Lousy, Wet Supermarket Butter

[Chris Amirault]

In the last six months or so, I've been noticing that the butter we buy for everyday use has been acting up. We typically get unsalted Cabot or Land o' Lakes butter as our stand-by supermarket pantry item, and while it's not European high fat content luxury, it's fine for frying eggs.

Well, at least until recently, when a pat of butter on a hot skillet produces very strange spattering, as if the water content of the butter has suddenly increased. This not only produces a lot of mess in the mornings; it also makes it very hard, for example, to brown butter effectively, due to the high moisture content.

Has anyone else noticed this? Am I right in thinking that more water is getting emulsified into the sticks? Any suggestions for brands or ways to deal with this?

[K8memphis]

I have noticed. The butter from the big box stores is harder than Land O Lakes or grocery store brand. Yes I think they've been diddling with the water content for a while. pmo

[Jmahl]

When I was in the restaurant bizz in Mexico we would order unsalted butter in five kilo blocks from a local creamery. We began to notice an increase in water content and I went to talk to the owner. He said he would have to raise the price if we wanted less water. I told him to raise the price but get the water out - and he did.

So its like that spray on the veggies at the super. You pay $2.99 a lb. for water. A hell of a deal.

Jmahl