Posted on 05/05/2026 12:42:00 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Butter is having a moment. No longer just a bit player in baking or a back-of-fridge standby, it’s taking center stage — whipped into sculptural boards, swirled into pastas, slathered generously on crusty bread. And yet, most of us still toss the same familiar yellow box into our grocery carts week after week. What actually makes a butter “better,” and which store-bought slabs are worth the splurge?
To find out, we talked to chefs, cheesemongers and cookbook authors obsessed with butter — not just for the flavor, but for the science and soul behind it. We asked about butter for cooking, baking, and simply slathering on a piece of toast. What we discovered: Great butter isn’t about branding. It’s about butterfat, culture (literally) and how it performs on your toast and in your pan.
First, let’s break down the basics: Most American butter is made from sweet cream, which means it’s churned from pasteurized fresh cream and tastes clean and mild. Cultured butter, on the other hand, is made by fermenting cream with lactic acid bacteria before churning. The result? A richer texture and a slightly tangy, more complex flavor — like the difference between milk and crème fraîche.
“Cultured butter has a much more pronounced buttery flavor than sweet cream butter,” said John Montez, a certified cheese professional through the American Cheese Society and training manager at Murray’s Cheese. “It has a slight tang … and when butter is the star of the show [like spread on a crusty baguette], for me it has to be cultured.”.......
Butterfat is the creamy good stuff that gives butter its richness and spreadability........
“Kerrygold can’t be beat for grass-fed Irish butter,” Montez said. “Vermont Creamery also makes an excellent salted cultured butter, and I always go for local if I can,” .
(Excerpt) Read more at huffpost.com ...
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I use the salted Walmart stuff. Better than the margarine we used to use a long time ago.
I think we need Fabio’s opinion on this.
I love Kerry Gold but usually settle for Kroger brand with olive oil and seasalt.
Nope.
Grain fed beef for me...it tastes better if people were honest.
Mine too. Well, that and Danish Creamery
RE: buy the best butter....Now you set me off—
https://www.st-stephens-primary.org.uk/docs/Homework_Sheets/Y2_Sum1_Betty_Botter.pdf
Was in Minnesota, a sign of the degeneration going on today.
In CA we have a boatload of organic grass fed butters.
Nearly orange in color. And with a rich flavor.
Glad I’m not the only one. Phew. I know I’m a very picky eater and I taste very small differences in food...more than the average person (by far).
So glad to hear it wasn’t just me.
“Am I the only one that doesn’t like grass fed meat (and by proxy butter)?”
There is a reason most commercial beef is grain finished or comes from end-of-production-life milk cows. Wagyu beef even comes from cows that have never seen pastures their whole life. All give good beef if ageing is done correctly.
Pastured pig, on the other hand is much tastier than intensive grain fed pig.
“Natural”, as trendy as it is, is far from meaning “good”. Most of time, it means ugly, sometimes it means crap.
You are not the only one.
.
Aldi’s Irish Butter-
Great taste
Great price
excellent value.
You are not alone. I got grassfed beef from a specialty butcher by mail They had an 11 lb ground beef special. I eat a lot of beef. When it came I wouldn’t eat it. I made two gigantic batches of ground beef stroganoff for my son’s family & daughter’s family. Both loved it. I did tell them it was supposed to be special beef, grass fed. I didn’t share that I didn’t like it.
I’m happy to share the ground beef stroganoff recipe which I discovered this year. It uses a roux.
I use mostly Kerrygold salted butter but for special treats I really like Isigny Ste Mère Beurre D’Isigny,Salted. It’s an extravagance.
One of my earliest memories is being out to dinner with my parents at the Old Homstead (Steak restaurant in meatpacking district). I was 5-6 years old. There were special twisted salted rolls and I buttered one. First bite i asked my mother what this was. She said butter. I didn’t believe her.
She finally admitted she served margarine at home.
That was it for me & margarine but I didn’t taste butter except in restaurants until I had my own place.
Kerrygold and Arethusa for me, even though I stop at the Cabot supplier farm for the cheese all the time.
George Floyd killed her off, LoL deeply Minnesota
Tillamook unsalted extra creamy.
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