{"id":639,"date":"2010-04-05T13:06:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-05T13:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/2010\/04\/05\/which-is-the-better-butter\/"},"modified":"2010-12-21T18:22:25","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T18:22:25","slug":"which-is-the-better-butter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/2010\/04\/05\/which-is-the-better-butter\/","title":{"rendered":"Which is the better butter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 10, 2010
\n<\/em>Few things taste better than crusty bread spread with butter. Real butter. Many families have banned bread and butter from their tables, but restaurants are serving premium butters again, rather than presenting little dishes of olive oil. We tasted seven brands of unsalted butter, first just the butter, then some of it on a slice of rustic bread. It was a decadent event.<\/p>\n

Three of the American brands are made in New England: Kate\u2019s Homemade Butter in Maine; Vermont Cultured Butter, European Style; and High Lawn Farm Unsalted Butter in Lee. Two were imported, from France and Ireland.<\/p>\n

Plugr\u00e1 European Style, made in Winnsboro, Texas, was the big winner. A Belgian taster wondered if the name were taken from the French \u201cplus gras,\u2019\u2019 which means more fat. In this case it was more taste. American regulations require 80 percent butter fat in a product for it to be called butter. European-style butter generally has 85 percent butter fat and is churned, which lowers the moisture, making it very good for using in browning and baking.<\/p>\n

With its deep hue, Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter looked like it had been dipped in a pot of gold. It was least favorite. According to the company\u2019s website, cows munch on grass rich in beta carotene. One taster said it was the color of \u201ccinema buttered popcorn\u2019\u2019 and others didn\u2019t like it, either.<\/p>\n

Some butters were cultured, which means a slight fermentation of the cream or milk, giving them a soft tang. Several tasters picked up on this – but not in a good way; they thought the butters were \u201coff.\u2019\u2019 All were well within their sell-by dates.<\/p>\n

Ingredients typically listed just one word: milk or cream. What a relief. And without salt, noted one in the group, the taste was \u201cmore genuine.\u2019\u2019 Please pass the bread.<\/p>\n

Plugr\u00e1 European Style WINNER!
\n<\/span>Unsalted Butter
\n$4.99 for 8 ounces<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite butter from France\u2019\u2019; \u201cFrench or European,\u2019\u2019 declared two tasters. This is an American-made butter, which comes in a half-pound rectangle. Plugr\u00e1 is part of Keller\u2019s Creamery, which represents several brands (Breakstone and Borden\u2019s among them) and is part of the cooperative Dairy Farmers of America. The website says the butter has 82 percent butterfat and is \u201cchurned in the old world style\u2019\u2019 which adds more air and makes it less moist. Our tasters enjoyed it. \u201cThe sweet pleasant mild flavor and perfect color.\u2019\u2019 \u201cBest color and texture.\u2019\u2019 \u201cLike the shape.\u2019\u2019 \u201cCreamy nice texture and nice taste.\u2019\u2019 One said \u201cfattier.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Celles sur Belle
\nPremium Churn Unsalted Butter
\n$4.29 for 8 ounces<\/p>\n

This butter from the Poitou-Charentes region in western France comes in a rectangular shape. It was instantly identified as a European brand by several and had one favorite vote: \u201cImport quality, not American butter.\u2019\u2019 The texture was described as \u201ccreamy\u2019\u2019 by several people. Others commented: \u201cLight and mild taste,\u2019\u2019 \u201cpale yellow and pale taste,\u2019\u2019 \u201csweet, delicious and mild.\u2019\u2019 The color worked against the brand for one: \u201cPale color. Looks like lard.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

High Lawn Farm
\nUnsalted Butter
\n$5.99 for 16 ounces<\/p>\n

This home-grown company from Lee got low marks for its packaging. \u201cThe fact that this butter is in a tub works against it. You take it less seriously because of that.\u2019\u2019 \u201cReminds me of margarine.\u2019\u2019 People found the taste \u201caverage,\u2019\u2019 \u201cnot much flavor,\u2019\u2019 \u201cairy.\u2019\u2019 Some found the texture \u201cheavy and hard,\u2019\u2019 \u201cbrittle,\u2019\u2019 \u201cOK on bread.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Kate\u2019s Homemade Butter
\nUnsalted
\n$5.39 for 16 ounces<\/p>\n

Little Kate and her red kerchief are very appealing on this Maine butter, which comes in a box with four 4-ounce bars. Most tasters found it lacking in flavor: \u201cLeast buttery,\u2019\u2019 \u201cnot much taste,\u2019\u2019 \u201cshort on flavor.\u2019\u2019 Many liked the texture: \u201cVery creamy and smooth,\u2019\u2019 \u201ccreamiest,\u2019\u2019 \u201ctastes good with bread.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter
\nUnsalted
\n$2.69 for 8 ounces<\/p>\n

Kerrygold is made in a rectangular shape. Those happy grass-fed Emerald Isle cows produce a very golden butter, whose color was a detraction. \u201cLooks like margarine.\u2019\u2019 \u201cVery yellow; oily with a margarine taste.\u2019\u2019 \u201cYellow. Strange aftertaste when tasted alone. Less pronounced when eaten with bread.\u2019\u2019 Others: \u201cI like the look that is more yellow. Tastes better with bread.\u2019\u2019 \u201cNice color, great taste.\u2019\u2019 Two said the texture was \u201coily,\u2019\u2019 \u201cgreasy.\u2019\u2019 \u201cIt left a film on my tongue.\u2019\u2019 \u201cA bit of a smell (buttery?) which I didn\u2019t find that pleasing but it definitely tasted good on the bread.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Land O\u2019Lakes
\nUnsalted Sweet Butter
\n$2.50 for 16 ounces<\/p>\n

The brand with the iconic (and controversial) Native American woman kneeling before a lake is the butter most Americans know best. \u201cSubtle smell. Smooth and velvety. Tastes like the brand I usually eat? Pleasant both on and off bread.\u2019\u2019 Most noted its taste: \u201cLight, not full flavor.\u2019\u2019 \u201cSweet and mild.\u2019\u2019 \u201cWatery flavor.\u2019\u2019 \u201cI can taste vegetable oil.\u2019\u2019 The color was described as \u201cpale.\u2019\u2019 On the texture: \u201cBit of an oily aftertaste.\u2019\u2019 \u201cCreamy mouth feel.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Vermont Cultured Butter<\/p>\n

European Style
\nUnsalted
\n$4.99 for 8 ounces<\/p>\n

This butter comes in a half-pound cylinder. \u201cSurprised this tasted sour in comparison to others. I believe this is from Normandy and I usually love their butter.\u2019\u2019 (It\u2019s made in Vermont.) \u201cA little too oily. Better for cooking than eating, but good taste.\u2019\u2019 \u201cSoft, smooth, melts in your mouth, spreadable.\u2019\u2019 As for flavor: \u201cBland, fat taste.\u2019\u2019 \u201cMild. No aftertaste.\u2019\u2019 \u201cNot much taste on bread either. Greasier.\u2019\u2019 The appearance put one off: \u201cLooks like a yellow sausage tube.\u2019\u2019
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 10, 2010 Few things taste better than crusty bread spread with butter. Real butter. Many families have banned bread and butter from their tables, but restaurants are serving premium butters again, rather than presenting little dishes of olive oil. We tasted seven brands of unsalted butter, first just the butter, then some of it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taste-kitchen-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":818,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions\/818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}