All about Butter | Canadian Goodness (2024)

All about Butter | Canadian Goodness (1)

Whether you’re baking, cooking, or spreading, Canadian butter makes everything better.

Butter is a delicious and versatile ingredient, and a staple on every cook’s grocery list. Butter truly makes every dish better. Learn more about the different types of butter, how it's produced here in Canada, and how it gets from the farm to your table.

Whether you’re cooking or baking, we've also got tons of useful kitchen tips, including articles on how to measure butter, how to soften butter, and more – plus, dozens of butter-themed recipes. Because in the words of Julia Child, “With enough butter, anything is good.”

All kinds of Butter

Salted butter

Also known as churned butter, this is the traditional butter, which is made by churning pasteurized cream and then salted.
Unsalted butter

Made the same way as salted butter but without the salt, unsalted butter is often used in baking.
Light butter

This butter is like traditional churned butter to which is incorporated air and water. With typically 25% less butterfat than regular butter, it is best used as a spread.

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Cultured butter

Also called old-fashioned or antique butter, cultured butter is made from cream that is cultured with active bacteria (similar to those added to yogurt). It has a distinctive and slightly tangy taste.
Organic butter

This butter comes from cows that are fed with organically grown feed and get more grazing time in pasture. You’ll find an organic certification logo on its package.
Grass-fed butter

Canadian grass-fed dairy standards are under development. In Canada, this butter typically comes from cows that are feed a minimum of 75% grass or forage.

How to make the most of it

Melt butter better

To keep butter from separating or burning, melt it on Medium-Low heat – never on High. When it looks ¾ melted, remove it from the heat and stir until completely melted.

Keep butter’s fresh flavour

Butter keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 weeks in its original wrapper. In the freezer with an extra layer of foil, unsalted butter keeps well for 3 months, salted butter for a year.

A better butter for frying

Once clarified, butter can resist higher cooking temperatures, making it ideal for pan-frying. See our next tip to clarify it yourself. (And, save the milk solids for soups or mashed potatoes.)

DIY clarified butter

In a pan over low heat, melt butter (1 cup of butter yields up to 3/4 cup of clarified butter). Skim off the froth and discard. A clear yellow layer (the clarified butter) will form over solids. Pour it through a sieve into a clean container. That’s it!

It starts with Canadian milk

The best butter comes from naturally delicious milk. It’s collected at the farm and brought to the creamery.

Just the cream of the crop

The milk is pasteurized to eliminate any potentially harmful bacteria, and also keep the milk and butter fresh longer. Milk is spun to separate the cream from the skim milk.

Whipping up the perfect blend

The cream is beaten vigorously in a churning cylinder. As it whirls, it thickens and separates. The liquid, buttermilk, is drained from the solids, which are butter. The butter is blended and sometimes salt is added.

All wrapped up and ready to go

To meet the standard, butter must consist of at least 80% fat. Once weighed, cut, wrapped, and chilled, butter is ready to grace the shop display as well as your favourite dishes.