SHE at the table. – Can you tell us about butter, its strong points, and its weak points?
Sarah Marin-Maire. – Butter is a milk product of the water emulsion type in fat of exclusively dairy origin, obtained after churning and maturing of the milk cream. It must contain a minimum of 82% butterfat, a maximum of 16% water and no more than 2% non-fat dry matter (proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals).
To obtain 1 kg of butter, you must skim approximately 22 liters of whole milk, or 5.5 liters for a 250 g bar.
There are two manufacturing methods, the traditional one for making “churn” butters (10% of world production), and the second which is the most common with 90% of world production: the sweet cream method. (Manufacturing details at the end of the article).
There is raw butter which comes from raw cream which has not undergone any heat treatment (short storage) and pasteurized butter, which comes from cream which has undergone pasteurization (allowing longer storage).
Among these butters, there is unsalted butter, salted butter (+3% salt), semi-salted butter (0.8 to 3% salt) and flavored butters (garlic, parsley, spices, etc.).
The ideal is to choose butter from organic farming.
Raw butter is digestible unlike cooked butter which can make digestion difficult.
Strong point : butter enhances the flavors of dishes.
Weakness : it should be consumed in moderation, as part of a balanced diet because it is rich in saturated fatty acids. It is an animal fat and it is the vegetable fats that should be favored daily.
Be careful, calories alone have no meaning!
SHE at the table. – Which ingredient has the most calories between butter and oil?
SM-M. – Oil is more caloric because it contains 100% fat compared to 82% for butter. So oil contains 900kcal/100g compared to 753kcal/100g for butter. But be careful, calories alone have no meaning! It is essential to take into account the quality of the lipids contained in butter and oil. In butter, the majority of lipids are triglycerides. Butter is rich in saturated fatty acids (which in excess are thrombogenic and atherogenic) which gives it its solid consistency. For oils, lipids are of much better quality.
SHE at the table. – Does butter contain lactose?
SM-M. – It contains some traces of lactose (0.6 g per 100 g). A person with lactose intolerance can therefore consume a small portion of 10 g per day.
SHE at the table. – What is its impact on the heart and arteries?
SM-M. – Butter is a fat of animal origin, and therefore contains saturated fatty acids. This is why it must be consumed in moderation, as part of a balanced diet. Consumed in excess, saturated fatty acids can cause, among other things, an increase in cardiovascular diseases (thrombogenic and atherogenic) and excess cholesterol.
However, consumed daily, raw and in appropriate quantities, as part of a balanced diet, there is no reason to deprive yourself of it if you enjoy it! You must be careful to choose quality butter (ideally from organic farming). “Light” butters should be avoided.
SHE at the table. – How to store it properly?
SM-M. – The shelf life of butter is:
- 10 days for raw cream butter
- 3 weeks for extra fine and fine butter
- 2 months for frozen butter
It is recommended to store it in the refrigerator at a maximum temperature of 6°C (-18°C for frozen butter). Be careful not to store it with foods with a strong odor, as it will absorb it.
SHE at the table. – What are the cooking mistakes not to make with butter?
SM-M. – Avoid cooking the butter. This causes what is called a Maillard reaction (the butter turns brown), which is harmful to your health. In fact, it produces acrylamides which are toxic compounds.
It is therefore recommended to consume the butter raw, or to place it directly on the serving plate on the cooked piece of meat, fish or other, to let it melt slowly without being heated.
For cooking food we recommend olive oil.
SHE at the table. – What is the recommended amount of butter per day?
SM-M. – We recommend not exceeding 10 g per day (the equivalent of small platelets sold individually). However, it is essential to adapt portions to individual needs.
10 g of butter per day helps cover the needs of a healthy adult for vitamin A (covers 10%) and vitamin D (also covers 10%).
Vitamin A: different roles in good vision health.
Vitamin D: major role in the regulation of phospho-calcium metabolism.
It’s not about eliminating fat from our diet.
SHE at the table. – What ingredient should you replace it with?
SM-M. – To be healthy, we need to provide our body with fats (also called lipids). They are, among other things, constituents of our cell membranes or even vitamin transporters. There is therefore no question of eliminating fat from our diet. However, it is important to select them carefully.
For our good cardiovascular health, it is recommended to favor so-called unsaturated fats and avoid saturated fats. In the majority of cases, unsaturated fats come from plant products while animal products are rich in saturated fats. This is why it can be interesting to replace butter in your sweet recipes (especially since it is cooked). There are many very simple and equally tasty alternatives.
In baking, you can replace 100 g of butter with:
– 80 g of vegetable oil (olive, rapeseed, coconut, etc.)
– 100 g of oilseed puree (almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, etc.)
– 40 g of vegetable oil + 25 g of natural yogurt (animal or vegetable)
– 100 g of banana
– 100 g of plain fromage blanc or plain soy yogurt
– 50 g of applesauce
– 80 g peeled and grated zucchini
– 80 g of avocado or squash puree
In your savory dishes, if you are used to cooking with butter, you can try to alternate with virgin cold-pressed vegetable oils, if possible organic. For example, you can use olive oil for cooking and rapeseed, walnut, flax, camelina, sesame, olive oil, etc. for your cold dishes. Little by little, try cooking more with vegetable oil and reducing your cooking with butter. Ideally, butter should only be eaten raw.
Butter making methods
For the traditional method:
1. Milk skimming: produces cream, the raw material for butter.
2. Possible pasteurization of the cream.
3. Rapid cooling of the cream between 10 and 15° to regulate the activity of the microbial flora, crystallize the fat and avoid the appearance of a “cooked” taste.
4. Inoculation with lactic ferments: the pasteurized cream is inoculated with 3% to 5% of a lactic bacteria starter.
5. Maturation of the cream: for 6 to 15 hours at acidic pH, in the presence of oxygen and at a temperature between 14 and 16°C; there is formation of lactic acid and Diacetyl, which gives the “hazelnut” taste. The purpose of maturation is to thicken the cream, facilitate future churning and ensure the greatest development of flavor.
6. Cooling: less than or equal to 12° which increases the crystallization of lipids.
7. Churning or butyrification: transformation of cream into butter. This is placed in a mobile stainless steel churn whose interior surface has rough edges in order to form the “grains of butter”. Churning is energetic and repetitive agitation of the cream which results in an inversion of the phases of the emulsion with in parallel an incorporation of gas which under the influence of the movement compresses the fat globules, the membrane of the fat globules bursts and the lipids weld together and form the grains of butter while releasing the “buttermilk” or “whey”. The latter is a liquid made up of the rest of the initial milk including caseins, lactose, water, mineral salts, etc. Currently, we use butyrators which form grains of butter in less than a second and allow a immediate evacuation of buttermilk.
8. Washing the grains: after draining, the grains are washed with pure filtered water to remove all traces of buttermilk which would make the butter unsuitable for storage and reduce its organoleptic qualities.
9. Elimination of washing water: it allows the actual butter to be obtained.
10. Mixing: it perfects the welding of the grains together and evenly distributes the remaining water (no more than 16%) so that the product reaches sufficient humidity.
11. Salting: if necessary.
12. Molding and packaging: packaging in different forms. Packaged in parchment paper, aluminum or waxed cardboard or plastic trays.
The packaging protects the butter against light and air, thus preventing rancidity and lipid oxidation.
The label must bear a stamp and its marketing temperature must be at most +6°C.
For the sweet cream method:
After resting for 5 to 6 hours, the unripened but crystallized cream is churned and washed. During mixing, a mixture of lactic ferments is injected, resulting in a pH instantly lowered to around 5 at the same time as diacetyl is formed. We obtain butter which keeps longer, resists freezing better and whose organoleptic qualities are more constant.
In reality, the general principles have not changed but this technological progress has enabled better hygiene, speed and reliability of production.
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