For eating at table: Before Amazon bought them, the Vermont Creamery cultured butter log with salt crystals. Currently, I use Sierra Nevada Cheese Co, vat-cultured salted. When I want whipped or compound butter, I start from heavy cream in the KA.

For eating, Kerrygold. The best I can find at my Kroger.

I live fairly close to Tillamook. I like to support the local cows. For butter and other dairy products.

I love salted butter, especially as a spread for bread. When we were travelling in Europe and staying in self catering rentals, we did a lot of our own cooking, especially breakfast. The butter we bought was unsalted, and it just tasted weird on bread.

I like Kerry Gold salted butter but I also buy the unsalted sticks for the recipes that I want to try as written. After reading that other thread I plan to check out the Costco butters. I usually like the Kirkland brand.

'The butter we bought was unsalted, and it just tasted weird on bread."

Salted butter should have been available. But certainly in some countries the butter is weird. We've tried buying butter in Italy for baking cakes for our Italian family and ended up buying Danish butter. The home produced product was a vile, soapy, white, grease. Just not a traditional product there I suppose.

Here I no longer buy much butter for health reasons. But the organic supermarket brands are all pretty similar and I only get it for cooking so top quality isn't necessary. I love bread and butter but sadly have had to more or less give it up unless out for a very special meal.

From Aldi:

I'm not fussy about butter. I use it primarily for cooking and baking, occasionally butter and salt on grains or vegetables. So whatever's available and reasonably priced will do; sometimes that store brands (Meijer or Kroger), sometimes Land O Lakes but more often the store brands. Once in a blue moon one of the fancy-schmancy butters if they're on sale at a relatively low price.

Salted for me, though I do I keep a small amount of unsalted on hand for baked goods that specifically call for unsalted; a pound of unsalted will last me 6-9 months, I only use it for that purpose.

The title of this thread always makes me think TradWife. Make your own butter? Sure, as long as you milk your own cows and construct your own churn. Me, I'll buy it at the store.

LOL! I get the point, but butter is what you get, will-you/won't-you, when you start making whipped cream in the stand mixer and hear a craxh followed by silence in another part of the house. No churn required. ;)

Recently on TV, Alex G. did it, on purpose, to make a compound butter for her dish in a timed contest. I've done it with all the time in the world, but nice to see the pros do it under (emotional) pressure!

Speaking of the cooking forum. LOL

I would like to share that plllog, whatever you real name is 😁 is always an enjoyable read. I like how you share some very vast knowledge in fun ways.

Now I am sitting here pondering if I have learned more from the food network or the cooking forum. I do know at this point if I need a food question answered, this is the place I search first. So thanks to all the old timers for all the sharing. I miss Grainlady 💕

😊🤗😊🤗😊🤗

You're so very kind! Thank-you. I just try to give back. GW is a shadow of what it was when I joined, and I came to Cooking on the heels of Appliances and Kitchens. I knew how to cook, but in a very old fashioned way, and was looking to expand and grow for all the new kitchen awesomeness. I've learned so, so, so very much from this forum! Also from books, blogs and TV, but especially all the good folks here. I miss Grainlady too!

I used to subscribe my posts, but only one or two addressed me by name, so I got lazy. One person figured out the "plllog"ness of it all, which I chose as a random, likely not already in use, one time username to ask a question about French tops (on cookstoves) in Appliances. I'm still here 18 years later. 😁 Call me JC.

My table butter of choice is Isigny Sainte-Mere, is AOP/PDO, so the location, pasturing and even the cows are controlled by the coop. I have a fondness for the salted version (in navy blue wrapper) with the large crystals of sea salt (sel de Guerande). They also sell in the US a mid-salted one, an unsalted, and a springtime only salted. It is a cultured, churned butter available at certain grocers/cheesemongers (like Whole Foods) but is more widely available than some even more specialty brands.

Gooster, that’s my favorite too. It’s quite easy to find where I live in California, but right now I’m vacationing on the North Shore of Kauai, and was happily surprised to find it here, too!

I like the local Amish butter best, and have been known to make my own if I get a bottle of cream from the local small organic dairy. Definitely not a tradwife, as most here probably have figured out. (grin) I like it salted, of course, keeps my blood pressure up along with coffee, LOL.

For baking I just buy the Aldi brand or some from Costco, but for eating I like the good stuff. I don't really eat that much butter, but I have eggs a couple of times a week for breakfast. Over easy and that requires toast. Toast requires butter. It's efficient, I get my daily quota of caffeine, salt and fat all in one meal!

Annie

So I just read this article and thought some here might appreciate...

https://people.com/man-goes-viral-ordering-butter-for-wife-push-present-exclusive-11845071

Man Goes Viral After Ordering 11 lbs. of French Butter for Wife's Push Present

5 kg of Isigny Ste. Mere! That's a lot of butter (weirdly the big block is 1.6x more expensive per gram than the small bars I pick up at the speciality grocer in my neighborhood). It is a great gift, nonetheless.

I imagine the weight for shipping may have something to do with a higher price?

I don't understand why you don't get butter that is just as good made locally! You must have cows and cows eat grass..... It's so bad for the planet to be exporting you way! Can someone please explain?

My butter is Land O Lakes. They are based up north, but have different places to make their butter all over the United States. Nothing about it is imported.

Some of it is that cheap American butter is only 80% butterfat. Some European butters are 86%, though some at 82% like standard "premium" (i.e., not super cheap) American butter. We do have grass, and cows who give rich milk. I have both 82% and 85-86%, California grass fed in my fridge. A lot of people buy what's cheapest, Then they taste the imported stuff and like it so much better, they stick to it. Some areas don't have a lot of food choice and it may be the store gets in the imported butter as an upcharge novelty but don't bother with the better locsl butter, because the shoppers choose the cheap one if there's no snob appeal. And there may bbe a particular terroir to someone's imported favorite. Eat local is in general a good, environmentally sound thing. International trade prevents wars.

"I don't understand why you don't get butter that is just as good made locally!"

If things were only that simple. Food access and food insecurity plague countless Americans. Various factors come into play, but for the sake of this thread, I'll pull two of the major ones out of my hat: (1) lack of availability, and (2) lack of affordability. Quite often, these go hand-in-hand, especially in under-resourced area, but not always.

Me? I don't want to pay the premium price, but I could afford a pound of the chi-chi butters every week. Ah, but the grocers in my area don't carry anything locally produced. Where am I supposed to get the stuff? I don't have any of these prized grass-fed beasts in my area within a reasonable driving distance (or any farms that have cows, for that matter). The high-falutin' farmers market 45 minutes away may have some of the stuff available, but if they do it's going to be $$$$$ plus it's too long of drive -- time is money, as is gas.

For a whole heck of lot of people the "cheap" store brand butter is a stretch for them to afford. I get the sense that most of the people of these forums don't struggle with affordability issues, but actually I don't know that.

These are the prices at my local Walmart.

Kerrygold 65.5 cents per ounce

Danish Creamery 43 cents per ounce

Tillamook 34.2 cents per ounce

Land O Lakes 27.9 cents per ounce

GreatValue 18.4 cents per ounce

I could afford the higher ones, but I DO NOT like the taste. The Kerry is the only one a lot higher. The rest are right at the same price, except the Walmart generic Great Value and you would never know exactly what you were buying, the generics, of anything, change who makes them constantly.

The other issue here in Michigan is most dairies are part of a cooperative and all the milk goes into one big tanker truck and it all gets mixed together and bottled by a large conglomerate of some kind. The dairy farms don't usually sell directly to the public. We do have a couple of local smaller organic dairies that bottle their product and sell it at small stores and that will cost me $6 a pint for the cream which won't make very much butter.

Agribusiness has been trying to take over for a long time, small farms are very much in the minority and usually raise products for themselves or the farmer's markets. If they pay themselves minimum wage for the time it takes to produce that product they can't sell it because it's too expensive.

As a result, not many people make their own butter because they cannot source good local cream to do that with.

Annie

I was at my local Publix today and needed butter - looked at the President brand. Sure enough, as Amy remarked, made in Brazil. I purchased Kerrygold. I love President but did not want "crumbly butter" .

I was at the snooty store today, where they have a butter case all by itself. They had all the fancy imports. I didn't look at the Kerry Gold or Plugra, but the Belgian one was from Belgium, and the three French ones, Including President, were from France. Actually what the President said was that the cow products came from Normandy, but since shipping butter is much less expensive than shipping milk, I have to think that the butter was made nearby. In the same case were the two larger dairy butters that I use in cooking and baking. I didn't see my table butter, which is a small maker. They did have the goat butter, though.

I get the sense that most of the people of these forums don't struggle with affordability issues, but actually I don't know that.

I think it's about priorities. Most of us are old and retired. :0)

I'd like to find a better butter than "Land o Lakes".

Then go for the hyped snooty butter. I will stay with the one I like.

@Sherry8aNorthAL...Only if it's actually better? Not just a higher price tag...which is why I'm asking....

I have tried them . ”I” do not like the taste and do not think it is ”better”. The only way you will know is to buy some different ones and try.

I prefer the USA butter to anything else. Land does make a higher butter fat butter, but I like my original.

FWIIW, I grew up eating Blue Bonnet margarine, because it at the time was to be ”healthier”. Of course we know now it was not true and was just marketing!

I think that the imported butter is just hype, but if you like it, then it is not. It is just a freaking stick of butter FGS.

The butter I like is a cultured butter with flakes of salt with a higher fat content and a deeper color, but most of all it has a distinguished taste from other butter. It may not be to everyone's taste, but there is a noticeable difference, which why i use it as a table or finishing butter. It is really not marketing as I've liked my preferred brand(s) for more than a decade and tried many alternatives in places --- even in France where we live part time not all the butters are the same. It is difficult to find a local equivalent, due to the industrial concentration in the US, and the most common US alternatives include a famous brand that already comes from 3,000 miles away (and I don't like it as much, neither the TJ's as it is not as distinctive in taste).

Gooster, that's exactly the description of my previous (and favorite) table butter, which is no longer made. The current one is grass fed and cultured, and local-ish, and good, but I wish I could have the old one again...

Pillog, I'm always trying to find an alternative but it is difficult. I do think the pasturing close the sea may also influence the taste but i think also the traditional process is not feasible, at scale, in coastal NorCal.

You're talking about the Isigny Sainte-Mere? They do have it at the snooty store. I saw it the other day. I may try it. It's not like we go through that much table butter. A half pound, maybe every few weeks.

@plllog - yes, the one in the deep navy wrapper. Some like the spring version.

I'll look for it! Thanks!

I picked up another "land o Lakes" pound of butter.....it's OK.

I used to like the Keller’s Creamery butter Sam’s Club carried. Haven’t seen it there in a long time. These days I buy my butter at TJ’s…both Kerrygold and TJ’s. Not a fan of unsalted butter.

That's interesting! I always bake with unsalted butter unless a recipe specifies otherwise. The actual saltiness of butter is so variable. But I don't consume a lot of salt, which means I perceive things to be a lot saltier than others do. Either way, though, I suppose I'm just a control freak in baking. I may wing it with other things, but I measure the salt. 😁

plllog, you likely have a point regarding not consuming much salt. For me, salted butter’s a taste preference/enhancer in baking based on testing I’ve done over the years. I know I’m likely in the minority, but I haven’t had any complaints. With salted butter in baking, I do reduce the amount of salt I add but don’t omit it.

Just thinking…what I truly don’t get are recipes that call for unsalted butter with no addition of salt. I once gave my shortbread recipe to a coworker. She made some to bring to work, and they were pretty underwhelming. She asked me why they didn’t taste like mine, so we went over the recipe. She’d made them with unsalted butter and didn’t add any salt. She did add the vanilla but it wasn’t enough. With such limited ingredients, something like shortbread needs the flavor boost.

Well, that makes sense! There's not that much salt in butter, but it's perceptible. If you're adjusting the salt while using it, then it's the same-ish, and just a taste preference for the butter that comes already salted, which I get. I haven't experienced it, but I understand. ;)

LOL re the shortbread! I always use my childhood Scottish nanny's recipe, which is just flour, salted butter and sugar. I was thinking more about pie crusts and cakes. I think a lot of cookie recipes use salted butter, probably for even distribution. Unsalted shortbread sounds...bad.

It was really bad! I remember the coworker being surprised about using salted butter. The shortbread recipe I use came from a friend’s grandmother. The original recipe was just flour, touch of cornstarch, butter and powdered sugar. I don’t think it specified salted or unsalted butter, so salted it was for me. I also added vanilla.

I’ve seen more cookie recipes calling for salted butter, but still a lot with unsalted. At least now most calling for unsalted do include some salt. I know our tastes are all different, but no salt at all can really compromise flavor for me.

"Tuscan" bread has no salt because it's expected to be eaten with tapenade or other very salted things. It's much better whole wheat style, because that has a lot more flavor with no salt. I don't know any other baking recipe that has no salt! I mean either in the butter or measured out. I suppose there may be some that use a salt substitute for those with sodium free diets, but that kind of thing is hard to do. I keep a pound box of unsalted butter in my fridge door, and replace the sticks when it gets empty. That's the perfect temperature for pie crust. Cold but cuttable. A couple pounds in the freezer. Because I like measuring the salt my way--I may scant the salt because East Coast salt levels are way too high for West Coast me--but that's control, not eschewing the salt. ;:)

"Tuscan" bread has no salt because it's expected to be eaten with tapenade or other very salted things.”

That makes sense.

Your comment about East Coast salt levels made me think of Ina Garten whose recipes do seem to favor salt when cooking. OTOH, she only uses unsalted butter for baking, but, as it should be, she does add salt. I guess we all do what works best for us!

I just realized, my reason for preferring to bake with unsalted butter is the same as not wanting to use self-rising flour or Bisquik, etc. I mean, I get the appeal of a full on cake mix, though moreso if it has the eggs and milk in it. I read something about mix history that said the earlier mixes had the cook add milk and eggs so she could feel like she was making the cake. ;) Wild. We learned to measure in first grade (though I had an awesome teacher, so I don't know if this is the norm). The only mix I've used for regular flour baking, in decades, is the original Kodiak Kakes pancake mix. High quality ingredients, and 1:1 mix and water, nothing else, so you can make one pancake or dozens. Good pancakes. That was brilliant. Less call for pancakes here, now, and I tended to use sourdough discard in pancakes and waffles, until recently when I started adding it to bread. I was going to try making my own 1:1 mix using the Ova Easy egg crystals Grainlady recommended, but by the time I found some at a not-inflated price, pancakes had already become a rare thing. Control freak. I admit it. Though it helps that the flours and baking chemicals and the rest of what's required, including utensils and pans, are all together in a compact space.

FWIW, I've noticed that when I've had to buy a different brand of organic butter from the other stores around here, it seems to have a stale taste, like it's been in the cooler long enough to absorb flavors from other foods - which is likely the case, since it's often exorbitantly priced.

> "Tuscan" bread has no salt because it's expected to be eaten with tapenade or other very >salted things.”

What I learned on Tucci's Italy and later verified is the lack of salt in bread in Tuscany had historical roots, due to a high tax on salt and the general poverty. So while today another reason may be the fact that it is eaten with salty meats and cheese, the historical roots are economic.

Cool. They say it's the salty things in the recipes and teachings. Tax actually makes more sense to me. That the tapenade etc., were a customary thing to cover for the lack of salt is very clear (not that all logical things are true--just look at Galileo). But, there are so many distortions caused by tax! The narrow houses in Amsterdam with the ladder like stairs, the "unfinished" houses in Greece, the balconies in the American South which can only be entered through windows (tax on frontage and stairs, finished houses, and doors, respectively). People will bend rather than pay tax. Unsalted bread seems the least of it. :) But tax addictive (but delicious) psychostimulants without consent of the people and they'll destroy the product and overthrow the king...

I only remember it because Tucci said he does not like Tuscan bread, which was a rare piece of criticism from him. I was also amused to find that in Sicily so many buildings don't have a finished roof (or top floor) because it was a way to avoid paying the real estate tax on a finished building.