What you need to know about butter

Why butter is useful

Butter is rich in vitamins A, B, C, D, E, which have a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin, hair, nails, normalize the digestive tract, maintain energy at the proper level, increase efficiency and even improve mood.

But the very high calorie content and bad cholesterol in the oil are myths. Indeed, 100 grams of the product contains approximately 717 calories (depending on the fat content). But hardly anyone will eat butter in packs! For a couple of sandwiches or cereal for breakfast, 10 grams is enough, which contains about 72 calories. For comparison, the same amount of extra virgin olive oil has 90 calories.

As for the opinion that oil is a source of bad cholesterol, then everything is not so simple here either. Experts have found that butter is a neutral product. If you consume no more than 30 grams per day, it will only bring benefits.

How to read the label correctly

What should be on the label so that you can be sure that this is real butter?

Laconic composition

Classic butter should contain nothing but cream. They will be listed on the packaging as whole milk cream or pasteurized cream. In addition, the recipe may provide for the presence in the composition of salt (if it is salted butter) and sourdough (for a sour cream product).

GOST

GOST of real butter - R 52969-2008. If you see GOST R 52253-2004, know that this is Vologda butter (this means that the product is made at one of three dairies in the Vologda region). There is another interstate standard, GOST R 32261-2013, which was put into effect as a national standard of the Russian Federation on July 1, 2015. He, too, proves that this is natural butter. But GOST R 52178-2003 indicates that there is margarine in the package, and it does not matter what is written on the label.

The product's name

Spread and margarine makers go to great lengths to pass off their product as real butter. They can write on the packaging - "real creamy", but it will not be so. Look for a natural product only with these names: "butter", "amateur" butter, "peasant butter". Manufacturers of spreads and margarines are prohibited by law from using the word “butter” in product names if they contain vegetable fats.

And if the adjectives “sweet cream”, “salty”, “unsalted”, “sour cream” are added to the name of real butter, then this is just specifics, indicating the taste of the product.

Fatness

According to GOST, there are several types of oil with different degrees of fat content:

traditional 82.5% fat;
amateur 80% fat;
peasant with a fat content of 72.5%.

Butter with a fat content of 72.5% has a rich history. Its recipe was developed by Nikolai Vereshchagin. In 1870, at an agricultural exhibition in Paris, he tasted butter with a bright taste and nutty aroma and decided to make the same in Russia. To do this, he used cream heated to 80–85 degrees - no one had used such technology before. The oil obtained in a new way began to be called Parisian and began to be produced in many countries. The second name of this oil is peasant, because it tastes like rustic.

By the way, many people think that real oil cannot have a fat content of less than 70%. In fact, this is not the bottom line. There is tea butter with 60% fat and sandwich butter with 50% fat.

Price

Shouldn't be suspiciously low. To get a kilogram of butter, you need to process about 20 liters of milk. This is a costly production, so it is true that for a 200-gram pack the manufacturer asks for at least 150-200 rubles.

Shelf life

60 days at temperatures from 0 ° C to +5 ° C. When stored at lower temperatures (-18 ° C to -14 ° C), the shelf life can be doubled, that is, up to 120 days. The main thing is not to freeze the oil again after defrosting - you cannot do this.

Package

It should be paper, cardboard or foil so that the oil does not absorb foreign odors.

The packaging of Krestyanskoye oil of the Umalat brand is made of eco-friendly cardboard, which does not allow the smell of other products to be absorbed. It has the shape of an oil can, so it is convenient to store it in the refrigerator. And also on the package there is the phone number of the company's quality director. If you have suggestions for improving the quality of the product or you just wanted to thank the manufacturer, you can call or write, and you will definitely be answered.

What shouldn't be in butter

Vegetable fats

First of all, it should not contain vegetable fats. They are listed on the packaging as “milk fat substitutes”. Palm oil is often used for the production of spreads, less often peanut and coconut oil.

Preservatives

They can be identified by looking at the expiration date. If it is suspiciously large, then this is not a natural product.

Flavors

Real butter hardly smells.

Dyes

If the oil is tinted, it will have a rich yellow hue. So the manufacturer can hide the spread or margarine from you, passing it off as natural butter.

How to check oil at home

Even if the packaging with the product is not suspicious, the oil still needs to be tested at home.

By color

The color of natural butter is light yellow, not bright yellow or white (a bright color indicates the presence of dyes, and almost white indicates that there are vegetable fats in the composition).

By texture

Real food will chunk and crumble when frozen. If left on the table, the butter will melt slowly and evenly. But if it crumbles and crumbles in an already melted state, this indicates serious violations of production technology.

By cut

The butter is dense, dry and shiny when cut. If drops of water appear on the cut, then this is already margarine or a spread. Although single drops are allowed in a natural product.

Taste

Real butter has a pure, creamy milk flavor. And in the peasant and Vologda oil, subtle nutty notes may be present (due to the special production technology). In addition, depending on the additional components, the butter can be sweet, salty and sour cream.

When cooking

If you put a piece of butter in a preheated pan, it will melt quickly and evenly without water and foam, exuding a pleasant aroma.

The company "Umalat" has been producing butter "Krestyanskoye" with a fat content of 72.5% according to a strictly approved recipe and the same technology since 1972. By the way, this oil used to be called Parisian: it has a delicate creamy taste and is considered the lightest of natural oils.

"Krestyanskoe" is made from fresh pasteurized cream and is not washed with water, due to this it oxidizes more slowly and retains useful substances longer. The product tastes like real country butter, because it has the same percentage of fat content - it is simply impossible to achieve more with the manual method of production. And under the Unagrande brand, butter with sea salt and sweet butter with a fat content of 82.5% are produced.