"Jenn Ridley" wrote in message
...
(GMAJaskol) wrote:

the funny part is, if youv'e made your own butter is almost white.

Depends on the cow, and the cow's diet.

jenn
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Jenn Ridley :

Absolutely correct Jenn. Butter is very dependent on the individual cows,
their diet, their breed, the butter making process used, and the type and
quality of milk used. Of these, for color, the diet is the most important.
The same herd of cattle can produce different color shades of butter
depending on what they are eating seasonally. In most large commercial
operations, especially in the U.S., many thousands of cows are fed a boring
steady diet of feed to produce a homogeneous product. Even butter is often
colored to make it more yellow. In the U.S. butter is almost always lower in
butterfat than European butters - the effect on taste is big.

Just for those who may not be aware, butter is available in 4 different
broad types.

1. Salted sweet [fresh] cream butter. This is the most common in the U.S.
2. Unsalted sweet [fresh] cream butter.
3. Salted soured cream butter.
4. Unsalted soured cream butter.

Soured cream butters are difficult to find in the U.S. The flavor is more
intense and is another one of those things that is up to individual taste.
For Americans, Irish butter is widely available in both sweet and soured
varieties with the soured cream being a little more common. Both have higher
butterfat content than most U.S. butters. French imports of sweet cream
butter (even higher in butterfat) are also available but not as easily
found. There are a few American butters, most especially Pelugra, that
aspire to attain European quality, but, in my opinion, fall short. There are
exceptions! I had butter from a dairy in the Seattle area that had
outstanding high-fat, lightly salted, sweet-cream butter. Unfortunately I
have forgotten the name of the dairy. I am sure that some Sea-Tac resident
can supply the info.

I have already gone on too long, but just one more thing. The ideas that
salt in butter are 1) to cover the taste of bad butter and 2) to preserve
butter are incorrect. The first is just not correct at all and never has
been. The second was correct in the past but is no longer necessary. It is a
matter of taste now. The same thing goes for sweet cream and soured cream
butters. In the past, soured cream butter was often the only option. Now it
is a matter of taste.

Charlie