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May 2005
Updated October 2007

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Cheese-Butter-Yogurt

Butter Glossary

Terms & Definitions

Who would have imagined there were so many terms about butter! If you’d like to suggest others, click here.

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ANNATTO SEED

Also known as achiote seed, annatto seed is used as a coloring agent in butter and margarine (as well as cheese and other foods).

ANCHOVY BUTTER

Butter blended with mashed anchovies. It is used as a savory spread on sandwiches and canapes and to add richness to other dishes (e.g., salmon and poultry).

BERCY BUTTER

Bercy butter is a sauce made with a reduction of white wine, shallots, butter, marrow, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. It is served with broiled or grilled meat or fish. The butter is named after an area of Paris, as is Bercy sauce, a reduction of white wine, fish stock and seasonings that is served with fish.

BEURRE

The French word for butter.

BEURRE BLANC

A classic French sauce made of a wine, vinegar and shallot reduction into which chunks of cold butter are whisked until the sauce is thick and smooth. Beurre blanc, which means “white butter” in French, is served with poultry, seafood, vegetables and eggs.

BEURRE COMPOSÉ

See Compound Butter.

BEURRE MANIÉ

French for kneaded butter, it is a paste made of softened butter and flour, usually in equal parts, that is used to thicken sauces.

BEURRE NOIR

French for black butter, the butter is cooked over a low heat until it turns dark brown, not black. It is usually flavored with vinegar or lemon juice, capers and parsley and served as a sauce with eggs, fish, sometimes, vegetables. One of the most famous classic dishes is calves brains in black butter.

BEURRE NOISETTE

French for hazelnut butter, it is butter cooked in the manner of Beurre Noir, until it turns the golden brown color of hazelnuts. It is a popular way to sauté and sauce meat, poultry, fish, and fruit; and also serves as a sauce for pasta and vegetables.

BROWN BUTTER

See Beurre Noisette.

BREAK

When heating a butter sauce, this is the point when fat solids separate from the rest of a sauce. A broken sauce is not desirable as it detracts from the creamy texture. A butter with lower moisture breaks less.

BUTTER

A food product made exclusively from milk or cream or both, with or without common salt, containing not less than 80 percent by weight, of milkfat. Butter is made by churning the the milk or cream until it solidifies. The texture is a result of working/kneading during processing at appropriate temperatures, to establish a fat crystalline network that results in desired smoothness (compare butter with melted and recrystallized butter). Butter is used as a spread, a cooking fat, or a baking ingredient. Unsalted butter is preferred over salted butter because it permits greater leeway in seasoning recipes to taste. Butter will keep, well wrapped, for 1 month in the refrigerator or for up to 6 months in the freezer.

BUTTER BOAT

A covered crock, more oblong in shape than a standard rectangular butter dish, that is used to keep butter at room temperature.

BUTTERCREAM

A light, uncooked frosting made of butter, sugar and egg yolks, and sometimes milk or light cream, that is used to fill and frost cakes and pastries.

BUTTER CURLER

A utensil about 6" long with a serrated hook at one end; the hook is drawn down the length of a stick of butter to make butter curls.

BUTTERFAT

Synonymous with milk fat: the fatty particles in milk that are separated out during churning to make cream and subsequently butter. The higher the milk fat content, the creamier, richer and more caloric the milk, cream, ice cream, etc.

BUTTER KNIFE

Smaller than a dinner knife with a rounded tip and a blunt edge used to easily spread butter on breadstuffs.

BUTTERMILK

In earlier times, the tangy, butter-flecked liquid was left over after whole milk had been churned to make butter. Today’s buttermilk is a cultured form made by adding lactic-acid bacteria to low-fat or nonfat milk.

BUTTER MOLD

A decorative mold in ceramic, metal, wood or plastic used to form butter into fancy shapes (hearts, stars, circles) and impress designs into the surface of the butter. Molds are filled with softened butter; the butter is chilled and removed from the mold.

BUTTER OIL or ANHYDROUS BUTTER OIL

Also known as anhydrous butterfat, this is butter from which the water has been removed by gently heating to break the emulsion, followed by centrifugation to remove the milk serum from the fat fraction. The butterfat content of the remaining butter oil is over 99 percent. It is similar to ghee, and is commonly used in very hot companies where there is no refrigeration, as well as an ingredient in commercial production.

BUTTER PADDLE

A short, flat wooden paddle originally used in the churning process. Today, two paddles can be used to roll textured balls of butter for elegant dining.

BUTTERSCOTCH

A flavoring used in desserts, sauces and candies; a hard candy; and a dessert sauce. Whatever its form, the confection is made from two primary ingredients, brown sugar and butter.

CHURNING

The physical process by which liquid cream is “worked” to coalesce the butterfat globules, with the concurrent expulsion of buttermilk.

CLARIFIED BUTTER or DRAWN BUTTER

Unsalted butter that has been slowly melted, evaporating much of the water and separating the milk solids. All that remains is pure liquid golden-yellow butterfat. Because the milk solids have been removed, clarified butter has both a long shelf life (it will keep from going rancid longer) and a high smoke point (it can be used in frying without burning); it also is less flavorful than regular butter. To clarify butter, melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat. Skim the froth from the top and carefully pour off the clear liquid, leaving the milky residue behind. Clarified butter is used in sautés, sauces and in baked dishes. See also Ghee.

CLOTTED CREAM or CLABBER CREAM

A type of thick cream with a yellowish crust from the English counties of Devon and Cornwall. Clotted cream is an essential ingredient of a cream tea. It contains an average fat content of 63% (the minimum is 55%) and is produced by cooking full-fat milk over a bain-marie. Known as crème fraîche in France and racreme in Scandinavia, “clabber” is an archaic English word for a cupboard or pantry.

COCOA BUTTER

Not a dairy product, but the fat portion of the kernel (nib) of the cocoa bean.

COLOR

Color in butter comes primarily from the presence of carotene and xanthophyll, which are natural compounds present in the feed of cows.

COMPOUND BUTTER

Butter flavored with herbs, garlic, wine or other seasonings, most often made by mixing them into softened butter. The butter is then rolled into a log shape and refrigerated until needed; slices are cut from the roll and placed directly on hot meat, fish or vegetable where it melts immediately, creating a sauce. Herb butter and anchovy butter can be forms of compound butter: it is the creation of the log and the slice-as-needed to create a sauce that creates the reference.

CONTINENTALS

Foil-wrapped teaspoon-size portions of salted or unsalted butter, packed in trays for food service use.

COOKING FATS

This refers to butter, margarine, vegetable oils, and vegetable shortening, all of which are used to moisten and flavor foods during cooking and to enrich and tenderize baked goods.

CREAM

The word cream comes from the Greek chriein, which means “anoint,” and which is also the root of Christ (“the anointed one”). The link between ancient ritual and rich food is oil, the substance used to anoint the chosen, and the defining element of cream. Cream is a form of milk in which the fat globules have become more concentrated than usual, whether by rising to the top in a bottle or spinning off from the heavier water phase in a centrifuge. There are several grades of cream marketed today, including heavy cream, light cream, and half-and-half. Cream is also a verb meaning to beat until soft, smooth, and fluffy, as with butter and sugar.

CRÈME FRÎCHE

A matured, thickened cream with a slightly tangy, nutty flavor and velvety rich texture. The thickness can range from that of commercial sour cream to almost as solid as room-temperature margarine. In France, it is unpasteurized and contains the bacteria necessary to thicken it naturally. In the U.S., the fermenting agents necessary for thickening are obtained by adding buttermilk or sour cream. a very expensive American facsimile of crème fraîche is sold in some gourmet markets.

CULTURED BUTTER

Fresh cream butter to which lactic acid cultures have been added for the development of a particular flavor. Most popular in European countries.

DANISH-STYLE BUTTER

Usually unsalted, cultured butter. A culture is added to the cream and allowed to stand overnight for the acid flavor to develop before churning.

DRAWN BUTTER

See clarified butter.

EUROPEAN-STYLE

Butter with more milkfat than regular butter: butter with more than 82% milkfat is considered European-style. Since European-style butter has a lower moisture content, using it results in better pastries, icings, and sauces.

FRUIT BUTTER

Fruit butter, such as apple butter, is a thick fruit spread for bread made by slowly cooking fruit, sugar, and spices together. It contains no butter or other dairy product. It is referred to as a butter because of its consistency.

GARLIC BUTTER

Butter that is blended with garlic (chopped, crushed, minced, or garlic powder): the intensity of the garlic flavor is a function of the amount of garlic used and the amount of time the mixture is allowed to stand. Two of the most popular uses are garlic bread and escargots; it can also be used to garnish meat, fish, seafood, pasta, potatoes and other vegetables.

GHEE

A form of clarified butter that originated in India. It is taken a step further than traditional clarified butter by simmering until all of the moisture evaporates and the milk solids begin to brown, giving the butter a nutty, caramel-like flavor and aroma. This extra step also gives ghee a longer life and much higher smoke point than regular clarified butter, almost 375°F. This makes ghee the best butter for sautéing and frying. Today, the best commercial ghee comes from Holland, followed by Scandinavia and Australia. While ghee was originally made only with unsalted butter made from water buffalo milk, today it can be made with any unsalted butter. Flavored ghees are created by adding ginger, peppercorns, cumin et al at the beginning of the clarifying process.

GRAINY

A grainy condition imparts a granular consistency when the butter is melted on the tongue.

GRITTY

Attributable to the use of too much salt or undissolved salt due to insufficient working of butter.

HALF AND HALF

A mixture of equal parts milk and cream; it must be at least 10.5 percent butterfat and up to 12 percent. It cannot be whipped.

HERB BUTTER

Butter that is blended with herbs. It is popularly used to baste foods, to make croutons, and to season poultry, either by slipping it between the skin and the flesh or by adding it to stuffing. A pat of herb butter is sometimes added to a broiled tenderloin or steak.

HEAVY CREAM or HEAVY WHIPPING VREAM

A rich dairy product with a butterfat content of at least 36 percent and up to 40 percent butterfat. Whipping cream will double in volume when whipped.

LACTIC BUTTER or RIPENED BUTTER
More common in European countries, the cream is inoculated with a starter culture (a lactic acid-producing bacteria) after pasteurization that ferments prior to the churning. The culture ripens the butter to a specific maturity; it is then pasteurized again to stop the ripening process. Lactic butter has a lower moisture content and a higher smoking point than regular butter, and is preferred for baking.

LEMON BUTTER or MEUNIERE BUTTER
Clarified butter browned slowly and seasoned with lemon juice and parsley. Often used with fish, as an accent or a base for sautéing.

LIGHT BUTTER or REDUCED CALORIE BUTTER
Light butter has about half the fat of regular butter. It is made with the addition of water, skim milk and gelatin. It should not be substituted for regular butter or margarine in frying and baking.

LIGHT CREAM
Sometimes called coffee cream or table cream, can contain from 18 to 30 percent butterfat but most commonly contains 20 percent butterfat. It cannot be whipped.

LIGHT WHIPPING CREAM
The form most commonly available, cream with between 30% and 36% butterfat.

MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL BUTTER

A  compound butter made by blending together softened butter, lemon juice or vinegar, chopped parsley and seasonings. It can be quickly turned into a sauce and is served as an accompaniment to fish, poultry and meat; and dishes so dressed are called “à la maître d’hôtel.”

MARGARINE or OLEOMARGARINE
A butter substitute made originally from other animal fats, but today made exclusively from vegetable oils. It may be substituted for butter in most recipes including baking, except for pastry recipes except as indicated, because margarine produces a softer dough than butter (and of course does not yield the wonderful buttery flavor). Like homogenization and pasteurization, margarine is a French invention. There has been a long-standing debate about the health value of cholesterol-free margarine over butter, which is high in saturated fat. While margarine is made from polyunsaturated fats like vegetable oil and corn oil, the process of turning them into semisolid spreads and solid bars creates trans fats, which are as bad or worse than saturated fats. However, most studies and health experts* suggest that certain types of margarine are a better choice. Choose the liquid and tub styles as opposed to the bar style; more trans fats are needed to make margarine more solid. Some varieties contain water or liquid vegetable oil instead of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil; read the label. However, the best alternative is a heart-healthy oil like olive oil or canola oil.

*Source: The New York Times, “The Claim” column by Anahad O’Connor in “Science Times,” Tuesday, October 16, 2007, page F5.

MEUNIÈRE BUTTER
See lemon butter.

MILK FAT
See butterfat.

MOUNT
A technique where small pieces of cold, unsalted butter are whisked into a sauce just before serving. Mounting gives sauces texture and flavor as well as a glossy look.

NEWBURG SAUCE

A very rich sauce of butter, cream egg yolks, sherry, and seasonings used over cooked shellfish such as lobster, crab or shrimp. It was created by a chef of the once-famous Delmonico Restaurant in New York.

NUT BUTTER

Nuts ground into a spreadable consistency of butter. Peanut butter is the most popular, but almond, cashew, and hazelnut butters are popular; and any nut can be ground into a butter. Nut butters have no butter or other dairy product. Like fruit butters, they are only called butters because of their spreadable consistency.

PASTEURIZED

A term describing milk that has been heat treated to destroy bacteria.

POUND CAKE

This is the ultimate butter cake. It gets its name (and texture) from the traditional proportions of its ingredients—one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour—although over the years cooks have tinkered with the original formula and baking powder is sometimes added to the batter.

RACREME

See clotted cream.

RANCIDITY

Development of any off or disagreeable flavors in a fat. The four types of rancidity in fats are: absorption of odors, action of microorganisms, action of enzymes (lipases), atmospheric oxidation. Butter primarily tends to become rancid due to the action of atmospheric oxygen, light, heat, water, metals, enzyme and microorganisms. Rancid butter becomes yellow to brown and the flavor becomes harsh.

SAUTÉ

In French, sauté means “to jump,” and describes the method in which food is cooked quickly in a small amount of butter or oil. The food “jumps” as it is rapidly stirred or shaken over the heat.

SCORE

Refers to the grade of butter. Butter is graded, or scored, by government inspectors on the basis of its flavor, aroma, body and texture.

SEASONAL VARIATIONS

Because butter is an all-natural product made from the milk of cows, natural seasonal variations in the fatty acid composition occur based on the diet of the animals. These variations, however, do not affect the quality of the butter.

SHORTBREAD

A rich, crumbly cookie made of butter, flour, and sugar. The classic way of making shortbread is to press the dough into flat decorative molds and cut it into wedges after baking.

SHORTENING

Though the term most often refers to vegetable shortening, a solid fat made from vegetable oil such as soybean or cottonseed oil, any animal or vegetable fat can be used as shortening, including butter, margarine, lard or drippings.

SMOKING POINT

The temperature at which butter begins to scorch and burn. A higher fat content butter yields a higher smoking point. To avoid smoking, clarified butter is used.

SOUR CREAM

Sour cream is not spoiled sweet cream: it is a dairy product made by adding a lactic acid culture to pasteurized sweet cream, producing a thick, creamy texture and a tangy flavor. Commercial sour cream contains from 18 to 20 percent butterfat, and often contains additional ingredients such as gelatin, rennin and vegetable enzymes.

SWEET BUTTER

A term often used for butter that has no salt; but this is a misnomer because any butter made with sweet cream instead of sour cream is sweet butter. The appropriate terms to use are unsalted butter and sweet cream butter.

SWEET CREAM BUTTER

Any butter made with sweet, as opposed to sour, cream. Both unsalted and salted butters can be labeled sweet cream butter; additionally, they will be labeled unsalted, salted, or lightly salted.

TABLE CREAM or COFFEE CREAM

Light cream, containing 18-30% butterfat.

TOCOPHEROL
An antioxidant used to decrease the oxidative rancidity of fat or oil. A natural antioxidant, it improves oxidative stability.

TRUFFLE BUTTER
Sweet butter mixed with black or white truffle peelings. The truffles provide rich truffle flavor and aroma, and the butter can be used with eggs, pasta, vegetables, rice, or simply enjoyed on bread. Click here for our review of D’Artagnan truffle butter.

USDA STANDARDS FOR GRADES OF BUTTER
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades butter quality based on flavor characteristics and rates it according to body, color and salt. A final grade is assigned based on the combination of all four attributes. Grades include AA, A, and B. All butter sold in the United States must contain at least 80 percent milkfat.

U.S. GRADE AA
Most commonly found at retail, Grade AA butter is the finest (93 score), made from sweet cream and has a smooth, creamy texture. It is easy to spread and has a light, fresh flavor. It can be lightly salted.

U.S. GRADE A
Grade A butter is the second best grade (92 score), and is often found at retail. Like Grade A butter, it is made from fresh cream, but has a slightly stronger flavor. It has a fairly smooth texture.

U.S. GRADE B
Grade B butter (90 score) can be used by consumers for table use, but is generally sold in bulk. It is usually made from sour cream and is more coarse in texture.

UNSALTED BUTTER
Contains no salt and is sometimes erroneously called sweet butter (see Sweet Cream Butter, above). It is generally preferred for cooking and baking since it enables the salt level to be adjusted according to the preference of the cook. However, unsalted butter is more fragile: salt is a preservative, and salted butter is less perishable.

VITAMIN A
Butter contains about 3,000 IU of vitamin A per 100 grams, or 153 IU per serving (1 pat/ 5 grams).

WHEY BUTTER

A specialty product made from he whey is drained from the cheese curds. It is strong and salty with a cheesy flavor.

WHIPPED BUTTER

Butter which has had air or other acceptable gases (e.g., nitrogen) whipped into it, resulting in a product with greater volume, reduced density and improved spreadability at colder temperatures. Whipped butter typically is packed in tubs or cups. Whipping improves the spreadability of butter, but it should not be substituted for regular butter in baking.

WHITE SAUCE

A term for light white or blond sauces. In its simplest form, white sauce is cream or milk mixed into a white roux (a combination of butter and flour which isn’t browned). This basic French sauce is called béchamel.

WHOLE MILK

Regular milk. Whole milk has close to 4% milkfat.

Content courtesy of Cornell University School of Agriculture, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.