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Yes I already googled the technical difference; I'm looking for a layman opinion.
I ate at a restaurant and they gave these little packets of butter which I thought tasted better than my usual butter. The packet says "sweet cream butter".
Google says sweet cream better is made from sweet cream, while regular butter is made from sour cream. But in regular butter I don't seem to taste any sourness. They just taste different.
Who can describe the difference in the taste? And does sweet cream butter really taste better or is it just a personal taste?
The butter that you buy as salted butter, is slightly fermented . It emphasizes the butter flavor. Unsalted butter is generally not fermented so it tastes slightly different. There is no sour cream involved. Just cream that sits refrigerated for a couple of days before the butter is separated from the buttermilk. To me, the unsalted butter tastes milder, and I prefer the slightly more pronounced flavor of the salted butter.
I suspect that "sweet cream butter" is just a marketing gimmick and there is no legal definition,
The flavor of milk and cream is affected by what the cow has been eating. Milk from cows eating fresh grass tastes completely different than milk from cows that are only eating hay. The different types of hay will affect the flavor of the milk. The grain that is fed will affect the flavor of the milk. For that reason, the butter from different companies can taste quite different and it can be a different color.
Even with the same company, butter can vary in flavor from winter to summer.
The trick with butter, if you care about the flavor, is to find a company that you like their butter and stick with them.
The restaurant butter probably was just fresher due to high volume turnover.
I’ve had nonboutique foil-wrapped pats of butter in restaurants that were outstandingly fresh and full of dairy richness. These places go through a lot of butter.
I never heard that butter was made from sour cream.
The butter that you buy as salted butter, is slightly fermented . It emphasizes the butter flavor. Unsalted butter is generally not fermented so it tastes slightly different. There is no sour cream involved. Just cream that sits refrigerated for a couple of days before the butter is separated from the buttermilk. To me, the unsalted butter tastes milder, and I prefer the slightly more pronounced flavor of the salted butter.
I suspect that "sweet cream butter" is just a marketing gimmick and there is no legal definition,
The flavor of milk and cream is affected by what the cow has been eating. Milk from cows eating fresh grass tastes completely different than milk from cows that are only eating hay. The different types of hay will affect the flavor of the milk. The grain that is fed will affect the flavor of the milk. For that reason, the butter from different companies can taste quite different and it can be a different color.
Even with the same company, butter can vary in flavor from winter to summer.
The trick with butter, if you care about the flavor, is to find a company that you like their butter and stick with them.
Nailed it on the flavors imparted by feed! ^^^
I remember the days when corn silage was fed to cows in winter as the main feed. The milk that they produced was foul, especially if it was at all warm. There were many days at school when I refused the milk or didn't drink it because it was so bad.
The idea of "sweet" cream likely is based in the concept of sweet hay and sweetgrasses, not the sugar type of "sweet." Milk from cattle eating those forbs or forage has a pleasant taste.
I remember the days when corn silage was fed to cows in winter as the main feed. The milk that they produced was foul, especially if it was at all warm. There were many days at school when I refused the milk or didn't drink it because it was so bad.
The idea of "sweet" cream likely is based in the concept of sweet hay and sweetgrasses, not the sugar type of "sweet." Milk from cattle eating those forbs or forage has a pleasant taste.
Yep! Try drinking the milk of a cow that has been grazing on pasture that contains wild onions. Ick!
OP, cream is cream. What matters is how fresh the cream is, and what the cow producing the milk has been eating. Those are the factors that determine the flavor of the butter.
No. Up until the later half of the 19th century, there was no mechanical way to separate the cream from milk. The only way to do it was to let it sit. This gave a slight tang to the cream. But then the mechanical separator was invented, and you no longer had to wait for the milk to separate on its own. This milk, which tasted sweeter than milk that had been sitting for a while, was referred to as sweet cream as opposed to aged cream. Thus, butter made with mechanically separated cream was called Sweet Cream Butter. Today the alternative is cultured butter, which is technically not quite the same as the old fashioned type as it has cultures added to it. Some day try making it in your blender using creme fraische. Keep in mind in the US there are no strong rules on naming, so take everything with a grain of salt.
Be aware that Sweet butter (no cream in the middle) usually means unsalted butter.
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There is an oddly discernable difference in butter taste and texture. When you are using Costco or supermarket butter they all taste the same, but try sometime Kerrygold Irish butter. It's from only grassfed cows and tastes better. Too expensive for everyday use, though, but nice for the Holiday rolls. The other thing is that spreading on pancakes, saltines or a sandwich room temperature (soft) is better. On the other hand, for a slice of crusty sourdough, a cold pat of butter can't be beat. We keep unsalted for cooking, and use salted for everything else.
There is an oddly discernable difference in butter taste and texture. When you are using Costco or supermarket butter they all taste the same, but try sometime Kerrygold Irish butter. It's from only grassfed cows and tastes better. Too expensive for everyday use, though, but nice for the Holiday rolls. The other thing is that spreading on pancakes, saltines or a sandwich room temperature (soft) is better. On the other hand, for a slice of crusty sourdough, a cold pat of butter can't be beat. We keep unsalted for cooking, and use salted for everything else.
Oh I love Kerry gold butter I will buying a 4 pack for Christmas. It is expensive, but maybe it is worth it, as I don;t need anything else on the bread if I have Kerrygold. No cheese, ham or peanut butter, just Kerrygold. My dear Mother was from Kerry & on trips, I remember seeing all the cows grazing.
Yes I already googled the technical difference; I'm looking for a layman opinion.
I ate at a restaurant and they gave these little packets of butter which I thought tasted better than my usual butter. The packet says "sweet cream butter".
Google says sweet cream better is made from sweet cream, while regular butter is made from sour cream. But in regular butter I don't seem to taste any sourness. They just taste different.
Who can describe the difference in the taste? And does sweet cream butter really taste better or is it just a personal taste?
No salt IMO
We use no salt butter
If other butters are made w/sour cream it is not the way butter used to be made
You can make butter yourself if you churn whipping cream
Kids do it in elementary school or at least they used to
No. Up until the later half of the 19th century, there was no mechanical way to separate the cream from milk. The only way to do it was to let it sit. This gave a slight tang to the cream. But then the mechanical separator was invented, and you no longer had to wait for the milk to separate on its own. This milk, which tasted sweeter than milk that had been sitting for a while, was referred to as sweet cream as opposed to aged cream. Thus, butter made with mechanically separated cream was called Sweet Cream Butter. Today the alternative is cultured butter, which is technically not quite the same as the old fashioned type as it has cultures added to it. Some day try making it in your blender using creme fraische. Keep in mind in the US there are no strong rules on naming, so take everything with a grain of salt.
Be aware that Sweet butter (no cream in the middle) usually means unsalted butter.
I'm not completely convinced, but you make interesting points. Butter can be made directly from whole milk, but it isn't commonly done. There is also butter made from the whey cream generated in cheesemaking.
The original post was concerning the difference in flavor of a restaurant pat of butter, vs. regular butter.
The "regular" butter that is common in stores around here in the states contains "cream, salt." No cultures. That means the OP is comparing sweet cream butter from a restaurant to sweet cream butter from a store. Since both are sweet cream based, cultured butter is extraneous to a direct response, however interesting.
Freshness and what the animal ate are going to be the big things that change the flavor. Processing and the mix of oils and acids undoubtedly have some effect as well, but that really goes back to the diet of the animal and breed. If you can come up with a cite from before around 1955 (about the time bulk tanks were introduced) specifically calling mechanically separated cream "sweet" cream as opposed to cream gathered from skimming milk, I'll go along with the idea.
Early mechanical separators for farms were essentially centrifuges. Faster separation was possible earlier (just rig a device to swing a bucket of milk in a circle for a long time) but there was little to gain from the extra effort. However... cream gathered from milk left standing wasn't a 100% success rate. Some of the butter made that way could have off flavor or even be rancid. That gives credence to your idea of "sweet" cream being from milk that hadn't been allowed to sit. However... milk most certainly did sit in the metal milk jugs while waiting for pickup and transport to a creamery. It would have been pasteurization that eliminated the bacteria, keeping the milk and cream "sweet."
FWIW, the making of butter tubs was a major industry, well before I was born, in the town where I grew up. Butter was the main dairy product sold down to Boston, along with cheese, before refrigerated rail cars.
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