Optimizing the process of obtaining butter requires experiments in laboratory conditions, where some parameters need to be adjusted and monitored. For a low-capacity churn with a horizontal semi-helical paddle, the beating time was determined depending on the speed of the beater and the fat content of the cream. At a fat content of 30% in the cream, the butter percentage obtained at low speeds was 27.7%, while for a speed of 3000 rpm a butter percentage of only 21.3% was obtained. The paper also presents other results necessary for establishing the functional parameters of small churns.