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Post by librarylady on Jan 21, 2024 19:39:12 GMT
I learned today that in the US we only use 80% butterfat for our butter, while the Europeans use 85% to 90% butterfat, so their butter is richer and tastes better than American butter.
I guess that is why I prefer the Irish butter that can easily be found in our grocery stores.
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Post by bdhudak on Jan 21, 2024 19:48:43 GMT
That’s what I heard- that’s why our recipe results fall flat,cookies spread too much , things like that because the water content is higher now in our butters.
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Post by Basket1lady on Jan 21, 2024 19:57:05 GMT
Yup. Mmmmmm… nothing like the blocks of butter that I used to buy in Belgium for about 3€.
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Post by lucyg on Jan 21, 2024 20:00:54 GMT
The trouble with Irish butter is that I eat MORE of it than American butter. Because it tastes so darn good.
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huskergal
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Post by huskergal on Jan 21, 2024 20:04:14 GMT
I have switched almost entirely to European butter. Hello, Kerrygold. I agree it tastes better. I used it is pie crust and the difference was remarkable.
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sueg
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Post by sueg on Jan 21, 2024 20:13:44 GMT
I think the difference in taste is not just down to the difference in butter fat levels, but also to what dairy herds are fed. Free range animals that are out on rich pasture will produce a better flavoured product than barn raised, hay fed animals.
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scrappinwithoutpeas
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Post by scrappinwithoutpeas on Jan 21, 2024 21:20:26 GMT
Yup, Irish butter lover here too!
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Post by SweetieBugs on Jan 21, 2024 21:25:58 GMT
Long time West coaster and when I visited Wisconsin I could not believe how delicious all of the dairy products were. Everything was richer and delicious. Cheese, ice cream, butter, everything. They are definitely doing something different with their cows than the ones on the West Coast.
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Post by quinlove on Jan 21, 2024 21:31:20 GMT
Not exactly sure where Kerrygold is made. Since it’s been highly mentioned here, I bought some. Not going back, it’s worth the extra dollar or so. 😊
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Post by Zee on Jan 21, 2024 21:45:29 GMT
Not exactly sure where Kerrygold is made. Since it’s been highly mentioned here, I bought some. Not going back, it’s worth the extra dollar or so. 😊 Ireland--while there, I came across a herd of Kerrygold cows:) Their pasture had a plaque stating so. I've bought it ever since they started carrying it in my area, for eating. For baking I use Aldi butter, never a problem. |
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 21, 2024 21:50:54 GMT
Kerrygold is worlds above American made butter.
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snyder
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Post by snyder on Jan 21, 2024 21:52:40 GMT
I just looked up Kerrygold to see if I would be interested in purchasing it.
Sounds good. Better than a lot of the butters out there. I hated when they started pumping water/air into our butters and it really did a number on baked goods.
The Kerrygold that can be found in our grocery stores is actually from milk from cows that are raised here in the USA but meets the Irish standards.
So it looks like maybe because its manufactured here in the USA, it falls into the lower % of fat content category.
Copied from their site.
Kerrygold® Salted Pure Irish Butter has a butterfat content of 80% and Kerrygold® Unsalted Pure Irish Butter has a butterfat content of 82%.
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Post by Zee on Jan 21, 2024 22:06:50 GMT
I just looked up Kerrygold to see if I would be interested in purchasing it. Sounds good. Better than a lot of the butters out there. I hated when they started pumping water/air into our butters and it really did a number on baked goods. The Kerrygold that can be found in our grocery stores is actually from milk from cows that are raised here in the USA but meets the Irish standards. So it looks like maybe because its manufactured here in the USA, it falls into the lower % of fat content category. Copied from their site. Kerrygold® Salted Pure Irish Butter has a butterfat content of 80% and Kerrygold® Unsalted Pure Irish Butter has a butterfat content of 82%. Oh, good to know. I have found Irish Kerrygold here, but obviously I haven't checked in some time. I very rarely eat butter or put it on anything so I didn't have much reason to check. To me it's only necessary on fresh baked bread, which I also almost never have. But they're so, so good together! |
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 21, 2024 22:28:36 GMT
That’s what I heard- that’s why our recipe results fall flat,cookies spread too much , things like that because the water content is higher now in our butters. I shop ALDI a lot and I've heard that about their butter here in the US. The higher water content makes it unsuitable for various types of baking. As far as preferred brands, we like Kerrygold but also Plugra. |
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snyder
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Post by snyder on Jan 21, 2024 22:42:52 GMT
I just looked up Kerrygold to see if I would be interested in purchasing it. Sounds good. Better than a lot of the butters out there. I hated when they started pumping water/air into our butters and it really did a number on baked goods. The Kerrygold that can be found in our grocery stores is actually from milk from cows that are raised here in the USA but meets the Irish standards. So it looks like maybe because its manufactured here in the USA, it falls into the lower % of fat content category. Copied from their site. Kerrygold® Salted Pure Irish Butter has a butterfat content of 80% and Kerrygold® Unsalted Pure Irish Butter has a butterfat content of 82%. Oh, good to know. I have found Irish Kerrygold here, but obviously I haven't checked in some time. I very rarely eat butter or put it on anything so I didn't have much reason to check. To me it's only necessary on fresh baked bread, which I also almost never have. But they're so, so good together! Same here. I don't use much butter and I don't really back much these days either, so probably why I hadn't caught onto this Irish Kerrygold.
I still will buy some, just to see the difference. My sister bakes a lot, so will pass it onto her.
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Post by malibou on Jan 21, 2024 22:44:38 GMT
How funny, just prior to picking up my kindle to come visit you guys, my British mil and I were singing the praises of butter from Europe. When dh and I were just in London for a month, I bet we each ate more butter in than time than we have in our whole lives. Why? Because it tastes outstanding!!! I was splurging and buying the premium butter for 3 pound 20 as opposed to cheap M&S butter for 1 pound 60 😁. I've had butter once since we got back and it tasted like crap. Guess I'll try the Kerrygold to see if it tastes better.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jan 21, 2024 23:22:24 GMT
Yep. If I want to lash out and buy fancy butter, I will buy Danish butter. It is so good. Too good in fact, so I try not to buy eat otherwise I eat too much!
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Post by auntiepeas on Jan 22, 2024 0:38:14 GMT
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Post by karenk on Jan 22, 2024 0:56:58 GMT
When I am in Mexico I try to buy Lurpak, President (French) or Anchor. They are all European and so much better than American butter. I dislike Mexican butter.
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tracylynn
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Post by tracylynn on Jan 22, 2024 4:33:56 GMT
I must be the only person who doesn't find much difference with Kerrygold.
I've tried a couple of times and don't think it's better enough to be worth the upcharge.
But seeing it's made in the USA probably explains it.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 22, 2024 4:36:03 GMT
Are any of y’all having problems finding European butter this week? I had to buy regular butter today because they were out of Kerrygold, Plugra, and a couple of others I’m unfamiliar with at my HEB.
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Post by lucyg on Jan 22, 2024 5:31:09 GMT
My KerryGold butter (purchased at Costco) says Product of Ireland on the wrapper. My Costco also carries butter from New Zealand at a much lower price than KerryGold. I thought I might give that a try.  I’ve never seen the Danish butter here, or I’d try that, too. I’m an equal-opportunity imported butter appreciator! |
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Post by auntiepeas on Jan 22, 2024 6:46:19 GMT
Aww gee, now I really feel like a bad, bad Kiwi lucyg 😳 😆 The main reason we don't buy NZ made butter is because there isn't an organic option offered in our local supermarkets. There is an unbranded NZ made certified organic butter we could buy cut-to-order from a specialty store near us but for some unknown reason it's considerably more expensive than the Australian organic one we buy. 🤷 We only tend to buy the Danish Lurpak when we can't get the Australian organic butter because it tastes great and it's imported - we're really trying not to validate our NZ butter makers for not offering an organic option at the supermarket. FWIW, I'm sure the butter from NZ is really good though. 🇳🇿 Google tells me it's Kirkland brand NZ butter that Costco sells. I haven't seen that available in my neck of the woods so I can't offer any personal experience with it but I found this unsponsored review of it on YouTube that might be helpful, it's directly compared with KerryGold. 😊 |
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Post by lucyg on Jan 22, 2024 6:56:27 GMT
auntiepeas, thank you! Kirkland is the Costco store label. So they’re buying and labeling your NZ butter. That’s the one I saw in our store. I will report back once I give it a try. IF I give it a try after I watch the review.  (Tomorrow. It’s bedtime now here.)
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Post by Basket1lady on Jan 22, 2024 7:11:17 GMT
That’s funny— Lurpak is crazy cheap in Belgium, France, and Germany. It’s what a lot of restaurants use for the single serve packets with takeaway breakfasts.
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sueg
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Post by sueg on Jan 22, 2024 7:50:27 GMT
I just checked our butter - I live in Germany, so this is just 'regular' supermarket brands here, nothing fancy.
My cooking (block) butter is Berchtesgartnerland - German, from the alps between Munich and Salzburg. My sandwich and toast butter (spreadable) is Kaergarten, a Danish brand. Most of the brands in my supermarket are local, and by that I mean from our state, as Bavaria has a large dairy industry.
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Post by apmom on Jan 22, 2024 9:25:50 GMT
I’m in Ireland so use any Irish butter, they’re all the same as kerrygold. They taste great because they’re from grass fed cows. I don’t like European butters as they’re just not the same and will bring my Irish butter when travelling to Europe. The same goes for milk, fresh milk in Europe is not the same as Irish milk.
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Post by zuke on Jan 22, 2024 11:30:15 GMT
I must be the only person who doesn't find much difference with Kerrygold. I've tried a couple of times and don't think it's better enough to be worth the upcharge. But seeing it's made in the USA probably explains it. I recently bought Kerrygold and was surprised that I didn't notice any difference in taste from my regular supermarket butter. I'm not much of a fan of butter though so that could be the reason. |
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Post by bbkeef on Jan 22, 2024 13:51:21 GMT
Not going back, it’s worth the extra dollar or so. It is double the price of regular store brand butter for me. My regular costs $4.49 for 16 ounces and Kerrygold is $5.59 for 8 ounces. I will have to watch for it to go on sale to try it! |
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Post by stine on Jan 22, 2024 14:24:13 GMT
Forever Kerrygold in our house! I have seen the Costco brand butter and Kerrygold there but only in the salted version and I use unsalted for baking.
Eggs and butter are 2 places that I splurge on my grocery shopping. The differences in quality and taste are obvious for me and worth it.
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