Spotting real butter: A guide to avoid dairy deceptions
How can you distinguish real butter from an imitation? It might seem straightforward, but given the creativity of dairy product manufacturers, anyone could get confused. Especially during the holiday rush, it's easy to make such a mistake.
When purchasing butter, carefully check the label. It should clearly state "butter." Even if it's creamy, it may contain hydrogenated vegetable fats, which are not beneficial for your health. If the product isn’t specifically labeled as "butter," it likely isn't.
How to tell real butter from a fake?
Real butter consists of 82% milk fat. Sixteen percent is water, and the remaining 2% comprises milk proteins. These components impact the structure and consistency of the block. Lactose, or natural milk sugar, is present in small amounts. However, if you have high lactose intolerance, lactose-free products are a better choice for you.
When choosing your block, avoid products with vegetable oils. If the type of oil isn't specified, it could include palm oil, which mainly consists of saturated fatty acids.
Good quality, natural butter has a light colour and creamy smell. When taken out of the refrigerator, it is hard and difficult to spread on a slice of bread.
White foam on butter – is it a bad sign?
If you see white foam while heating butter, don't worry. It's a good sign, indicating that the butter is natural. When you heat it, water evaporates, and proteins denature and coagulate, forming white foam on the surface. This foam is removed during the clarifying process.
Can you fry with butter?
Due to its low smoke point, natural butter should not be used for frying at high temperatures. At about 150°C, it begins to burn, and the byproducts of burning are harmful to health. It is suitable for cooking scrambled eggs or sautéing onions at low temperatures but shouldn’t be used for frying fish.
A much better choice is clarified butter, which has a smoke point of approximately 250°C. The healthiest option is to prepare the Christmas dinner in the oven
Natural butter can have different colours
Most blocks without vegetable fats have a light, almost white colour. However, the colour of butter can vary depending on the season and the diet of cows. Dairy produced from the cream of cows fed fresh grass appears somewhat more yellow compared to butter from cows fed with dry feed. The best guide is the smell. Fresh original butter smells like milk, while so-called blends often smell like margarine.
How to make butter at home?
Making butter at home is straightforward and doesn't require specialized equipment. The sole ingredient needed is cream with a high-fat content, at least 30%.
Homemade Butter Recipe:
- Pour chilled cream into a mixer or bowl. Whip at high speed until thick cream forms and then turns into butter. Once the fat separates from the buttermilk, stop whipping.
- Using a strainer or cheesecloth, separate the buttermilk from the butter clumps. Don’t discard it – it's perfect for baking or pancakes.
- Rinse the butter with cold water to remove any remaining buttermilk and extend its shelf life.
- Form the butter into a block and place it in the fridge.
The butter prepared this way is ready to enjoy immediately. Its taste, consistency, and aroma can successfully compete with store-bought products, and making it provides extra satisfaction from self-production. You can add your favourite spices, herbs, or garlic to the butter.
