Are European-style butters better? February 7
Walk into just about any grocery store and, in the dairy aisle, you’ll see several butter packages labeled “European style.” The descriptor was seen rarely only a few years ago and now brands like Plugra are all over the place. Some cooks swear by these specialty butters - but are they better than the standard American-style?
The difference between European-style and American-style butters is butterfat content. It has nothing to do with the actual origin of the butter or the cows that made the milk that went into it, as there are plenty of American producers who make “European-style” butters here. Regular butter is 80% butterfat and 20% water. Plugra is around 83% butterfat. It might not seem like a huge difference, but this slight increase gives the butter a creamier taste. If you do a side by side taste test with toast or bread, you may notice that Plugra tastes richer than regular.
When baking, however, this flavor difference is usually lost because it is subtle and masked by other flavors. It generally only comes out when you are making a very butter-heavy dish, like a very rich shortbread. In regular chocolate chip cookies, there may be a slight difference between two otherwise identical batches, but it will be the sort of difference that is incredibly hard to pin down unless you already know the secret. Since the water content of butter is what produces flakiness when baking pie crust (the butterfat produces tenderness), a traditional crust made with Plugra might be slightly less flaky and a bit more tender, similar to the way a crust made with part shortening and part butter is. Overall, however, the difference between the two when it comes to baking and cooking is nearly negligible. If you like the richer flavor of European-style, feel free to substitute it in any recipe, but consider sticking with regular when the butter flavor is going to be masked by something stronger from a cost-effectiveness standpoint.
Christina Feb 7
Nicole, Thank you for writing this up. I read on a foodie board that people really liked just Plugra for baking cookies. I have purchased it a few times, but you’re right, I couldn’t really tell the difference.
JEP Feb 7
I have been tempted to buy the European butter, but never have—thanks for sharing your insight!
Carole R. Feb 7
I love the European butters. I shop at a store that carries several different brands.
Try this experiment. Make the same recipe twice. Once with your regular butter and once with the European butter. Then decide for yourself if you can taste the difference.
rositta Feb 7
Yes, yes, yes..they taste way better but for baking I don’t think it makes much difference, not when you consider the difference in price…ciao
Ella Feb 8
I’ve heard it makes a difference when you’re making buttercream, but I haven’t tried it. Is the color whiter, too? I think that may have been part of the reason it was preferred for buttercream, too, especially for a white frosting.
Steve Feb 8
Thanks, I was wondering what the difference is and whether our butter here is what you would call European-style. I live in the EU and apparently (or so I’ve read) butter has to be at least 82% fat and not more than 16% water if you want to call it “butter” (I’m guessing that the other one or two percent are milk solids).
Ella: The color of butter is influenced by what the cows feed on (carotene content) and how much carotene (red/orange coloring) is added to the butter. I don’t think that fat content has anything to do with it.
joolz Feb 11
plugra is the only butter i use, no matter what the application, and as far as it being expensive, well… if you shop at trader joe’s, they sell it there. it’s cheaper than the house brand butter at my local megamart even.
plugra definitely makes a better frosting, be it buttercream or cream cheese. the extra fat makes for a noticeably creamier frosting.
so, if you’re lucky enough to be within driving distance of a tj’s, get it. there most definitely IS a difference.
Barbara Feb 13
The best way to taste the difference with the two butters is slathering them on toasted bagels. The regular butter taste oily and bland while the european butters are tastier and yummier. Even my kids can tell the difference!
EM Feb 13
Like Joolz, I buy Plugra at TJ’s, because it’s cheaper than their organic butter. I do find it makes a difference in piecrusts—an all-butter crust with Plugra or other high-butterfat butter is tastier and somehow more workable than a regular-butter crust—and perhaps in some brownie recipes very light on flour, but I don’t sweat it with anything else.
maria Aug 9
Being european myself..i can tell the difference in taste ..never use salted butter for anything …and european butter does taste better