Which butter is the better butter?

I was inspired to look into the various brands of butter available on the market after listening to an episode of the “Spilled Milk” podcast. I figured if they can do it, why can’t I, but with various brands found in our part of the state.

Butter is the dairy product obtained by churning the fat from milk until it solidifies. In most areas, the milk of cows is the basis, but elsewhere that of goats, sheep and mares has been used.

Butter was known by 2000 B.C., although in ancient times it was used less as a food than as an ointment, medicine, or illuminating oil.

At first it was churned in skin pouches thrown back and forth (this should bring back memories of mixing in the dye into white colored margarine) or swung over the back of trotting horses. Later, various hand churns were devised, including rotating, swinging, and rocking containers operated by plungers.

Butter-making on the farm consists of allowing the milk to cool in pans, letting the cream rise to the top, skimming the cream off, and letting it ripen by natural fermentation; it is then churned. Exclusively farm-made until about 1850, butter has become increasingly a factory product. The centrifugal cream separator was introduced into the United States about 1880. A method devised in 1890 determined the butterfat content of milk and cream and gave impetus to large-scale production.

The application of chemistry and bacteriology facilitated the making of butter of uniform quality. The percentage of fat extraction and the time required for churning depend on the composition of the butterfat, the temperature, acidity, richness, and viscosity of the cream; the speed and motion of the churn; and the size of the fat globules. The natural color of butter, derived from the carotene in green fodder, ranges from pale yellow to deep gold.

It took numerous trips to various local megamarts to get a good selection. The test included Kirkland Signature butter, Challenge butter, Amish Country Roll butter, Gold ’n Soft margarine, Darigold butter, Land O’Lakes butter, Plugra butter, Tillamook butter, WinCo butter, Kerrygold butter and Lucerne butter. OK, so I threw the margarine in there only because it’s kind of like butter, but not. I didn’t think anyone would be fooled.

You might ask, why try the butters by themselves and not bake a simple cookie out of them? The results we found were that many of the butters were so close in flavor profiles that introducing flavors of flour and sugar would mask any nuances. Perhaps I need to take the better rated butters and make up a batch of shortbread cookie dough. A good deal of each batch made in this house doesn’t make it to the oven.

Some butters right out of the box became indistinguishable, of those that were packed four quarters to the box. The ones from WinCo and Safeway had no markings on the wrapper to tell me who made them. Speculation was made that perhaps the plant where those came from make butters for other companies as well. Most of the quarters were wrapped in a translucent wax paper. The Land O’Lakes had a thicker paper that made claims about protecting the flavor. Challenge had a foil paper wrapper, similar in style to the Kerrygold and Plugra butters.

Clearly butter manufacturers color their butter. This keeps their products a consistent color year-round, as the cows’ diets change through the seasons. Color ranged from a very pale yellow to a strong solid yellow. All had good eye-appeal though a few reviewers questioned the strong sold yellow, thinking that one may have been the margarine.

All had a smooth consistency, though it was noticed that the Amish butter was a bit more grainy. The Plugra and Kerrygold were smoother than the rest, likely due to their higher fat content over the other butters. Plugra and Kerrygold are European-style butters with about 82 percent butterfat, while the rest are around 80 percent. Not much of a difference, really.

All of the butters are of a sweet cream variety, except for the Kerrygold, which is cultured. All varieties chosen were of the salted variety, as we would be eating them plain or with bits of a wheat roll. Unsalted out of the box is nearly inedible and best used for baking. Yes, I realize that salting does increase the shelf life, but I figured that butters don’t sit around on the shelf at the local megamarts very long so I stood a good chance of getting some that might not be very old.

Our tasting panel consisted of 12 people, evenly matched with same number of men and women. Ages ranged from 18 to somewhere slightly north of 70. Some had grown up with homemade butter, or had made their own in the past. I would consider all to have better-than-average cooking abilities.

Tasters gave average marks to the Kirkland Signature butter. Comments included “does not taste good,” “smells like canola oil,” “average,” “decent butter” and “poorly salted.”

Challenge butter rated “smells weird,” “milky white,” “straightforward flavor,” “a little salty” and “good flavor and color – salted well.”

The Amish butter comments were “funny aftertaste,” “smells like oil,” “bold,” “popcorn flavor,” “interesting flavor,” “looks homemade” and “better butter flavor.”

The Gold ’n Soft rated some of the wildest comments, such as “taste like plastic,” “like margarine,” “poor flavor,” “I will pass, thank you,” “spreadable smooth,” and “chemical flavor – Johnson’s floor wax in a cube – udder failure.” Clearly no one thought this was actually butter.

The Darigold butter received “good,” “bland,” “very nice,” “off-flavor,” “pale color,” “very little butter flavor.”

Land O’Lakes rated “melts easy,” “greasy,” “good,” “mildly salty,” “very nice flavor,” “no flavor,” “bland” and “not very flavorful.”

Plugra received “smells like popcorn,” “buttery,” “nasty smell,” “greasy texture,” “very very nice flavor,” “tastes like grease.”

Tillamook comments were “creamy,” “balanced,” “mild flavor,” “lardy – yuck,” “creamy,” “no flavor” and “tastes like plastic.”

WinCo butter rated “feels oily,” “light and buttery,” “nice color,” “fresh,” “decent butter,” “no flavor” and “salty.”

Kerrygold, the yellowest butter of the lot, garnered many interesting comments, including “looks fake,” “good for popcorn,” “tastes overly buttery,” “too yellow,” “very smooth,” “no flavor,” “I would buy,” “spreadable,” “yummy” and “good flavor.”

The Lucerne butter received “taste like bland spread,” “gross,” “creamy,” “fake color,” “smooth,” “mild flavor,” “too salt,” and “fair flavor and texture.”

Which one came up the best? No one butter came up as a clear winner. While some may have averaged well, nothing came up with glowing comments across the board. The Lucerne, Tillamook, Land O’Lakes, Challenge, Darigold, and WinCo, and I suspect other store brands are all good middle-of-the-road-type butters. The European style butters have their place, though taste is clearly subjective. I suspect that any of these, save for the margarine, would produce a fine flavored cookie, as long as the butter is fresh and hasn’t picked up and refrigerator odors. I really thought the Kerrygold would win, though I found out I like the Plugra a bit more. Also, I was able to try the Amish butter for the first time. I’d eat that again too.

Buy your favorite butter in small quantities, frequently. Save the European butters for special baked goods or for when you want to impress your friends when they visit, or if you like to eat it.