Moscow Food Co-op Food ReviewButter
by Vicki Reich, from the April 2005 Newsletter
Is there anyone who doesn’t like butter? It is such a comforting food that adds pizzazz to everything. A light schmear on toast or fresh baked bread, a little dab in a sauce, a whole pound in a pound cake, it makes anything it touches better. We carry four brands of butter and the Hog Heaven Handspinners were curious what the difference was between them.
We tested only salted butter from Organic Valley ($4.99/lb), Horizon ($5.99/lb), Straus ($5.95/lb) and Meadowbrook ($3.29). At first glance, there was a quite a difference in color. The Organic Valley and Meadowbrook were a very pale yellow while the Horizon and Straus were much yellowier. There was also a difference between what those of us who grew up on the East Coast and those would were raised on the West Coast thought butter should taste like. The Horizon butter was the favorite of the Westerners and was described as Grandma’s butter. It is creamy, tastes like real cream and is not very salty. The Easterners preferred the Organic Valley butter. It is silky, subtler in flavor and a bit saltier. It also has a nice shine when spread on bread. The Straus butter was the only European style butter we tried. It has a higher butterfat content and lower moisture than the other butters. The higher butterfat was discernable by the testers. Some liked it but others thought it was too greasy. The Meadowbrook butter is the only one not grown organically. It is the saltiest but had a good flavor and was a second choice of several testers.
Needless to say, they were all good. It’s butter, for goodness sakes. Personally, I buy Organic Valley because they are a co-op of small family farmers and I like supporting them but you can’t go wrong with any of the choices the Co-op offers. Now where did I put that recipe for butter cookies?
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