For the purpose of this article I am only concerned with butter made from the cream of cow milk as opposed to the milk of other animals and I’m only concerned with unflavoured butter as opposed to garlic, herb, or truffle infused butter. To that end I’m assuming that you have read my Red Meat due diligence blog first and have an understanding of what cows are designed to eat (grass only!!) and the factors that affect their health.
Here are the relevant questions to ask when buying butter:
1. DOES THE BUTTER CONTAIN ONLY CREAM (OR CREAM AND SALT)?
Ignore all of the marketing fluff on the front and simply read the words that come after the word “Ingredients”. The ONLY thing that butter should contain is cream, or cream and salt. That’s it. Just this one or two ingredients ONLY.
Cream is the fat that naturally rises to the top of whole milk. As any traditional wholefoodie will tell you, that’s where all the glamour is ;-) To make butter, that cream is whipped or churned until it forms into a solid called butter.
Salt is added simply to add flavour and minerals. Whether you buy salted or unsalted butter is completely your choice and comes down to personal taste. I personally prefer the taste of salted butter and appreciate the extra minerals that quality salt provides.
2. ARE THE COWS ROUTINELY 100% GRASS FED AND FREE OF HORMONES, ANTIBIOTICS AND INDUSTRIAL FEED?
This question is geared towards the quality of the cream.
As I detailed in my Red Meat due diligence blog cows are designed to eat one thing and one thing only and that is grass (pasture). The reason why grains would be fed to cows is to fatten them up but grains make cows not only fat but also sick as grains are not their natural diet. Sick cows mean sick humans who then eat the meat or dairy from those cows. Except in exceptional circumstances such as serious illness, cows should not be routinely given antibiotics and if they are their milk should be discarded and not used for human consumption.
In certain exceptional circumstances such as draught, farmers may be forced to feed their cows grains to supplement their grass diet. Hence why the question is whether the cows are routinely fed grass only as opposed to always being fed both grass and grains? Disappointingly, it is exceptionally rare in this country to find butter made from cows who are fed exclusively grass. All of the numerous butter producers I contacted in Australia except for one source their cream from dairy farmers who routinely feed their cows BOTH grass and grains. Just so you know. And while the grain that is fed to the cows only constituted a small portion (e.g. 5%) of their diet, grains are nonetheless still not the natural diet of cows. If you care about eating red meat that is 100% grass fed then I presume that you would similarly want to consume butter from cows that are also exclusively grass fed.
3. IS THE SALT UNREFINED AND FREE OF ANTI CAKING AGENTS?
This question is obviously geared towards the quality of the salt and is only relevant if you’re buying salted (as opposed to unsalted) butter.
Unrefined salt is a rich source of minerals. Given that the human body runs on vitamins and minerals, in all but limited cases of people with a very specific health condition, we SHOULD be consuming unrefined salt because of its high mineral content. By unrefined salt, I’m referring to salt in its natural unprocessed form, as opposed table salt which is highly refined, stripped of minerals, bleached, and consequentially toxic to the body.
Unrefined salt includes sea salt (e.g. Celtic sea salt, Sicilian sea salt), Himalayan salt, and Australian Murray River salt.
Many producers of salt add anti-caking agents to their salt to prevent it from caking or sticking together. Ideally, we want to avoid as many additives and unnatural ingredients as possible in the food we are eating so watch out for anti-caking agents which should be listed on the ingredients list if they are included.
Recommended brands
Based on my due diligence enquiries the butter I use both at home for my family and at Broth Bar & Larder is Australian Organic Butter by True Organics. The ingredients are only cream (green packet), or cream plus salt (orange packet). The supplier has confirmed to me in writing that the cows are 100% grass fed and only in rare drought conditions are they fed a diet of grass (95%) plus certified organic grains (5%). Drought aide, the cows are ONLY fed grass. Naturally evaporated sea salt is what they use in their salted variety. All 3 boxes ticked.
No, I do not receive any kick backs or commissions or freebies from this company or their distributor. I buy and consume it simply because it ticks my 3 due diligence questions. Period.
I opt for the salted variety in the orange coloured wrapper because I love the taste of salted butter better and everyone can do with some extra minerals. I also use the salted variety in cake recipes too (you can’t detect the taste of salt in baked goods). The only time I’ve used unsalted butter is when making ghee as that’s what the recipe called for but whether you could use salted butter to make ghee is not something I have researched but my Ayurvedic guide tells me ghee is traditionally made with unsalted butter. More on ghee later.
This butter can be purchased from most quality organic stores like Wholefoods House and The Health Emporium. I also happily sell it at Broth Bar & Larder to my health coaching clients or clients booked into the Food as Medicine public talks. Just ask my friendly customer service staff if you’re one of my health coaching clients or have booked into the Food As Medicine talks, and they will obliged you with butter (we retail it for $5.50/250g at the time of writing).
There may well be other brands that meet my due diligence enquires, but you will have to ask them and now you know the questions to ask! If you find a supplier of butter that meets these 3 due diligence questions please shoot me an email as I would be very interested to know! If a supplier isn’t readily willing to supply you with the answers to your enquiries, then that in and of itself is very telling. I provide full transparency to my customers about the provenance and processing of the food made at Broth Bar & Larder and I would expect other suppliers to be able to do the same.
What about organic certification?
Organic certification is comforting but not entirely necessary if the cows are 100% grass fed and free of hormones and antibiotics and the salt is unrefined and free of caking agents. In fact organic certification isn’t a guarantee that cows are 100% grass fed (they could be fed organic grains which is still not their natural diet). So simply because butter is certified organic does not excuse you from asking what the cows are routinely fed. Australian Organic Butter by True Organics is certified organic. If the butter is not certified organic, it is even more important to ask if the cows are fed grains and if so which grains, as non organic grains (especially corn and soy) are typically genetically modified. If you don’t have access to 100% grass fed butter, then certified organic butter that is a combo of grass and grain fed is your next best option. Butter made from raw milk that is 100% grass fed contains is your best option from a nutritional point of view, as enzymes and some nutrients are destroyed or reduced through pasteurisation BUT given it is illegal in Australia to consume raw (unpasteurised dairy) I can NOT recommend it for human consumption purposes. Though what you do it your own house is up to you. The raw (cultured) butter that is available in NSW (presumably as a cosmetic product only) is a combination of grass and grain fed. Just so you know.
What do I use butter for?
As a heat stable fat, I tend to use butter for sautéing veggies and for pan frying fish (approx. ½ - 1 tablespoon of butter per person). I also smear it on top of steamed veggies, and thickly spread it on top of quality sourdough or sprouted bread, or home made pancakes with a drizzle of pure Canadian maple syrup.
