Editing Butter (section)

==Types==
[[Image:Milkproducts.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Chart of milk products and production relationships, including butter]]
Before modern factory butter making, cream was usually collected from several milkings and was therefore several days old and somewhat fermented by the time it was made into butter. Butter made in this traditional way (from a fermented cream) is known as '''cultured butter'''. During fermentation, the cream naturally sours as [[bacteria]] convert [[milk sugar]]s into [[lactic acid]]. The fermentation process produces additional aroma compounds, including [[diacetyl]], which makes for a fuller-flavored and more "buttery" tasting product.<ref name="McGee">{{cite book|last=McGee|first=Harold|author-link=Harold McGee|title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen|date=2004|publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-684-80001-1|lccn=2004058999|oclc=56590708}}</ref>{{rp|page=35}}

Butter made from fresh cream is called '''sweet cream butter'''. Production of sweet cream butter first became common in the 19th century, when the development of [[refrigeration]] and the mechanical [[Separator (milk)|milk separator]]<ref name="McGee"/>{{rp|page=33}} made sweet cream butter faster and cheaper to produce at scale<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Melissa |date=2022-06-10 |title=America's Most Luxurious Butter Lives to Churn Another Day |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/dining/animal-farm-creamery-butter.html |access-date=2023-06-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> (sweet cream butter can be made in 6 hours, whereas cultured butter can take up to 72 hours to make).{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

Cultured butter is preferred throughout [[continental Europe]], while sweet cream butter dominates in the United States and the United Kingdom. Chef Jansen Chan, the director of pastry operations at the International Culinary Center in Manhattan, says, "It's no secret that dairy in France and most of Europe is higher quality than most of the U.S."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-22 |title=The science-backed reasons why croissants always taste better in Paris |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/180451/the-science-backed-reasons-why-croissants-always-taste-better-in-paris |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Mic |language=en}}</ref> The combination of butter culturing, the 82% butterfat minimum (as opposed to the 80% minimum in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-08 |title=What's the Difference Between Regular, Cultured, and European Butter? |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-regular-cultured-and-european-butter |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Bon Appétit |language=en-US}}</ref>), and the fact that French butter is grass-fed,<ref>{{Cite web |last=France |first=Taste Europe Butter of |date=2022-09-02 |title=Taste Europe Butter of France Uncovers Why American Chefs Rely on European Butter |url=https://www.perishablenews.com/dairy/taste-europe-butter-of-france-uncovers-why-american-chefs-rely-on-european-butter/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Perishable News |language=en-US}}</ref> accounts for why French pastry (and French food in general) has a reputation for being richer-tasting and flakier.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Are European-style butters worth the price? |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2015/09/23/european-style-butters-worth-price/72619298/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=The Des Moines Register |language=en-US}}</ref> Cultured butter is sometimes labeled "European-style" butter in the United States, although cultured butter is made and sold by some, especially Amish, dairies.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

Milk that is to be made into butter is usually [[pasteurized]] during production to kill [[pathogen]]ic bacteria and other [[microbe]]s. Butter made from unpasteurized [[raw milk]] is very rare and can be dangerous. Commercial raw milk products are not legal to sell through interstate commerce in the United States<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nutrition |first=Center for Food Safety and Applied |date=2020-06-25 |title=Raw Milk Questions & Answers |url=https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/raw-milk-questions-answers |journal=FDA |language=en}}</ref> and are very rare in Europe.<ref name="McGee" />{{rp|page=34}} Raw cream butter is not usually available for purchase.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

=== Clarified butter ===

{{Main|Clarified butter}}

[[File:Butterschmalz-2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Liquid [[clarified butter]]]]

Clarified butter has almost all of its water and milk solids removed, leaving almost-pure butterfat. Clarified butter is made by heating butter to its [[melting point]] and then allowing it to cool; after settling, the remaining components separate by density. At the top, [[whey protein]]s form a skin, which is removed. The resulting butterfat is then poured off from the mixture of water and [[casein]] proteins that settle to the bottom.<ref name="McGee" />{{rp|page=37}}

[[Ghee]] is clarified butter that has been heated to around 120&nbsp;°C (250&nbsp;°F) after the water evaporated, turning the milk solids brown. This process flavors the ghee, and also produces [[antioxidant]]s that help protect it from rancidity. Because of this, ghee can be kept for six to eight months under normal conditions.<ref name="McGee"/>{{rp|page=37}}

{{anchor|Whey butter}}

===Whey butter===
Cream may be separated (usually by a centrifuge or a sedimentation) from [[whey]] instead of milk, as a [[byproduct]] of cheese-making. Whey butter may be made from whey cream. Whey cream and butter have a lower fat content and taste more salty, tangy and "cheesy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/everything_is_in_butter/|title=Article on sweet cream, whey cream, and the butters they produce|work=Kosher|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220100350/http://oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/everything_is_in_butter/|archive-date=20 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> They are also cheaper to make than "sweet" cream and butter. The fat content of whey is low, so {{convert|1000|lb}} of whey will typically give only {{convert|3|lb}} of butter.<ref>Charles Thom, Walter Fisk, ''The Book of Cheese'', 1918, reprinted in 2007 as {{ISBN|1429010746}}, p. 296</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/CAT31283652|title=Whey butter|first=Charles Francis|last=Doane|date=12 November 2017|publisher=Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry|via=Internet Archive|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528151635/https://archive.org/details/CAT31283652|archive-date=28 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Protected origin butters===
Several butters have [[protected geographical indication]]s; these include:
* [[Beurre d'Ardenne]], from Belgium
* [[Beurre d'Isigny]], from France
* Beurre Charentes-Poitou (Which also includes: Beurre des Charentes and Beurre des Deux-Sèvres under the same classification), from France
* [[Beurre Rose]], from Luxembourg
* Mantequilla de Soria, from Spain
* Mantega de l'Alt Urgell i la Cerdanya, from Spain
* [[Rucava white butter]] (''Rucavas baltais sviests''), from Latvia<ref name="LSM">{{cite news |title=No buts, it's Rucava butter! |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/no-buts-its-rucava-butter.a291313/ |access-date=11 September 2018 |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting of Latvia]] |agency=[[LETA]] |date=6 September 2018 |archive-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911225205/https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/no-buts-its-rucava-butter.a291313/ |url-status=live }}</ref>