What is your table butter/baking butter of choice?
In the absence of fresh butter I am quite fond of the Danish brand Lurpak as both a table/baking butter, but I'd like to put this question out there to see what I might be missing...
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32 Comments:
I have some Amish butter, made on an Amish farm in Ohio. It's fabulous, it's salty and yummy..mmmmm
I also have whipped butter, I like the flavor of that, it's not a heavy flavor like regular butter, it's light and airy.
Southern_bella at 8:37AM on 11/16/08
All we have and use at home is Land o Lakes unsalted butter. :P
Cassaendra at 9:27AM on 11/16/08
Everyday butter is the Publix brand; salted and unsalted. When I'm doing something special or just feel like splurging, I get KerryGold Irish butter also available at Publix.
grampart at 10:05AM on 11/16/08
salted land of lakes.
dearrie at 10:31AM on 11/16/08
Unsalted Plugra
stigcr at 10:50AM on 11/16/08
Plugra makes the best everything. Use it sparingly you can over plugra.
JerzeeTomato at 11:48AM on 11/16/08
i like land o lakes unsalted, the big unsalted plugra one pound blocks from trader joe's for baking, or kate's unsalted homemade butter.
cybercita at 12:15PM on 11/16/08
As I'm a student, I use store brand unsalted (it's usually between $2-3/pound!) But when LoL unsalted is on sale (as it is now), I stock up.
emmab at 12:19PM on 11/16/08
Salted table butter, unsalted (sweet) baking butter. I usually buy Keller's, but will get Land of Lakes or other if there is a great sale. Costco sells 3 lbs. packaged together that taste great. I'd love to try making my own. Have not tried gourmet brands because of $. I do love butter. Not interested in whipped or any other form.
PerkyMac at 12:19PM on 11/16/08
For baking I'll use any unsalted butter.
beth1 at 12:21PM on 11/16/08
Land O Lakes
caramel at 1:07PM on 11/16/08
i don't really bake anything but bread and some brownies. does salted or unsalted really make that much of a difference?
dearrie at 1:22PM on 11/16/08
I try to go to a semi local menonite store that has wonderful fresh butters, unfortunately i only get there about 2x a year, but I tend to stock up on their old style bacon(peppered) and butter as well as all the spices.
huneybumper at 1:23PM on 11/16/08
@dearrie ~ unsalted butter is fresher (salt is a preservative), and most recipes have salt in one or more forms. if you used salted butter where sweet or unsalted was specified, you would have to reduce the salt in the recipe. say the recipe has baking soda - that has a chemical effect, as well as adding salt, so if you eliminated that ingredient to account for your salted butter, your recipe wouldn't work.
a friend of mine serves sweet butter at the table and i don't like it spread on a slice of warm bread. i want my salt!
PerkyMac at 1:39PM on 11/16/08
There is an organic brand (Harmonie; don't know if this one turns up on the US market) which I usually buy, but I have to adjust recipes when I use it, since it's salted. If I'm making something in which I simply cannot use salted butter, then I generally end up using Lurpak, since it pretty much is Denmark's Land O Lakes (leaving aside the fact that there are no serious competitors); there really aren't any other brands on the shelf. And it's okay, but the Harmonie has a smoother flavour.
mongoose at 1:42PM on 11/16/08
@ perky~ that explains a lot. when i have tried to bake in the past i end up throwing it out because it never seems to taste the way i hope for. i just assumed butter was butter. i'll have to try again.
dearrie at 1:55PM on 11/16/08
It's odd but I like sweet (unsalted) butter in sauces (e.g., al fredo, or with lemon juice on pasta) but prefer salted butter for cookies, cakes, etc. I just use Land o' Lakes or the store brand.
annzee at 2:15PM on 11/16/08
LoL or Trader Joe's for most baking and eating.
@jerzeeTomato- I would not want to over plugra! (that sounds so funny!)
StripeyChef at 2:58PM on 11/16/08
Unsalted Land O Lakes for cooking/baking/table. When I want something special, there's a local creamery's butter that I use for the table instead.
nightowl at 2:59PM on 11/16/08
Oh. Interestingly enough, I seem to recall a show on PBS that was essentially a camera set in the office of a taste-testing business (thing). The episode I saw had a segment on butter, and Land o Lakes won for best flavor, even over several imported brands.
nightowl at 3:14PM on 11/16/08
Sometimes my mother and I get Spanish butter (Imperial?) or Kerrygold Irish Butter, but typically we stick to Land O' Lakes or what we get from the farmer's market.
Christina at 3:27PM on 11/16/08
I like to try to find the best ingredients and can be a little bit of an ingredient snob. I splurged on Plugra for a couple of years, couldn't find it once and realized I prefer plain ole Land of Lakes. Who knew?
Unsalted, of course. Perky is absolutely right about the freshness of the cream.
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 4:26PM on 11/16/08
Organic Valley unsalted cultured butter is a wonderful every day butter.
izzy's mama at 4:54PM on 11/16/08
Plugra is very good. When I go to Whole Foods (rare), I'll pick up some 365 Organic butter. I used to only buy unsalted but I've been buying salted lately . . . .
@Southern_bella: The Amish make quality butter. I've been enjoying some rolls of salted Amish butter from The Minerva Dairy in Minvera, OH. It's perfect for the table and worked quite nicely in an apple crisp I made a few weeks ago.
@PerkyMac: You are right. One must be mindful of how the salt in the butter will affect a recipe if cooking or baking.
Susquehanna at 5:28PM on 11/16/08
Usually Land-o-Lakes, although my local grocery store usually has Shur-fine (or something to that effect) a little cheaper, and it's good. I splurged on some salted Plugra yesterday, and it's pretty delicious.
kfarrel3 at 6:29PM on 11/16/08
I was raised on Keller's and always thought it was good, but after reading the posts I'm wondering if I should buy Land-O-Lakes. Is it that much better than most?
Rhiannon at 7:25PM on 11/16/08
I'm another vote for Amish butter - I get cultured unsalted butter by the pound from a local Amish farmer and it is heavenly (not to mention organic, grass-fed, and therefore more nutritious than the conventional stuff).
producestories at 7:31PM on 11/16/08
Whatevers on sale, I usually get one of both salted and unsalted. But I do prefer Land O Lakes.
pjracz10 at 7:47PM on 11/16/08
I usually get organic valley unsalted cultured butter. I've found that when I try other kinds, I go back to this one. (even over "fresher" butters)
cmtigger at 8:19PM on 11/16/08
@Rhiannon ~ I believe Keller's is a regional butter and I like it better than Land o' Lakes. Tastes fresher and more pure to me.
PerkyMac at 8:25PM on 11/16/08
Have you guys tried making butter? It's really fun to do with kids.
You need a mason jar and some whipping cream. Everyone take turns shaking the jar around, you don't have to shake it hard. At one point it will look like you're not doing anything at all; because the cream is whipped. Keep going and you will have a blob of sweet butter and some nonfat milk. You can salt your butter or not. Or add some strawberry preserves to the butter and make strawberry butter. Honey butter. blueberry butter. Cinnamon sugar butter. Chipotle butter...
Yummy. You can also mold it at this point which makes a great presentation for festive occassions.
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 9:21PM on 11/16/08
I like Land o' Lakes whipped for the table. I also find that the cultured butter has as good a flavor. Cook's magazine once did a test using whipped butter in baking, and found it was a good substitute - made cookies crispier. I haven't tried this myself yet. What is Plugra - is it a TJ's brand, or a regional one? (I live in the Northwest, but used to live in Chicago and have never seen this brand)
foodwriter97426 at 4:45PM on 11/17/08