, the colour changes and the butter comes together. Stick with it. Or, play smart. The best way we have found is to put it into the hands of a butter making virgin and get them to do the hard work.