Question about Irish butter

[spinbaby]

I’ve been a fan of Irish butter for years—mainly Kerrygold, but also other brands. Lately I’ve noticed that it’s tasting just a bit...um...gamey. I can’t decide if it’s just my own taste changing or if the butter has changed. Opinions please, does your butter taste different?

[stonecutter357]

1. A high butterfat content can get gamey .Irish butter has 82% butterfat content ,

American butter contains 80% butterfat .

[Arkansas Granny]

2. I use Kerrygold, but I haven't noticed any change in taste.

IMO, Irish butter tastes more like the butter we made at home when I was growing up. Our Jersey cows gave the richest milk with a generous amount of cream in every gallon.

[hlthe2b]

4. Love Jersies... My fantasy is to win the lottery and have Jersies, dogs, horses and...

Sanctuary only, though... (thus the need for lottery winnings...LOL)

[dubyadiprecession]

3. Check the box...

It might read,” Now with gamey flavoring”.

[hlthe2b]

5. Sometimes I think my tastebuds become dulled. I've had butter (after a long time without) that

Last edited Mon Mar 18, 2019, 11:41 AM - Edit history (1)

tasted wonderful--a real treat. Most recently, it was the new premium Land O'Lakes European style. And then a few months later, I have it again and it just tastes meh. That has likewise occurred with Kerrygold, Horizon organic butter, Tillamook. Not sure what is going on. Probably just as well, as I really don't need to be eating a lot of butter.

[spinbaby]

7. I really wonder if it's my taste that's changed

I’ve always loved Kerrygold, which I buy in bulk at Costco, but I can’t get over the off flavor. I tried a store brand Irish butter with the same result. Plugra seems okay, as are the more generic butters.

[Major Nikon]

6. I don't think it tastes any different than it always has, but some variation will occur

The reason anything tastes "gamey" is because of what the animal eats. Those flavors are more concentrated in fats of which butter is almost entirely composed.

Most US dairy cows are fed diets that maximize milk production. This will consist of varying levels of wheat, corn, and hay some of which will be fermented making digestion more efficient. They will also be fed sources of protein like soy. Cows that produce European style butter are fed diets that almost exclusively consist of foraging or hay. US cows will typically produce 2-3 times more milk than cows that primarily forage for their food.

Foraging is what produces the "gamey" flavor because of the nutrients contained in the grass. The nutrient balance of that grass can and does change with things like changes in waterfall rates or rotation to a new pasture. As such variation will occur in the finished product.

[spinbaby]

8. I'm familiar with that

Having grown up with local milk from cows that often got into the wild garlic.

This butter tastes fermented or rancid or something. I once had some heavily fermented Amish butter that was really strong. That’s what Irish butter tastes like, only not as strong.

[Major Nikon]

9. Traditionally butter was fermented

Milk was gathered over the course of several days and would naturally ferment prior to churning.

Cultured butter commercially produced today involves taking pasteurized cream and inoculating it with specific bacteria which is then allowed to ferment. The result is far less complex than cultured butter made by traditional methods which is probably how the Amish still do it.

[spinbaby]

10. I avoid Amish butter

I guess I don’t like naturally produced butter.

[Freddie]

11. Butter picks up flavors from your fridge

We don’t use a whole lot so I only buy it at the holidays and when I’m baking. To me it’s only good for a couple weeks after you buy it, then it starts to get “funny”. The rest of the time I use I Can’t Believe.. which is ok and lasts forever.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. What an interesting conversation.

A while back I bought some butter that I found I REALLY didn't like and wound up throwing out. I can't recall exactly how it was represented (cultured? fermented? something) but I think I'd recognize it were I to pick it up again.

Personally, I'm quite happy with normal butter. I always buy unsalted, and usually leave the current stick out on the counter top. I know that some people here think that butter is highly fragile and needs to be frozen if it's not used within the first twenty minutes or so of arriving home, but honestly, that's simply not the case. I have NEVER had a problem with butter. See the post below.

Scalloped ham and potatoes

Sliced and cut up ham, probably about two cups. Who knows? I don't measure many things.
Five or six medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin.
Onion. Depending on the size. I think about a half cup chopped onion.

The sauce:
3 Tablespoons butter.
A bit less than 3 Tablespoons flour.
Melt the butter, then stir in the onion. Let it brown for a couple of minutes. Then stir in the flour. If the flour and butter are in exactly equal amounts, which is what most cookbooks tell you, it won't work out. Trust me. Cook books get a lot of things wrong. And if you live at high altitude, PM me because the conventional wisdom about high altitude cooking is totally wrong. So, anyway, you need about 2/3 flour to the same amount of butter. Trust me.

Now add ground pepper (probably about a teaspoon), celery seed (NOT celery salt) likewise about a teaspoon, and about a half teaspoon of thyme. Also marjoram and tarragon. Use your own judgment here. I don't measure these things, so the amounts are my best guess.

Meanwhile, heat 3 cups of half and half (yes, half and half. NOT skim milk -- and if you're cooking with that there's probably a circle of hell just for you -- and not 2% and not whole milk. Half and half. What’s leftover goes nicely in your coffee.) in the microwave at 50% power for about three minutes. You definitely want to take the chill off, and maybe even get the half and half almost hot. Give the roux (the butter, flour, onion, and seasonings) about three minutes to do their thing, stirring all the while with a balloon whisk. Now stir in the warm half and half. Let it continue to do its thing for a few minutes at a medium heat. You want it to thicken up somewhat.

Smear butter on the bottom of a pyrex baking dish. I think mine is a 3 quart one, but I just looked at it and couldn't find that information, but it is the largest of a three dish set I acquired more than 35 years ago. Use your own judgment here. But do not even remotely consider using a metal baking dish.

Once the butter/onion/half and half mix has thickened up, which will take about five minutes, more or less, put a bit of your sauce on the very bottom of your baking dish, which you have already smeared with butter. If you are using the spray crap, shame on you. Then do a layer of potato slices, topped with the ham. Now pour some of the sauce to cover the ham and potatoes. Another layer of potatoes, another layer of ham, and more sauce. Top with the rest of your potato slices, and the rest of your sauce. Dab a tablespoon or so of butter on the very top, in three or five different places. You want to create the opportunity for the butter to melt and burn to create something interesting at the very top. You could, of course, leave it out entirely and may not notice the difference, but the cooking gods will.

Bake in the preheated oven, 350 degrees, covered (I'm hoping your baking dish has its own cover, otherwise I'm sure aluminum foil will suffice) for 30 minutes. Uncover, bake for another hour. Oh, and be sure to place a cookie sheet under the baking dish because if you've done it right, there will be overflow of the sauce.

If you live at high altitude, as I do, make the baking times 35 minutes covered, 70 minutes uncovered.

Let stand five minutes.

This is one of the few things I make that isn't better the next day. This is absolutely at its best fresh out of the oven, so it's probably best made when you have enough people to eat it all up right away.

Don't despair, because it really does reheat in the microwave (dear Lord, what was life like before them?) adequately.

Oh, and since I don't add salt earlier, you will probably want to salt your portion at this point. I also add more ground pepper, but that’s just me.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. I have not been a fan of Irish butter.

I've tried it in the past and not been impressed. So these days I just buy regular American butter, always the unsalted version, and never have problems with it.

A while back there was a discussion here about the need to freeze butter or it would go bad. No, that's not necessary. Trust me. I leave my butter on the kitchen counter all the time, and I have NEVER experienced a problem. On very warm days it gets a bit molten, but in my experience butter never goes bad. Not even the unsalted version, which is all I've ever bought in the past ten years.

Sometimes a quarter pound stick lasts a month or more. Sometimes less than a week. I suppose if you take a lot more than a month to go through a stick of butter you should refrigerate it, but if that's the case, I want to have a serious discussion with you about how you live your life. And you still don't need to freeze it. Nor do you need to freeze the other sticks in the pound of butter you bought at the time.

This is not intended to discourage anyone who thinks Irish butter is better. If that's what you think, then go for it. You aren't wrong. Nor am I.