Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured 4 oz/110 g) or blocks, and frequently served with the use of a butter knife. In common usage a butter knife may refer to any table knife designed with a dull edge and rounded point formal Flatware patterns make a distinction between such a

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. Dairy products are generally defined as Foodstuffs produced from Milk. Churning is the process of shaking up Whole milk (or cream) to make Butter, and various forms of Butter churn have been used for the purpose Fermentation in Food processing typically refers to the conversion of Sugar to Alcohol using Yeast under Anaerobic conditions For the 1993 hip-hop single by the Wu-Tang Clan see CREAM CREAM is an acronym for Cognitive Reliability Error Analysis Method a Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the Mammary glands of female Mammals (including Monotremes. It is used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying. A spread is a food that is spread with a knife onto Bread, crackers, or other bread products A condiment is a prepared edible substance or Mixture, often preserved or fermented (usually a liquid that is added in relatively small Cooking is the process of preparing Food by applying Heat, selecting measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible Butter consists of butterfat surrounding minuscule droplets consisting mostly of water and milk proteins. Butterfat or milkfat is the Fatty portion of Milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl Most commonly made from cows' milk, butter can also be made from that of other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, and yaks. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe The yak ( Bos grunniens) is a long-haired Bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai - Salt, flavorings, or preservatives are sometimes added to butter. Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants Alternate meanings Seasoning (cast iron; Seasoning (wood; Seasoning (slave Seasoning is the process of imparting or improving A preservative is a natural or synthetic chemical that is added to products such as foods pharmaceuticals paints biological samples wood etc Rendering butter produces clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat. Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable value-added materials Clarified butter is Butter that has been rendered to separate the milk solids and water from the Butter fat. Ghee ( Hindi घी ghī, Urdu گھی ghī, Punjabi ਘਿਉ/گھیو ghiu, Kashmiri ग्याव/گیاو Butter remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32–35 °C (90–95 °F). Refrigeration is the process of removing Heat from an enclosed space or from a substance and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable Room temperature (also referred to as ambient temperature) is a common term to denote a certain Temperature within enclosed space at which humans are accustomed The density of butter is 911 kg/m³ (1535. CM3 redirects here If you were looking for the 3rd game in the Cooking Mama series abbreviated as CM3 see here. 5 lb/yd³). The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass A cubic yard is an Imperial / US customary (non- SI non- metric) unit of Volume, used in the United States, Canada and ^[1] Butter generally has a pale yellow color, but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. Yellow is the Color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength Cone cells of the Retina about equally The color depends on the animal's feed and is commonly manipulated with food colorings in the commercial manufacturing process, most commonly annatto or carotene. A food coloring is any substance that is added to Food or Drink to change its Color. Annatto, sometimes called Roucou, is a derivative of the Achiote trees of tropical regions of the Americas used to produce a red Food coloring and also The term carotene is used for several related substances having the formula C40H56

Etymology

The term "butter" is used in the names of products made from puréed nuts or peanuts, such as peanut butter. Purée and (more rarely mash are general terms for food usually Vegetables or Legumes that have been ground pressed and/or strained to the The peanut, or Groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the Legume family Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted Peanuts with or without added oil It is also used in the names of fruit products, such as apple butter. Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of Apple sauce, produced by long slow cooking of Apples with Cider or water to a point where the Sugar Other fats solid at room temperature are also known as "butters"; examples include cocoa butter and shea butter. Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is the pale-yellow pure edible Vegetable fat of the Cacao bean In general use, the term "butter", when unqualified by other descriptors, almost always refers to the dairy product. The word butter, in the English language, derives (via Germanic languages) from the Latin butyrum, borrowed from the Greek boutyron. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly This may have been a construction meaning "cow-cheese" (bous "ox, cow" + tyros "cheese"), or the word may have been borrowed from another language, possibly Scythian. The Scythian languages form a North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family and comprise the distinctive languagesspoken by the Scythian ( Sarmatian ^[2] The root word persists in the name butyric acid, a compound found in rancid butter and dairy products such as Parmesan cheese. The root is the primary lexical unit of a Word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents Butyric acid (from Greek βούτυρος = butter) also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a Carboxylic acid with the structural Rancidification is the decomposition of Fats Oils and other Lipids by Hydrolysis or Oxidation, or both Parmigiano-Reggiano is a hard fat Granular cheese, cooked but not pressed named after the producing areas of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena,

Production

Main article: Churning (butter)

Today, commercial butter-making is a carefully-controlled operation. Churning is the process of shaking up Whole milk (or cream) to make Butter, and various forms of Butter churn have been used for the purpose

Unhomogenized milk and cream contain butterfat in microscopic globules. Homogenization (or homogenisation) is a term used in many fields such as Chemistry, Agricultural science, Food technology, Sociology Butterfat or milkfat is the Fatty portion of Milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain Microscopic is a term used to describe objects smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked Eye and which require a lens or Microscope to see These globules are surrounded by membranes made of phospholipids (fatty acid emulsifiers) and proteins, which prevent the fat in milk from pooling together into a single mass. Phospholipids are a class of Lipids and are a major component of all Biological membranes All phospholipids contain a Diglyceride, a Phosphate In Chemistry, especially Biochemistry, a fatty acid is a Carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched Aliphatic tail ( chain) which An emulsion ( IPA: /ɪˈmʌlʃən/ is a mixture of two Immiscible (unblendable liquids Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl Butter is produced by agitating cream, which damages these membranes and allows the milk fats to conjoin, separating from the other parts of the cream. Variations in the production method will create butters with different consistencies, mostly due to the butterfat composition in the finished product. Butter contains fat in three separate forms: free butterfat, butterfat crystals, and undamaged fat globules. In Materials science, a crystal is a Solid in which the constituent Atoms Molecules or Ions are packed in a regularly ordered repeating In the finished product, different proportions of these forms result in different consistencies within the butter; butters with many crystals are harder than butters dominated by free fats.

Churning cream into butter using a hand held mixer

Churning produces small butter grains floating in the water-based portion of the cream. This watery liquid is called buttermilk—although the buttermilk most common today is instead a directly fermented skimmed milk. Buttermilk is a Fermented dairy product produced from Cow's milk with a characteristically sour taste The buttermilk is drained off; sometimes more buttermilk is removed by rinsing the grains with water. Then the grains are "worked": pressed and kneaded together. When prepared manually, this is done using wooden boards called scotch hands. Scotch hands (also known as butter beaters) are large Wooden Spatulas used when making Butter. This consolidates the butter into a solid mass and breaks up embedded pockets of buttermilk or water into tiny droplets.

Commercial butter is about 80% butterfat and 15% water; traditionally-made butter may have as little as 65% fat and 30% water. Butterfat consists of many moderate-sized, saturated hydrocarbon chain fatty acids. In Organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an Organic compound consisting entirely of Hydrogen and Carbon. It is a triglyceride, an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acid groups. (more properly known as, TAG or triacylglyceride) is Glyceride in which the Glycerol is Esterified with three Fatty acids It is the Esters are a class of Chemical compounds and Functional groups Esters consist of an inorganic or organic Acid in which at least In Chemistry, especially Biochemistry, a fatty acid is a Carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched Aliphatic tail ( chain) which Butter becomes rancid when these chains break down into smaller components, like butyric acid and diacetyl. Rancidification is the decomposition of Fats Oils and other Lipids by Hydrolysis or Oxidation, or both Butyric acid (from Greek βούτυρος = butter) also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a Carboxylic acid with the structural Diacetyl ( IUPAC Systematic name: butanedione or 23-butanedione) is a natural byproduct of fermentation. The density of butter is 0. 911 g/cm³ (527 oz/in³), about the same as ice. For other uses of the words gram or gramme see Gram (disambiguation. A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter (symbol cm3 —the abbreviation cc, though widely used is deprecated is a commonly used unit of Volume This article is about the unit of mass For the unit of force see Pound-force. A cubic inch (plural cubic inches) is a non- SI unit of Volume, equal to the volume of a Cube with sides of one Inch. Ice is a Solid phase, usually crystalline, of a Non-metalic substance that is liquid or gas at Room temperature, such as Ammonia

Types

Hand-made butter

Before modern factory butter making, cream was usually collected from several milkings and was therefore several days old and somewhat fermented by the time it was made into butter. Butter made from a fermented cream is known as cultured butter. During fermentation, the cream naturally sours as bacteria convert milk sugars into lactic acid. The Bacteria ( singular: bacterium) are a large group of unicellular Microorganisms Typically a few Micrometres in length bacteria have Lactose (also referred to as milk sugar) is a Sugar which is found most notably in Milk. Lactic acid ( IUPAC Systematic name: 2-hydroxypropanoic acid) also known as milk acid, is a Chemical compound that plays a role The fermentation process produces additional aroma compounds, including diacetyl, which makes for a fuller-flavored and more "buttery" tasting product. Diacetyl ( IUPAC Systematic name: butanedione or 23-butanedione) is a natural byproduct of fermentation. ^[3] Today, cultured butter is usually made from pasteurized cream whose fermentation is produced by the introduction of Lactococcus and Leuconostoc bacteria. Lactococcus is a Lactic acid bacterial Genus of five major species formerly included as members of the genus Streptococcus Group Leuconostoc is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, placed within the family of Leuconostocaceae.

Another method for producing cultured butter, developed in the early 1970s, is to produce butter from fresh cream and then incorporate bacterial cultures and lactic acid. Using this method, the cultured butter flavor grows as the butter is aged in cold storage. For manufacturers, this method is more efficient since aging the cream used to make butter takes significantly more space than simply storing the finished butter product. A method to make an artificial simulation of cultured butter is to add lactic acid and flavor compounds directly to the fresh-cream butter; while this more efficient process is claimed to simulate the taste of cultured butter, the product produced is not cultured but is instead flavored.

When heated, butter quickly melts into a thin liquid.

Today, dairy products are often pasteurized during production to kill pathogenic bacteria and other microbes. Pasteurization is the process of heating Liquids for the purpose of destroying bacteria, Protozoa, Molds and Yeasts The process was A pathogen (from Greek πάθος pathos "suffering passion" and γἰγνομαι (γεν- gignomai (gen- "I give birth to" infectious A microorganism (also spelled micro organism or micro-organism and also called a microbe) is an Organism that is Microscopic (usually Butter made from pasteurized fresh cream is called sweet cream butter. Production of sweet cream butter first became common in the 19th century, with the development of refrigeration and the mechanical cream separator. Refrigeration is the process of removing Heat from an enclosed space or from a substance and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable ^[4] Butter made from fresh or cultured unpasteurized cream is called raw cream butter. Raw cream butter has a "cleaner" cream flavor, without the cooked-milk notes that pasteurization introduces.

Throughout Continental Europe, cultured butter is preferred, while sweet cream butter dominates in the United States and the United Kingdom. Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the Continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Therefore, cultured butter is sometimes labeled European-style butter in the United States. Commercial raw cream butter is virtually unheard-of in the United States. Raw cream butter is generally only found made at home by consumers who have purchased raw whole milk directly from dairy farmers, skimmed the cream themselves, and made butter with it. It is rare in Europe as well. ^[5]

Several spreadable butters have been developed; these remain softer at colder temperatures and are therefore easier to use directly out of refrigeration. Some modify the makeup of the butter's fat through chemical manipulation of the finished product, some through manipulation of the cattle's feed, and some by incorporating vegetable oils into the butter. Whipped butter, another product designed to be more spreadable, is aerated via the incorporation of nitrogen gas—normal air is not used, because doing so would encourage oxidation and rancidity. Nitrogen (ˈnaɪtɹəʤɪn is a Chemical element that has the symbol N and Atomic number 7 and Atomic weight 14 Redox (shorthand for reduction-oxidation reaction describes all Chemical reactions in which atoms have their Oxidation number ( Oxidation state Rancidification is the decomposition of Fats Oils and other Lipids by Hydrolysis or Oxidation, or both

Butter sold in a London market, salted (right) and unsalted (left)

All categories of butter are sold in both salted and unsalted forms. Salted butters have either fine, granular salt or a strong brine added to them during the working. Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants Brine (lat saltus) is Water saturated or nearly saturated with Salt (NaCl Nations that favor sweet cream butter tend to favor salted butter as well, possibly reflecting the blander taste of uncultured butter. In addition to flavoring the butter, the addition of salt also acts as a preservative. A preservative is a natural or synthetic chemical that is added to products such as foods pharmaceuticals paints biological samples wood etc

Another important aspect of production is the amount of butterfat in the finished product. Butterfat or milkfat is the Fatty portion of Milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain In the United States, all products sold as "butter" must contain a minimum of 80% butterfat by weight; most American butters contain only slightly more than that, averaging around 81%. European-style butters generally have a higher ratio of up to 85% butterfat.

Clarified butter is butter with almost all of its water and milk solids removed, leaving almost-pure butterfat. Clarified butter is Butter that has been rendered to separate the milk solids and water from the Butter fat. Clarified butter is made by heating butter to its melting point and then allowing it to cool off; after settling, the remaining components separate by density. The melting point of a solid is the temperature range at which it changes state from solid to Liquid. At the top, whey proteins form a skin which is removed, and the resulting butterfat is then poured off from the mixture of water and casein proteins that settle to the bottom. Whey or milk plasma is the liquid remaining after Milk has been Curdled and strained it is a By-product of the manufacture of Cheese See Casein paint for information about casein usage in artistic painting ^[6]

Ghee is clarified butter which is brought to higher temperatures of around 120 °C (250 °F) once the water has cooked off, allowing the milk solids to brown. Ghee ( Hindi घी ghī, Urdu گھی ghī, Punjabi ਘਿਉ/گھیو ghiu, Kashmiri ग्याव/گیاو This process flavors the ghee, and also produces antioxidants which help protect it longer from rancidity. An antioxidant is a Molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules Because of this, ghee can keep for six to eight months under normal conditions. ^[6]

History

Traditional butter-making in Palestine. Ancient techniques were still practiced in the early 20th century. National Geographic, March 1914. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural

Since even accidental agitation can turn cream into butter, it is likely that the invention of butter goes back to the earliest days of dairying, perhaps in the Mesopotamian area between 9000 and 8000 BCE. Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an Animal husbandry enterprise for long-term production of Milk, which may be either processed on-site or Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The earliest butter would have been from sheep or goat's milk; cattle are not thought to have been domesticated for another thousand years or so. The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Domestication (from Latin domesticus) refers to the process whereby a Population of Animals ^[7] An ancient method of butter making, still used today in some parts of Africa and the Near East, is shown in the photo at left, taken in Palestine. B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. A goat skin is half filled with milk, then inflated with air and sealed. It is then hung with ropes on a tripod of sticks and rocked to and fro until the butter is formed.

Butter was certainly known in the classical Mediterranean civilizations, but it does not seem to have been a common food, especially in Ancient Greece or Rome. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC In the warm Mediterranean climate, unclarified butter would spoil very quickly— unlike cheese, it was not a practical method of preserving the benefits of milk. A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the Climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide Cheese is a Food made from Milk, usually the milk of cows, Buffalo, Goats or sheep, by coagulation. The people of ancient Greece and Rome seemed to consider butter a food fit more for the northern barbarians. "Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person either in a general reference to a member of a nation or Ethnos perceived A play by the Greek comic poet Anaxandrides refers to Thracians as boutyrophagoi, "butter-eaters". Anaxandrides (Ἀναξανδρίδης was an Athenian Middle Comic poet "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity ^[8] In Natural History, Pliny the Elder calls butter "the most delicate of food among barbarous nations", and goes on to describe its medicinal properties. Natural history is the Scientific research of Plants or Animals leaning more towards the Observational than Experimental methods Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author ^[9] Later, the physician Galen also described butter as a medicinal agent only. Galen ( Greek: Γαληνός Galēnos; Latin: Claudius Galenus, Aelius Galenus, Claudius Aelius Galenus, or ^[10]

Historian and linguist Andrew Dalby says that most references to butter in ancient Near Eastern texts should more correctly be translated as ghee. Ghee ( Hindi घी ghī, Urdu گھی ghī, Punjabi ਘਿਉ/گھیو ghiu, Kashmiri ग्याव/گیاو Ghee is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a typical trade article around the 1st century CE Arabian Sea, and Roman geographer Strabo describes it as a commodity of Arabia and Sudan. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ( Periplus Maris Erythraei) is a Greek Periplus, describing navigation and trading opportunities The Arabian Sea ( Arabic: بحر العرب transliterated: Baḥr al-'Arab Sanskrit: सिन्धु सागर transliterated: Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) For the country in north-east Africa see Sudan. The Sudan, from the Arabic bilâd as-sûdân or "land of the ^[8] In India, ghee has been a symbol of purity and an offering to the gods—especially Agni, the Hindu god of fire—for more than 3000 years; references to ghee's sacred nature appear numerous times in the Rig Veda, circa 1500–1200 BCE. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Agni is a Hindu and Vedic deity. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" (noun cognate with Latin ignis A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" The tale of the child Krishna stealing butter remains a popular children's story in India today. Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari kṛṣṇa in IAST, ˈkr̩ʂɳə in classical Sanskrit is a deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism Since India's prehistory, ghee has been both a staple food and used for ceremonial purposes such as fueling holy lamps and funeral pyres. A staple food is a Food that forms the basis of a Traditional diet.

Butter-making woman, Compost et Kalendrier des Bergères, Paris, 1499.

Middle ages

Cooler climates in northern Europe allowed butter to be kept longer before spoiling. Northern Europe is a term for the northern part of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as (Finland Scandinavia has the longest history in Europe of a butter export trade, dating at least to the 12th century. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well ^[11] Across most of Europe after the fall of Rome and through much of the Middle Ages, butter was a common food, but one with a low reputation; it was consumed principally by peasants. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground It slowly became more accepted by the upper class, especially when, in the early 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church permitted its consumption during Lent. Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. Bread and butter became common fare among the new middle class, and the English, in particular, gained a reputation for their liberal use of melted butter as a sauce for meats and vegetables. Bread is a Staple food prepared by Baking a Dough of Flour and Water. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. ^[12]

Butter had been used in lamps instead of oil in antiquity. The Butter Tower of Rouen Cathedral was erected in the early 16th century. Rouen Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen is a Gothic Cathedral in Rouen, in northwestern France. Archbishop Georges d'Amboise had authorised the burning of butter instead of oil, which was scarce at the time, in lamps during Lent, collecting monies of six deniers Tournois from each diocesan for this permission. Georges d'Amboise (1460 — May 25 1510 was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state ^[13]

Across far-northern Europe—Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and Scandinavia—butter was sometimes treated in a manner unheard-of today: it was packed into barrels (firkins) and buried in peat bogs, perhaps for years. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( A Firkin is an old English unit of volume The name is derived from the Middle Dutch word vierdekijn which means A bog or mire is a Wetland type that accumulates Acidic Peat, a deposit of dead plant material &ndash usually Mosses but also Such "bog butter" would develop a strong flavor as it aged, but remain edible, in large part because of the unique cool, airless, antiseptic and acidic environment of a peat bog. Antiseptics (from Greek αντί - anti, '"against" + σηπτικός - septikos, "putrefactive" are antimicrobial In Computer science, ACID ( Atomicity Consistency Isolation Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee that Database transactions are Firkins of such buried butter are a common archaeological find in Ireland; the Irish National Museum has some containing "a grayish cheese-like substance, partially hardened, not much like butter, and quite free from putrefaction. " The practice was most common in Ireland in the 11th–14th centuries; it ended entirely before the 19th century. ^[11]

Industrialization

Like Ireland, France became well-known for its butter, particularly in Normandy and Brittany. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into By the 1860s, butter had become so in demand in France that Emperor Napoleon III offered prize money for an inexpensive substitute to supplement France's inadequate butter supplies. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President A French chemist claimed the prize with the invention of margarine in 1869. Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés ( Draguignan 24 October 1817 - Paris 31 May 1880) was a French Chemist who Margarine (ˈmɑrdʒərɨn /ˈmɑrdʒəriːn/ or /ˈmɑrgəriːn/ as a generic term can indicate any of a wide range of Butter substitutes The first margarine was beef tallow flavored with milk and worked like butter; vegetable margarines followed after the development of hydrogenated oils around 1900. Beef is the Culinary name for Meat from Bovines especially domestic Cattle (cows Tallow is a rendered form of Beef or Mutton Fat, processed from Suet. Hydrogenation is the Chemical reaction that results in addition of Hydrogen (H2

Gustaf de Laval's centrifugal cream separator sped the butter-making process. A centrifuge is a piece of equipment generally driven by a motor that puts an object in Rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis

Until the 19th century, the vast majority of butter was made by hand, on farms. The first butter factories appeared in the United States in the early 1860s, after the successful introduction of cheese factories a decade earlier. Cheese is a Food made from Milk, usually the milk of cows, Buffalo, Goats or sheep, by coagulation. In the late 1870s, the centrifugal cream separator was introduced, marketed most successfully by Swedish engineer Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval. A centrifuge is a piece of equipment generally driven by a motor that puts an object in Rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval ( May 9 1845 - February 2 1913) was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important ^[14] This dramatically sped up the butter-making process by eliminating the slow step of letting cream naturally rise to the top of milk. Initially, whole milk was shipped to the butter factories, and the cream separation took place there. Soon, though, cream-separation technology became small and inexpensive enough to introduce an additional efficiency: the separation was accomplished on the farm, and the cream alone shipped to the factory. By 1900, more than half the butter produced in the United States was factory made; Europe followed suit shortly after.

Per capita butter consumption declined in most western nations during the 20th century, in large part because of the rising popularity of margarine, which is less expensive and, until recent years, was perceived as being healthier. Margarine (ˈmɑrdʒərɨn /ˈmɑrdʒəriːn/ or /ˈmɑrgəriːn/ as a generic term can indicate any of a wide range of Butter substitutes In the United States, margarine consumption overtook butter during the 1950s^[15] and it is still the case today that more margarine than butter is eaten in the U. S. and most other nations that track such data. ^[16]

Shape of butter sticks

Western-pack shape butter

In the United States, butter sticks are usually produced and sold in 4-ounce sticks, wrapped in wax paper and sold four to a carton. This article is about the unit of mass For the unit of force see Pound-force. This practice is believed to have originated in 1907 when Swift and Company began packaging butter in this manner for mass distribution. Swift & Company, the wholly-owned operating subsidiary of privately-held ^[17]

Due to historical variances in butter printers, these sticks are commonly produced in two differing shapes:

• The dominant shape east of the Rocky Mountains is the Elgin, or Eastern-pack shape. This shape was originally developed by the Elgin Butter Tub Company, founded in 1882 in Elgin, Illinois, and Rock Falls, Illinois. Elgin (ˈɛldʒɨn is a city. (645 km northwest of Chicago on the Fox River. Rock Falls is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The sticks are 4¾ inches long and 1¼ inches (121 mm × 32 mm) wide, and are usually sold in somewhat cubical boxes stacked two by two. ^[18] Among the early butter printers to use this shape was the Elgin Butter Cutter.

• West of the Rocky Mountains, butter printers standardized on a different shape that is now referred to as the Western-pack shape. ^[18] These butter sticks are 3¼ inches long and 1½ inches wide (80 mm × 38 mm) and are typically sold packed side-by-side in a rectangular container.

Both sticks contain the same amount of butter, although most butter dishes are designed for Elgin-style butter sticks.

The stick's wrapper is usually marked off as eight tablespoons (120 ml/4. A tablespoon is a type of Spoon used for serving Measure of volume It is also a measure of Volume used in cooking 2 imp fl oz/4. 1 US fl oz); the actual volume of one stick is approximately nine tablespoons (130 ml/4. 6 imp fl oz/4. 4 US fl oz).

Worldwide

Indian ghee in a jar

India produces and consumes more butter than any other nation, dedicating almost half of its annual milk production to making butter or ghee. Ghee ( Hindi घी ghī, Urdu گھی ghī, Punjabi ਘਿਉ/گھیو ghiu, Kashmiri ग्याव/گیاو India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Ghee ( Hindi घी ghī, Urdu گھی ghī, Punjabi ਘਿਉ/گھیو ghiu, Kashmiri ग्याव/گیاو In 1997, India produced 1,470,000 metric tons (1,620,000 ST) of butter, consuming almost all of it. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. The short ton ( S/T) is a unit of mass equal to 2000 lb (around 907 Second in production was the United States (522,000 MT/575,000 ST), then France (466,000 MT/514,000 ST), Germany (442,000 MT/487,000 ST), and New Zealand (307,000 MT/338,000 ST). Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island In terms of consumption, Germany was second after India, using 578,000 metric tons (637,000 ST) of butter in 1997, followed by France (528,000 MT/582,000 ST), Russia (514,000 MT/567,000 ST), and the United States (505,000 MT/557,000 ST). Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Most nations produce and consume the bulk of their butter domestically. New Zealand, Australia, and the Ukraine are among the few nations that export a significant percentage of the butter they produce. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. ^[19]

Different varieties of butter are found around the world. Smen is a spiced Moroccan clarified butter, buried in the ground and aged for months or years. Smen (also called sman, semneh, or sminn) is a traditional cooking oil most commonly in North African and Middle Eastern cuisines Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa Yak butter is important in Tibet; tsampa, barley flour mixed with yak butter, is a staple food. The yak ( Bos grunniens) is a long-haired Bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai - Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European Tsampa ( is a Tibetan staple foodstuff, particularly prominent in the central part of the country Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Butter tea is consumed in the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and India. Butter tea, also known as po cha ( "Tibetan tea" cha süma ( "churned tea" Mandarin Chinese: su you cha ( 酥[[wiktionary The Kingdom of Bhutan (buːˈtɑːn is a Landlocked nation in South Asia. Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. It consists of tea served with intensely flavored — or "rancid"—yak butter and salt. Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market In African and Asian developing nations, butter is traditionally made from sour milk rather than cream. Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties Fermented milk products|Souring Soured milk is a food product distinguished from spoiled Milk, and is a general term for milk that has acquired a tart taste either through It can take several hours of churning to produce workable butter grains from fermented milk. ^[20]

Storage and cooking

Normal butter softens to a spreadable consistency around 15 °C (60 °F), well above refrigerator temperatures. A refrigerator (often called a " fridge " for short is a cooling appliance comprising a thermally insulated compartment and a Heat pump - The "butter compartment" found in many refrigerators may be one of the warmer sections inside, but it still leaves butter quite hard. Until recently, many refrigerators sold in New Zealand featured a "butter conditioner", a compartment kept warmer than the rest of the refrigerator—but still cooler than room temperature—with a small heater. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island ^[21] Keeping butter tightly wrapped delays rancidity, which is hastened by exposure to light or air, and also helps prevent it from picking up other odors. Wrapped butter has a shelf life of several months at refrigerator temperatures. Shelf life is that length of time that Food, drink Medicine and other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale or ^[22]

"French butter dishes" or "Acadian butter dishes" involve a lid with a long interior lip, which sits in a container holding a small amount of water. A French butter dish, sometimes called a "French butter keeper" "French butter crock" or "butter bell" is used to keep Butter fresh and soft without This article is about the Acadian people and culture The Acadians (Acadiens are the descendants of the seventeenth-century French Usually the dish holds just enough water to submerge the interior lip when the dish is closed. Butter is packed into the lid. The water acts as a seal to keep the butter fresh, and also keeps the butter from overheating in hot temperatures. This allows butter to be safely stored on the countertop for several days without spoilage.

Once butter is softened, spices, herbs, or other flavoring agents can be mixed into it, producing what is called a compound butter or composite butter (sometimes also called composed butter). A spice is a dried Seed, Fruit, Root, Bark or vegetative substance used in Nutritionally insignificant quantities as a Food additive A(n herb (ˈhɝb or /ˈɝb/ see pronunciation differences) is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties flavor scent or the like Compound butters can be used as spreads, or cooled, sliced, and placed onto hot food to melt into a sauce. Sweetened compound butters can be served with desserts; such hard sauces are often flavored with spirits. Dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal usually consisting of sweet Food but sometimes of a strongly-flavored one such as some Cheeses The Hard sauce is a cold dessert Sauce made by creaming or beating Butter and Sugar with Rum, Brandy, Whiskey

Hollandaise sauce served over white asparagus and potatoes. Hollandaise sauce is an Emulsion of Butter and Lemon juice using Egg yolks as the emulsifying agent usually seasoned with Salt and Asparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus from which the Vegetable known as asparagus is obtained The potato is a Starchy Tuberous crop Vegetable from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae

Melted butter plays an important role in the preparation of sauces, most obviously in French cuisine. In Cooking, a sauce is Liquid or sometimes semi- Solid food served on or used in preparing other Foods Sauces are not consumed by themselves French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. Beurre noisette (hazel butter) and Beurre noir (black butter) are sauces of melted butter cooked until the milk solids and sugars have turned golden or dark brown; they are often finished with an addition of vinegar or lemon juice. Beurre noisette (French literally " Hazelnut butter" sometimes loosely translated as "brown butter" is frequently used in French Beurre noir (black butter is melted Butter that is cooked over low heat until the Milk solids turn a very dark brown Vinegar is an acidic liquid processed from the Fermentation of Ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient Acetic acid (also called ethanoic acid The lemon ( Citrus × limon) is a hybrid in cultivated wild plants Hollandaise and béarnaise sauces are emulsions of egg yolk and melted butter; they are in essence mayonnaises made with butter instead of oil. Hollandaise sauce is an Emulsion of Butter and Lemon juice using Egg yolks as the emulsifying agent usually seasoned with Salt and An emulsion ( IPA: /ɪˈmʌlʃən/ is a mixture of two Immiscible (unblendable liquids An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of many animals consisting of an Ovum surrounded by layers of Membranes and an outer casing which acts to nourish Mayonnaise (sometime abbreviated to mayo in American English and other languages is a thick Condiment made primarily from Vegetable oil and Egg Hollandaise and béarnaise sauces are stabilized with the powerful emulsifiers in the egg yolks, but butter itself contains enough emulsifiers—mostly remnants of the fat globule membranes—to form a stable emulsion on its own. An emulsion ( IPA: /ɪˈmʌlʃən/ is a mixture of two Immiscible (unblendable liquids Beurre blanc (white butter) is made by whisking butter into reduced vinegar or wine, forming an emulsion with the texture of thick cream. In cooking beurre blanc —literally translated from French as "white butter" also known as Beurre nantais —is a rich hot butter Sauce Wine is an Alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of Grape juice Beurre monté (prepared butter) is an unflavored beurre blanc made from water instead of vinegar or wine; it lends its name to the practice of "mounting" a sauce with butter: whisking cold butter into any water-based sauce at the end of cooking, giving the sauce a thicker body and a glossy shine—as well as a buttery taste. ^[23]

In Poland, the butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny) is a traditional addition to the Easter Meal for many Polish Catholics. The butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny is a traditional addition to the Easter Meal for many Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mould.

Butter is used for sautéing and frying, although its milk solids brown and burn above 150 °C (250 °F)—a rather low temperature for most applications. Sautéing is a method of Cooking Food that uses a small amount of Fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat Frying is the Cooking of food in Oil or Fat, a technique that originated in ancient Egypt around 2500BC The smoke point of butterfat is around 200 °C (400 °F), so clarified butter or ghee is better suited to frying. The smoke point refers to the temperature at which a cooking fat or oil begins to break down ^[6] Ghee has always been a common frying medium in India, where many avoid other animal fats for cultural or religious reasons.

Mixing dissolved butter with chocolate to make a brownie

Butter fills several roles in baking, where it is used in a similar manner as other solid fats like lard, suet, or shortening, but has a flavor that may better complement sweet baked goods. A chocolate brownie is a flat baked square or bar sliced from a type of dense rich Chocolate Cake. Baking is the technique of prolonged Cooking of Food by dry heat acting by conduction, and not by radiation, normally in an Oven, Lard is pig Fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a Cooking fat or Shortening Suet (/ˈsuːɪt/ is raw Beef or mutton Fat, especially the hard fat found around the Loins and Kidneys Suet has a Melting Shortening is a semisolid Fat used in food preparation especially baked goods and is so called because it promotes a "short" or crumbly texture (as in Shortbread Many cookie doughs and some cake batters are leavened, at least in part, by creaming butter and sugar together, which introduces air bubbles into the butter. In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small flat-baked treat usually round containing milk flour eggs and sugar etc Dough is a paste made out of any Cereals (grains or leguminous crops by mixing the Flour with a small amount of Water. Cake is a form of Food that is usually sweet and often baked. Batter is a liquid mixture usually based on one or more Flours combined with liquids such as Water, Milk or Beer. A leavening agent (sometimes called just leavening or leaven) is a substance used in Doughs and batters that causes a foaming action intended Creaming is used to refer to several different Culinary processes Sugar is a class of edible Crystalline substances mainly Sucrose, Lactose, and Fructose. The tiny bubbles locked within the butter expand in the heat of baking and aerate the cookie or cake. Some cookies like shortbread may have no other source of moisture but the water in the butter. Shortbread is a type of Biscuit ( Cookie) which is traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts Butter, and three parts oatmeal Pastries like pie dough incorporate pieces of solid fat into the dough, which become flat layers of fat when the dough is rolled out. This article describes Pastry in food For the Distributed Hash Table system see Pastry_(DHT. A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a Pastry dough shell that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or Savoury ingredients During baking, the fat melts away, leaving a flaky texture. Butter, because of its flavor, is a common choice for the fat in such a dough, but it can be more difficult to work with than shortening because of its low melting point. Pastry makers often chill all their ingredients and utensils while working with a butter dough.

Butter also has many non-culinary, traditional uses which are specific to certain cultures. For instance, in North America, applying butter to the handle of a door is a common prank on April Fools' Day. This article is about the informal holiday For other uses see April Fool.

Health and nutrition

According to USDA figures, one tablespoon of butter (14 grams/0. A tablespoon is a type of Spoon used for serving Measure of volume It is also a measure of Volume used in cooking 5 ounces) contains 420 kilojoules (100 kcal), all from fat, 11 grams (0. The joule (written in lower case ˈdʒuːl or /ˈdʒaʊl/ (symbol J) is the SI unit of Energy measuring heat, Electricity This article is about the unit of energy For its use in Nutrition and Food labelling regulations, see the article on Food energy. 4 oz) of fat, of which 7 grams (0. 25 oz) are saturated fat, and 30 milligrams (0. Saturated fat is Fat that consists of Triglycerides containing only saturated Fatty acids Explanation Fat that occurs 46 gr) of cholesterol. Cholesterol is a Lipid found in the Cell membranes and transported in the Blood plasma of all Animals It is an essential component of mammalian ^[24] In other words, butter consists mostly of saturated fat and is a significant source of dietary cholesterol. For these reasons, butter has been generally considered to be a contributor to health problems, especially heart disease. Heart disease is an Umbrella term for a variety for different diseases affecting the Heart. For many years, vegetable margarine was recommended as a substitute, since it is an unsaturated fat and contains little or no cholesterol. An unsaturated fat is a Fat or Fatty acid in which there are one or more Double bonds in the fatty acid chain In recent decades, though, it has become accepted that the trans fats contained in partially hydrogenated oils used in typical margarines significantly raise undesirable LDL cholesterol levels as well. Trans fat is the common name for a type of Unsaturated fat with trans - isomer Fatty acid (s Hydrogenation is the Chemical reaction that results in addition of Hydrogen (H2 Low-density lipoprotein ( LDL) is a type of Lipoprotein that transports Cholesterol and Triglycerides from the Liver to peripheral ^[25] Trans-fat free margarines have since been developed.

Butter contains only traces of lactose, so moderate consumption of butter is not a problem for the lactose intolerant. Lactose (also referred to as milk sugar) is a Sugar which is found most notably in Milk. Lactose intolerance is the inability to metabolize Lactose, a sugar found in Milk and other Dairy products because the required enzyme ^[26] People with milk allergies need to avoid butter, which contains enough of the allergy-causing proteins to cause reactions. ^[27]

Butter can form a useful role in dieting by providing satiety. Cholecystokinin ( CCK; from Greek chole, "bile" cysto, "sac" kinin, "move" hence move the bile-sac A small amount added to low fat foods such as vegetables may stave off feelings of hunger.

Notes

References

External links

• Composition and characteristics of butter, The Canadian Dairy Commission
• Manufacture of butter, The University of Guelph
• "Butter", Food Resource, College of Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, February 20, 2007. Oregon State University ( OSU) is a Coeducational public Research[[ university]] located in Corvallis, Oregon, United Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. – FAQ, links, and extensive bibliography of food science articles on butter. Food science is a discipline concerned with all technical aspects of Food, beginning with Harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its Cooking
• Cork Butter Museum: the story of Ireland’s most important food export and the world’s largest butter market