Looking at European Style Butter

I have never bought anything but just regular butter or oleomargarine. When I started all this cookie baking, though, I was looking over the butter selection at the store and saw Crystal Farms European Style Butter. "Huh? Whazzat?"I never heard of it before. Something new?

Then a couple of weeks ago I was at the grocery store and a couple came up to where the butter was, and the guy said, "Huh. No Xyz European Style Butter! They sell it all over. I thought sure Woodman's would have it. There's Crystal Farms European Style. I don't want that. Let's find some Xyz." Of course he didn't say "Xyz." I forget what it was he did say, exactly. I asked his wife, "Out of curiosity, why are you looking for that particular butter?" She said, "It reminds us of the cookies we got in France. It has a different taste."

Of course, I have to investigate that. And what better sort of cookie to investigate it with than butter cookies?

Woodman's Grocery Store had only Crystal Farms European Style Butter. That guy had said they have this other kind all over, so I wondered what brands of butter they have in the other grocery stores around. I took a couple of hours and made a grand tour of the grocery stores on the west side of Madison, checking out the dairy counters for European style butters. Here's what I came up with - store, butter, and price:

Woodman's
Crystal Farms European Style Butter
$1.59 for a half-pound (two sticks)

Trader Joe's
Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter
$2.69 for a half-pound (two sticks)

Metcalfe's (Hilldale)
Organic valley Unsalted European Style Cultured Butter
$3.69 for a half-pound (two sticks)

Whole Foods (University)
Wuthrich European Style Butter
$2.39 for a half-pound (two sticks)

Whole Foods (University)
Plugra European Style Butter
$2.19 for a half-pound (two sticks)



I was a bit surprised - every store had a different kind! The only kind that was at more than one store was the Crystal Farms European Style Butter. I forget which other stores had it - maybe Copp's or Cub Foods. Trade Joe's, Metcalfe's, and Whole Foods are all smaller than the mega-grocery stores and had something different to offer.

To offer for a pretty penny, that is. These butters are darned expensive, aren't they? The cheapest one is $3.18 for a pound, and the most expensive $7.38 for a pound. Compare that to $1.50 for a whole pound of Roundy's Unsalted Butter at Copp's. I wonder if they really taste that different?

One significant difference between these butters and regular butter is the percent fat. Regular butter is 80% fat. European Style Butter is usually 83% fat. Another difference is that regular "sweet cream butter" is made from pasteurized fresh cream. The European Style butters may be made from pasteurized fresh cream, but then with certain fermenting bacteria added, or may be made from slightly soured cream, in which fermentation has already taken place. There's interesting information on butter on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter. Check it out.

A couple of Web pages give me the information that European style butters, with their lower moisture content, are especially good for flaky pastries like puff pastry and croissants. Cookies are usually just about the opposite, and that would make one think they would not offer much to cookies. On the other hand, to the extent there might be a different flavor, they could be good in certain recipes.

I checked out the labels on each of these butters, and wouldn't you know it, the ingredients and even listed fat contents per serving are not all the same:

Crystal Farms European Style Butter
Cream, Natural Flavorings
Total fat 12g, Saturated fat 8g

Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter
Cultured Pasteurized Cream
Total fat 12g, Saturated fat 8g

Organic Valley Unsalted European Style Cultured Butter
Pasteurized Sweet Cream, Swiss cultures
Total fat 12g, Saturated fat 8g

Wuthrich European Style Butter
Cream, Natural Flavorings
Total fat 12g, Saturated fat 8g

Plugra European Style Butter
Pasteurized Cream, Natural Flavor
Total fat 11g, Saturated fat 7g


I noticed one interesting thing about these, right off the bat. Unlike the less expensive regular butters we buy, these are all encased in foil wrappers. That's great! Butter has a strong tendency to take on the aroma of whatever you have in your refrigerator. Some cheap paper wrappers are a poor barrier. Some butters claim to have a better paper wrapper that forms a more effective barrier to refrigerator odors. The best barrier of all is foil. I was glad to see that for the price of these special butters, at least they give you the best sort of odor barrier!

The 11g fat in Plugra European Style Butter is the same as on a package of normal butter with the Roundy's brand, but a Web site says they have 82% fat compared to 80% in normal butter.

I'm engaged in trying these butters out, and will post information as I make the cookies.