How to determine the quality of butter when buying?

Food stores today offer a fairly wide range of dairy products from various manufacturers. Not an exception - and butter. However, not every product with this inscription on the packaging is really quality. The cost of production of this product is high. Some unscrupulous manufacturers use various additives in production, which significantly reduce costs. How to determine the quality of butter when buying?

What is butter?

Butter is a concentrated milk fat, obtained from cream as a result of their knocking down or other technological process. Cream should be made from cow's milk. Butter of Russian origin differs from foreign analogues. It is characterized by the taste of cream. In our country, mainly sweet cream butter is produced, obtained from pasteurized sweet cream.

Butter butter besides milk fat contains protein, carbohydrates, vitamins A, C, D, E, calcium, iron, copper, zinc and other trace elements, which makes it really irreplaceable. Doctors recommend daily use of 10-30 grams of this product.

In recent years, there has been a tendency to falsify this product by adding vegetable fats (for example, palm oil). In addition, various emulsifiers, dyes, flavors, acidity regulators and preservatives are added. Such falsifications do not bring benefits to the body and can even do harm.

Both producers and experts know how to determine the quality of butter. For this purpose, chromatographic analysis is carried out under laboratory conditions. This makes it possible to evaluate the fatty acid composition of the oil. Such a laboratory examination costs a lot of money, so it is often not available to the townsfolk.
How to determine the quality of butter (cream), and what should I look for when buying?

Smell and taste

The good quality of butter is indicated primarily by the pronounced taste of milk cream. It can also have a weak taste of sour cream. If the taste is bitter, this indicates that mold has formed on the oil as a result of improper storage or disruption of the production process technology. Butter of good quality melts in the mouth, leaving a tender-dairy aftertaste. However, it is not always possible to test it in this way.

A sign of a natural product is the absence of odors. If the oil exudes the aroma through the packaging, there is a high probability that it is falsified.

Colour

How to determine the quality of butter in color? This product acquires a light yellow hue due to the use of a dye-beta-carotene (it is allowed by GOST) when it is prepared. An intense yellow tint should alert the buyer. Quality butter is almost white. Acceptable is light cream.

Packaging

Evaluation of the quality of butter begins with its packaging. This is the first thing you should pay attention to when buying. Modern manufacturers use a huge number of tricks, so that buyers buy their product. A beautiful wrapper made of foil is far from a guarantee of quality.

First you need to familiarize yourself with the composition of the product. It should contain milk and cream. If there are indicated other oils, for example palm or peanut, before you definitely margarine.

On the packaging must necessarily appear the inscription "butter creamy". Requirements for quality are regulated by the state standard - GOST R52969-2008 "Butter. Technical conditions ", which manufacturers are required to indicate on the packaging. On packets of adulterated product in large letters, the word "GOST" without figures can be indicated.

Fat content of high-quality butter is 82.5%. Low margarine and low calorie content is available only in margarine.

It is best to purchase a product wrapped in foil, as it does not let light pass. This indicates that the oil quickly deteriorates, which means that it is natural.

Consistency

How to determine the quality of butter when buying? Another option is to carefully study its consistency. In the warehouse of the store this product is stored usually at a temperature of no more than 5 ° C. When unfolding the package on it there should be no traces of oil. When there are traces on the wrapper, there is a high probability that this is a counterfeit.

Hardness

Slightly press a finger on the packaging. The high-quality butter is hard enough, so there will not be any dents on it. If you press on the packaging is not difficult, so that you could even immediately spread it on a piece of bread, before you a product with the addition of vegetable oils. If the oil has a low fat content, it will be soft.

Shelf life

Be sure to pay attention to the shelf life of the product. Oil, sold by weight, is stored no longer than 10 days, if it is packed in a metal jar - no more than 3 months. Falsifier, containing vegetable fats, is stored much longer because of the preservatives in its composition. Remember the rule: the shorter the storage time of butter, the less it contains chemicals.

Is the price an indicator of quality?

In practice, it has long been proven that the quality of any product is not always determined by its price. The exception in this matter is not butter. However, too low a price should also alert a potential buyer.

When making a kilogram of this product of acceptable fat content it is necessary to use at least 20 liters of cow's milk. Modern manufacturers are unlikely to work at a loss. Economists say that the cost of a kilogram of good quality oil is equal to the price of at least 10 liters of cow's milk.

How to determine the quality of butter at home?

Unfortunately, we are not always able to check the quality of the product in the store. Sometimes we just do not have time for this, and we take on the counter the first oil on hand (creamy). How to check the quality of the house? There are several ways:

1. Cut a small piece of butter, put it on a saucer. Let it stand at room temperature for about an hour and a half. Quality oil will soften, but it will retain its former shape and will not spread, which can not be said about spreads and margarines.
2. When cutting a high-quality product does not stick to the knife.
3. Spread a pan on the stove and melt the oil bar on it. Natural cream in its composition, in addition to milk fat, also contains buttermilk (about 20%), so when heated it will sprinkle and foam.
4. Cut off the oil bar, put it on the saucer, then put everything in the freezer for about an hour. In the frozen form, when cutting, there should not be any crumbs.
5. Take a small piece of cardboard and spread a thin layer of butter on it. Ideally, when pressing the knife on the surface of the oil must be formed a drop of liquid. If this does not happen, this indicates that the manufacturer has added emulsifiers (they make the consistency of the product more plastic).
6. On the good quality of oil says its homogeneous consistency. On a cut the bar will shine. The oil should be easily spread on the bread.
7. The color of the product should be uniform, without dark crusts.

If you independently conducted such simple tests, and the oil you bought successfully passed them, this product with full confidence can be called good.

If you always buy butter and are satisfied with its quality, you should not conduct experiments to find this product from another manufacturer. It is best to buy goods, the quality of which does not cause doubts.

Butter is a product that must be present on our table every day. It contains a large amount of vitamins and nutrients. To prevent falsification in your hands, you need to know the quality indicators of butter. This information on the package, taste, color, smell, hardness, consistency. Also, testing can be done at home. Do not let unscrupulous producers deceive you, because otherwise you overpay for a poor-quality product and put your health at risk.