If you are looking for Organic Valley "European Style butter", and there is some true interest, I will contact him in Indianapolis and see if I can procure butter in a smaller quanitity. The industry standard is generally a minimum of 30-1# chubs.

ronnie_suburban wrote:A pallet of butter is about 2,000 pounds but I don't really think there is a minimum order requirement. It's just that the refrigerated/frozen freight cost to move that butter from Vermont to Chicago would be between $300 and $400 (and that's a very competitive rate, via my work resources).

I think I would want to taste this stuff beforre committing to a large scale purchase, but assuming it passes the taste test, I'd be good for ~20 lbs. come the holidays.

Price check this afternoon at Trader Joe's in Glenview:

Plugra - $3.69 for one pound
President (France) - $3.19 for 7 oz (available salted or unsalted)
Trader Joe's brand - $2.69 for one pound (available salted or unsalted)
Trader Joe's brand organic - $4.49 for one pound (available salted or unsalted)

The current issue of Saveur, The Beauty of Butter #109, is pure unsalted butter porn at it's finest. A must have for the two-page 30 Great Butters spread alone.

G Wiv wrote:The current issue of Saveur, The Beauty of Butter #109, is pure unsalted butter porn at it's finest. A must have for the two-page 30 Great Butters spread alone.

It is, well-thumbed, on my bed stand.

G Wiv wrote:The current issue of Saveur, The Beauty of Butter #109, is pure unsalted butter porn at it's finest. A must have for the two-page 30 Great Butters spread alone.

It would be fun to do a butter tasting event using the Saveur picks.

Jyoti

G Wiv wrote:The current issue of Saveur, The Beauty of Butter #109, is pure unsalted butter porn at it's finest. A must have for the two-page 30 Great Butters spread alone.

I read the issue. I was forced to make smen. I had no choice.

I was forced to make smen.

I triple, quadruple, brazilian dog dare you to make this the tagline.

LTHForum,

Last evening I brought the simplest of hors d'oeuvre to a dinner party, French butter and Finocchiona from Ream's Elburn Market.

Beurre D'Isigny, Finocchiona


Assembled on the spot with French country and multi grain bread the dense rich butter was the perfect foil for subtle fennel and light fermented tang of the finocchiona.



Speaking of seemingly simple yet delicious, the host made a blend of ground raw almonds mixed with Saga blue cheese and stuffed into dates. A new appetizer arrow in my quiver.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Speaking of seemingly simple yet delicious, the host made a blend of ground raw almonds mixed with Saga blue cheese and stuffed into dates. A new appetizer arrow in my quiver.

Were these served hot or cold? Sounds good...

leek wrote:Were these served hot or cold? Sounds good...

Room temp, and they were good, very good.

Ramon wrote:I believe it is also true that unsalted butter is generally fresher.

The salt in the butter helps preserve it, thus making it last longer. Unsalted butter will spoil much faster. The unsalted variety would have to be fresher, of course. We buy the salted variety only because we don't go through as much and need it to last in the fridge a bit longer. If there's some serious baking that needs to be done, the unsalted (fresher the better) is purchased.

I'm in favor of the LTH co-op. Fresh butter and dairy. Local cheeses. CSA-style food share for veggies. High quality, grass-fed, local beef. High quality pork. Fresh chicken and eggs. Artisan breads and baked goods. Cured meats and aged steaks. I'm in, sign me up.

Ban on Irish butter in Wisconsin sends shoppers across state lines

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

"Jean Smith, who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, relies on Kerrygold butter every morning. She adds a dollop to her 'bulletproof' tea, and mixes it in her husband's coffee as the practice purports to increase cognitive function and encourage weight loss. Smith, who argues Kerrygold tastes richer than other butter, drives to Nebraska with coolers in her car so she can stock up on several month's worth of the stuff at a time." (Daily Mail online)

She lives 50 miles from the Illinois state line but she drives 500 miles to Nebraska to buy butter? I think it must be true then; Wisconsin butter does not contribute to cognitive functioning.

Katie wrote:"Jean Smith, who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, relies on Kerrygold butter every morning. She adds a dollop to her 'bulletproof' tea, and mixes it in her husband's coffee as the practice purports to increase cognitive function and encourage weight loss. Smith, who argues Kerrygold tastes richer than other butter, drives to Nebraska with coolers in her car so she can stock up on several month's worth of the stuff at a time." (Daily Mail online)

She lives 50 miles from the Illinois state line but she drives 500 miles to Nebraska to buy butter? I think it must be true then; Wisconsin butter does not contribute to cognitive functioning.

It appears she goes to Nebraska for other reasons, so this may be a convenient solution. Otherwise it makes no sense, because it certainly is easily available just outside Wisconsin.

I have heard some Indiana/ Wisconsin/ Iowa people who would rather die than go to Illinois. And rural people from IL who would rather die than go to Chicago. True story.

leek wrote:I have heard some Indiana/ Wisconsin/ Iowa people who would rather die than go to Illinois. And rural people from IL who would rather die than go to Chicago. True story.

My Wisconsin brother in law used to be like that. Until we went out for sushi (this was years ago before sushi showed up in every small town); then he made all sorts of excuses to come to Chicago.

LOL - My (ex) sister-in-law in Milwaukee used to jokingly say I was a FIB (F'n Illinois Bastard) but at least I wasn't a FIBTAB (F'n Illinois Bastard Towing A Boat).

Eh, it's the Daily Mail, so who knows if this person even exists. But if she does, she puts butter into tea and coffee, so I think she may have bigger problems than mere geographic confusion.

Dave148 wrote:

Ban on Irish butter in Wisconsin sends shoppers across state lines

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

Odd. I coulda sworn I've occasionally seen Kerrygold on the shelves here in WI in the not too distant past.

Interestingly, as I was working on some recently purchased equipment at one of my employer's customers recently, there were Irish people on site inspecting the place to possibly take Irish butter shipped in bulk and have it wrapped & packaged domestically in consumer sizes. I'd thought maybe there were economic reasons for that, but based on that article I see it's a way around the Wisconsin grading problem.

BTW the same place is also planning on making specialty butter with 85% fat content, but that's gonna be in the future a bit. I'll report back when that comes to market.

Dave148 wrote:

Ban on Irish butter in Wisconsin sends shoppers across state lines

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

They could just buy Plugra instead. Arguably it's better than Kerrygold and it's made in the USA.

Wisconsinites will have access to Irish butter — thanks to a workaround of decades-old state law
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... story.html

stevez wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Ban on Irish butter in Wisconsin sends shoppers across state lines

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

They could just buy Plugra instead. Arguably it's better than Kerrygold and it's made in the USA.

I was thinking the same about Plugra or what's wrong with Organic Valley's cultured butter and it is a Wisco co-op.

I'll go one better. Churn your own butter. It's not that hard.

Dave148 wrote:Wisconsinites will have access to Irish butter — thanks to a workaround of decades-old state law
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... story.html

Yep, that's the butter facility I alluded to upthread.

This just in: TJ's French butter is as good as other French butter:

http://www.bonappetit.com/story/trader-joes-cultured-salted-butter?mbid=nl_001_04112017_Daily&CNDID=21587044&spMailingID=14766240&spUserID=MTcwODMxMzM5MjEzS0&spJobID=963319344&spReportId=OTYzMzE5MzQ0S0

Geo

current butter obsession: Buerre Des Aldudes: buerre extra-fin demi-sel au piment d' Esplette

lightly-salted lactic heaven with an agreeable finish and a timpani brush of fire at the back

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/dini ... .html?_r=0

and that form and color, lovely

'Tis the season... Is there anyone at the Easter table who doesn't look forward to decapitating the butter to begin the celebratory meal?



These little lambs are made on Chicago's South Side by Danish Maid / Clarendon Hills, the subject of the first post in this thread.