CLEARANCE SPECIAL...
#C-P Pineapple Butter/Cookie Stamp
Only 6 available at present
Size varies from 2 3/4 to 3 1/2" dia.
*Priced at $30. / $22. / $20.
Choice of unfinished or food-safe finishtext.
Vigilant Cow Butter Mold
1/2 pound size
Cherry Wood
# 88C
$44.
3/24/08 from Caroyn C. who purchased #88-C: "Gene, I wanted to thank you... I made my own butter and the mold worked perfectly and was so beautiful. My family couldn't believe I made it. They also enjoyed the homemade biscuits I made from the buttermilk! Your work is wonderful and I really appreciate your craftsmanship. It's hard to find these days!"
#89 - Vigilant
Cow Butter Stamp
$30. Cherry
3" diameter, Knob
Handle ~ Unfinished
or Food-Safe Finish
3 pieces: threaded handle, 4" dia. bowl, & mold
A bit of butter mold history... Butter molds were first used centuries ago in northern Europe. Today, most of the oldest molds to found in museums date to the mid-18th century Europe and North America. In the 19th century, dairies became commercial and butter - as well as the wooden butter mold - was widely mass-produced. Antique molds of the late 19th and early 20th century are often found in personal collections. Antique American butter molds have, in the past forty years, become popular Americana collectibles and greatly increased in value. Such molds are - due to their condition - best used as decorative accent pieces.
It is as rare to find modern butter molds as it is to find someone who knows how to use them. Instructions for use of a modern butter mold: 1 - Soak the mold in ice water for 30 minuutes and -if convenient - refrigerate the mold for 30 minutes more. This helps to keep the butter from sticking in the mold. 2 - Rinse the mold with cold water and fill it with softened butter. 3 - Smooth the surface with a spatula and cover with plastic wrap. 4- Chill for 2 hours or more.
5 - To unmold the butter, run the tip of a knife around the outside edge to loosen it.
Cleaning wooden molds: Use hot water, mild soap, and a brush to loosen residue - but do not soak the mold in water. Reconditioning wooden molds: Mineral oil may be used to recondition a mold and prevent drying and cracking.
Vegetable oil should not be used.
Food professional teacher, Alice Ross, writes of butter making and moulding
(Hearth-to-Hearth, October 2000):
If you want to try it yourself, the trick in a successful casting is to first soak and chill the mold.
Then, after packing the butter in, refrigerate until firm, and then pop out into a plate.
If you want to make your own butter to match the handsome form, all you need is fresh whipping cream.
Whisk or beat past the whipped cream stage until the butterfat forms firm yellow lumps and separates
from the remaining buttermilk. (Save the buttermilk: let it sit out at room temperature overnight
to culture, and either drink it or use it in cooking.) Paddle and press the butter in several washes
of cold water until there are no traces of buttermilk left. Salt if desired.
Pack into soaked and chilled wooden molds, refrigerate to harden and then un-mold."
This page was last updated on: February 4, 2010
Available Unfinished for butter or with a food-safe finish.
Autumn Acorns Butter Mold #88A ~ 1/2 Pound Size $42.
Cherry
If these are to be used with butter, we suggest you order UNFINISHED.
Also available with a beautiful food-safe finish.
Butter Molds & Butter Stamps ~ Carved by "America's Cookie Mold Carver" Gene Wilson
3/12/07: "I bought two of your butter molds several years ago (which I love!!!) ...to mold butter, I usually freeze the molds for 30 minutes, and if the butter isn't too soft, then mold it immediately and the molded butter pops right out. If the butter is too soft, just throw it in the freezer for another 30 minutes.
I've never had any problem with the butter coming out with this technique!!"
Rita Jansing
At left: Gene hand threads his carved and lathe turned butter mold rounds. This is the old fashioned way to fit the carved portion of the mold and the handle together - so they may be taken apart for cleaning.
"We are a living history museum in Ohio portraying rural life in the 1860's. Thank you
for creating such accurate molds! Only the best past muster here, and once I saw
your butter molds, I knew I had found a treasure. When working in front of the public
(as a housewife living her "life" in 1861).
I use the historic method for molding butter - a completely dry mold dusted
with flour, and slightly chilled butter. The butter comes out nicely 90% of the time.
It's worth a try. Thanks again for the beautiful craftmanship!"
Heather Faur, Hale Farm and Village, OH
In his 248 p. BUTTER PRINTS AND MOLDS (Schiffer Pub. Co., 1986), Paul E. Kindig devotes more than seven pages to half-round butter prints such as this VIGILANT COW design. This 'bovine with watchful eye' design dates back 150 years. Gene carved a limited edition of 20 signed, dated & numbered VIGILANT COW BUTTER PRINTS earlier this year. These nostalgic carvings of American cherry wood can be used to
print storage butter - as originally intended - but will more likely be proudly displayed on a shelf or kitchen
wall as Americana decoration - and as an outstanding example of Gene's unique style of router carving.
Above,
Back of
Print
< Left,
Carved
Round
Cut out & Lathe-turned
#87 - Half-Round Vigilant Cow Butter Print $32.
7 x 3.5 x 1" thick ~ available unfinished or with a beautiful food-safe finish
CLEARANCE SPECIAL...
3" Diameter Carved Mold with Threaded Handle
#880 Autumn Acorns Cookie/Butter Stamp
American Cherry, FOOD-SAFE FINISH for use with cookies (also available UNFINISHED for use with butter). Same design as #88A - without the 4" diameter bowl. Carved by Gene Wilson, signed and dated 2009 - Was $30. - NOW $22.
3" Diameter
Cookie/Butter
STAMP
Classic Design:
Autumn
Acorns
& Oak
Leaves
PRICE REDUCED!
HOBI Cookie Molds
~ We sell only the original woodcarvings, not resin copies ~
American Crafted ~ Old World Style ~ Universal Appeal
*When sold out of higher-priced stamps, we reserve the right to substitute the next smaller size and refund the difference in price.
