Butter Churn - Types of Butter Churns

Types of Butter Churns

The most historically prominent types of butter churns are the plunge churn, which is a container, usually made out of wood, where the butter-making action is created by moving in a vertical motion a staff that is inserted into the top. This type of churn is also known as an ‘up and down’ churn, churning tub, plunger churn, plumping churn, knocker churn, plump-kirn, or plowt-kirn (where “kirn" is a Scots/Northern English word for churn). The staff used in the churn is known as the dash, dasher-staff, churn-staff, churning-stick, plunger, plumper, or kirn-staff.

Another prominent type of churn was the paddle churn, which was a container that contained a paddle, which was operated by a handle. The paddle churned the butter inside the container when the handle was turned.

The barrel churn was also used extensively. This type of churn was a barrel turned onto its side with a crank attached. The crank either turned a paddle device inside the churn, as in the paddle churn, or turned the whole barrel, whose action converted the milk to butter. The barrel churn was one of the agricultural innovations of 18th century Europe.

One particularly novel invention of note was the rocking chair butter churn. This device, invented by Alfred Clark, consisted of a barrel attached to a rocking chair. While the rocking chair moved, the barrel moved and churned the milk within into butter.