Butter
Butter is a widely enjoyed food product made by churning cream, producing a soft solid and a liquid known as buttermilk. Its origins date back to ancient times, with historical references found in texts such as the Bible, and it has been made through various traditional methods, including churning in goat skins and more contemporary mechanized processes. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), butter must contain at least 80 percent butterfat and can only be derived from cow's milk to meet federal standards.
The color of butter can range from creamy white to golden yellow, influenced by the cows' diet, and it can be artificially colored for uniformity. Butter is graded based on texture, flavor, color, and body, with the highest grades being AA and A, typically sold to consumers. It can be found in both salted and unsalted varieties, with the former having a longer shelf life. Bakers often prefer unsalted butter for its purity in flavor. Additionally, butter can be whipped for a lighter, spreadable consistency, and manufacturers also produce reduced-calorie versions of butter. Proper storage is essential, as butter easily absorbs surrounding odors and can become stale when exposed to light and air.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Butter
Butter is a food that has been enjoyed since ancient times. It is made by churning, or shaking up, cream. The liquid that cream churning produces is called buttermilk, and the resulting soft solid is called butter. The word butter comes from the ancient Greek word bou-tyron, which means "cow cheese." Although butter can be produced from the milk of various animals, such as camels, goats, and ewes, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains that only cow’s milk qualifies to make butter. To adhere to USDA standards, butter must contain at least 80 percent butterfat, no more than 16 percent water, and 2 percent milk solids.
Overview
Butter has been made and consumed for thousands of years; mentions of butter are scattered throughout the Bible. The ancients made butter by churning cream in goat skins that were swung from tent poles. In later times, it was hand churned in a barrel with a hole in the cover into which a plunger was inserted. Nowadays, the churning process is mechanized.
Twenty-one pounds of cows’ milk are needed to make one pound of butter. When cream is churned, the fat, which is butter, separates from the liquid, which is buttermilk. The color of butter can vary from creamy white to golden yellow, depending upon the richness of the grass the cows ate before they were milked. To maintain a consistent hue, butter may be artificially colored with natural annatto.
The best quality butter is dense, with no air bubbles or sweating. Butter should not be brittle, sticky, or lumpy when it is at room temperature.
Butter was the only type of food to have been defined by an act of Congress before 1938 when the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act was legislated. The United States Department of Agriculture grades butter on the basis of texture, flavor, color, and body. Each package of butter sold bears a grade with a shield symbol surrounding it. The best grade is an AA (or 93), the next is A (or 92), followed by B (or 90), with C (or 89) being the lowest grade. Typically, only grades AA and A are sold to consumers.
Butter can be salted or unsalted; without the preservative effect salt provides, unsalted butter has a shorter shelf life than salted butter. Salted butter lasts around five months in the refrigerator, and unsalted butter lasts about three. The amount of butter added varies by manufacturer. Many bakers prefer to use unsalted butter in their baked goods.
Butter can be whipped to give it a softer and more spreadable consistency than ordinary butter. Air is beaten into butter to whip it, resulting in an airier product. Additionally, through the addition of water, skim milk and gelatin, some manufacturers produce light or reduced calorie butter that contains around half the fat of regular butter.
It is important to wrap butter tightly, because it rapidly absorbs surrounding flavors and odors. Therefore, butter is usually sold wrapped in foil. When exposed to light and air, butter oxidizes and becomes stale. Darkening of the color of the outside of the butter is a sign of staleness.
Bibliography
"Butter Grades and Standards | Agricultural Marketing Service." Ams.usda.gov. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2016. Web. 9 May 2016.
Gee, Kelsey. "Butter Makes Comeback As Margarine Loses Favor". WSJ. Dow Jones & Co. Inc., 25 June 2014. Web. 9 May 2016.
"Is Butter Really Back? | Magazine Features | Harvard T.H. Chan School Of Public Health Magazine Features". Hsph.harvard.edu. n.p., 2016. Web. 9 May 2016.
McLagan, Jennifer. "Butter through the Ages." Webexhibits.org., WebExhibits, org., 2016. Web. 9 May 2016.
Mortensen, Børge K. Butter And Related Products. International Dairy Books, 2012. Print.
Teicholz, Nina. The Big Fat Surprise. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2014. Print.
United States Standards For Grades Of Butter. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, 1989. Print.
Zevenbergen, H. et al. "Foods With A High Fat Quality Are Essential For Healthy Diets. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 54.1 (2009): 15-24. Web.