This is a question that has been bugging me since I have come back from Dallas and also I was watching the film Wild Hogs yesterday and the butter on there was white to . WHY is the butter there white.

Our butter from Jersey is very yellow, almost egg yolk colour and all the butter I have had in th UK is various shades of yellow, so why is the butter there white, is it to do with the amount of cream in the milk?

Just one of those want to know why questions.

Ummmm ... just a guess here ... They use white cows?

Ours is mostly from Holsteins.

I presume that most of yours is from Jerseys, since...well, you know.  I know that Jersey milk has a higher butterfat content, but I'm not sure that would account for the difference.  I have heard that European butter is made in a somewhat different process than butter in the US.

BTW--was the butter in Texas in short, fat sticks or long thin ones?  Long thin ones are the norm in the eastern US, and short, fat ones are the norm in the west.  

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Best,

George

Fat content of the milk and diet.  If I remember correctly the cows in the USA have a higher grain content in their diet.  The fresh grass helps give a yellower hue to the butter.

-P.

You wouldn't think fat content would matter.  Lower fat content would just take more milk to produce a given amount of butter (isn't butter all fat?).

I believe color in butter comes primarily from the presence of carotene and xanthophyll which are natural compounds present in the feed of cows.  If there are higher concentrations of those products in the animal feed, the butter would be darker.

I live in Wisconsin and I can actually remember driving to ILLINOIS in the mid 60's to buy margarine (it was NOT allowed to be sold here).  It came as 4 quarters to a pound and was pure white.  The package contained a coloring dye that had to be mixed in  - by hand - to make it yellowish.  The farmers here didn't want anyone to mistake margarine for butter - like that's ever gonna happen.

If you like some esoteric reading, here's a nice web exhibit on butter.

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And, there is still a law on the books in Wisconsin stating that any restaurant that serves margarine on the table must also provide butter alongside it.

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 10:26am:

And, there is still a law on the books in Wisconsin stating that any restaurant that serves margarine on the table must also provide butter alongside it.

Good for Wisconsin. Give me the real thing!
The butter I get here is very pale almost white.

I've been in Ft. Worth since March...I've only seen yellow butter. Does the white taste different? Feel different? Look different? There's a possibility that wasn't even butter!!! ;D

ClusterChuck wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 2:40am:

Ummmm ... just a guess here ... They use white cows?

LMAO!!!!

CostaRicaKris wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 10:29am:

wrote on Jul 30th, 2008 at 10:26am: And, there is still a law on the books in Wisconsin stating that any restaurant that serves margarine on the table must also provide butter alongside it. Good for Wisconsin. Give me the real thing! The butter I get here is very pale almost white.

It's bigger than "the real thing." It's the fact that there's a very strong  dairy farm lobby here.

After reading up on butter this morning, I found out that the longer butter is processed, the more concentrated the color becomes (whipped butter is lightly processed, contains more air, and is lighter in color).  Most butter is churned by machine nowadays and thus closely controlled.  The color would depend on the feed of the original producers - cows.

If you get "artisan" or organic butter from small companies/co-ops, then I would assume regional and mechanical differences would occur and the color would show those differences.

If I remember correctly my butter is a pale yellow. Because of the fat content I've switched from butter to Smart Balance, which actually helps to reduce the LDL's in the body.

I LOVE BUTTER, I always have. As a child I would grab a stick of it and eat it like a candybar.

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 12:45pm:

I LOVE BUTTER, I always have. As a child I would grab a stick of it and eat it like a candybar.

I think you were born in the wrong state, my friend. ;D

My first thought regarding color was, are you actually looking at butter or margarine.  The butter that I get here in OR and in NV is a pale yellow.  Ive only ever seen margarine that is very yellow.

Maybe the cows that produce yellow butter eat a lot of sunflowers   ;)

Or they really need to pee. My mom used to tell me that if I held it to long that the whites of my eyes would turn yellow. Maybe it effects cows as well. :D

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 12:45pm:

I LOVE BUTTER, I always have. As a child I would grab a stick of it and eat it like a candybar.

As a kid, I used to love eating the pretty little butter pats that came to the table with the bread basket in restaurants.  Forget the bread, just give me the butter.

And on a related note, even though it's hotter than sin outside, this is one of my favorite times of the year.  The fresh, snappy oh-so-sweet corn is coming into the farm stands now.

When Brew asked what's for dinner today, I replied "CORN."

There's nothing that says SUMMER better than butter running down your chin and a niblet stuck between your teeth . . . . .

It's the simple things.  (sigh)

Mosaicwench wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 2:58pm:

wrote on Jul 30th, 2008 at 12:45pm: I LOVE BUTTER, I always have. As a child I would grab a stick of it and eat it like a candybar. As a kid, I used to love eating the pretty little butter pats that came to the table with the bread basket in restaurants.  Forget the bread, just give me the butter. And on a related note, even though it's hotter than sin outside, this is one of my favorite times of the year.  The fresh, snappy oh-so-sweet corn is coming into the farm stands now. When Brew asked what's for dinner today, I replied "CORN." There's nothing that says SUMMER better than butter running down your chin and a niblet stuck between your teeth . . . . . It's the simple things.  (sigh)

See? I married a poet.

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 3:15pm:

There's nothing that says SUMMER better than butter running down your chin and a niblet stuck between your teeth . . . . . It's the simple things.  (sigh)See? I married a poet pat.

Fixed it dear . . . .  ;D

Thanks everyone, the web sites made for intresting reading, I know I am sad.

I read the blurb on the chemicals in the food that the cows ate  making the colour but to be honest didn't quite understand it all.

It is just differant colours in differant places I guess.

The butter I saw was on the banqueting table and was little white balls, I thought they were coconut balls as they were along side the desserts.

---

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NZ and UK have more grazing time in the field during the year hence a higher carotine content due to the higher grass consumption.

Still tastes the same.  Yummy!

-P.

Paul98 wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 4:27pm:

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Now I followed that site so much easier, no confusing with big words, thanks  Paul.

And it answered my question  ;D

mummymac wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 4:11pm:

I saw was on the banqueting table and was little white balls, I thought they were coconut balls

That was just chuck laying on the table.  :D

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 4:49pm:

mummymac wrote on Jul 30th, 2008 at 4:11pm: I saw was on the banqueting table and was little white balls, I thought they were coconut balls That was just chuck laying on the table.  :D

lol :D

Only one butter for me.

Yellow

Land O Lakes

its the Minnesota boy in me.

I seem to remember that most butter is very light and that coloring was usually added.....when I was a kid. When you made your own margerine......people used to, coloring came with the package.

I use liquid: "I Can't Belive It's Not Butter." It's pretty good, expensive but good. If I make Swede cookies, I spring for the real thing.

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wrote on Jul 30^th, 2008 at 11:02am:

CostaRicaKris wrote on Jul 30th, 2008 at 10:29am: wrote on Jul 30th, 2008 at 10:26am: And, there is still a law on the books in Wisconsin stating that any restaurant that serves margarine on the table must also provide butter alongside it. Good for Wisconsin. Give me the real thing! The butter I get here is very pale almost white. It's bigger than "the real thing." It's the fact that there's a very strong  dairy farm lobby here.

I figured as much. Whatever the reason... as long as there's real butter on the table.

It's like when I order a Diet Coke and the waitress askes if Pepsi is okay. No, it's really not.

Quote:

Swede cookies

Is that as in turnip or as in Abba???