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Is there really such a thing as bad butter, though?
Yes, there is butter that is like a bland grease block. Then there is stuff like Irish butter that has noticeable, variable, taste. The emulsion from high quality butter is silky smooth, creamy, and surprising light on the tongue, as opposed to leaving a greasy coating on it. The emulsion holds better as the butter melts, with better butter. The way it softens differs in ways that make it nice to cook, and bake, with. It spreads much more nicely. There really is a major difference between industrial production butter, and butter from a real creamery.
I highly suggest you get some huge corp butter, from a big box grocer, and a block of butter from a quality creamery, and then compare them. You will instantly notice the difference. Melt some of each, cook with some of each, spread some of each on some good bread, have toast with each, etc. It will be the whole experience that has improved, not just the taste.
US citizen here.
I recall making butter from scratch in grade school and it was significantly better than what we get from the supermarket.
Kind of sad that some grade schoolers can do better than a large corporation.
...come to think of it. That could have been what started my obsession with whole foods from quality sources.
Kind of sad that some grade schoolers can do better than a large corporation.
Better at what metric?
The cynical take is that the corporations did optimize for the best butter, only that their definition of "best" is different from yours.
Hah definitely! Perhaps the better take is that the priorities don't align.
The US has built its empire on convenience. There's plenty of solid brands out there, but the biggest and well known are the companies that cut corners and quantity so they can keep prices low. And us US citizens just eat that shit up.
Amish style butter is some of the best butter I've ever had. You can find it all over the place in the Midwest and Amish heavy states.
Love me my Amish butter log. I put that baby in the freezer and carve out little chunks for use during the week.
Being an American I would implore other Americans to make their own butter at home at least once to know just how much better it is. Then imagine that being done with quality milk. That's what these folks are talking about.
It is most likely because you didn't have the additives, and machines, to get a significantly lower fat butter to fully emulsify.
I have been making more butter myself, and working on cheese now. There are a bunch of farms, in every state, that will sell raw milk "for animal use". I have bought this, and the ultra pasteurized stuff, as I learn how to make cheese. The raw milk makes a noticeable difference in flavor when everything else was identical.
Oh, you misunderstand.
I definitely think there's 'less good' butter.
But 'bad' butter?
Absurd.
Betty Botta bought some butter;
“But,” said she, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit o’ better butter
Will but make my batter better.”
Then she bought a bit o’ butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botta
Bought a bit o’ better butter.
i think i haven't heard that in 30 years or something. totally forgot about it! my brain has a funny feeling now
Same. I don't even remember where I read it, but when I saw "bad butter," it came back to me. And I looked it up, of course.
Huh, that's a lot longer that the version I knew growing up:
"Betty bought some butter, but the butter Betty bought was bitter
So Betty bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter Betty bought before"
If they don't take out enough of the water it makes soggy toast, but still not truly bad