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Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment, and used as a Cooking fat in baking, sauce-making, pan frying, and other cooking procedures.
Most frequently made from cow's milk, butter can also be manufactured from the milk of other mammals, including Sheep milk, Goat milk, Buffalo milk, and Yak milk. It is made by churning milk or cream to separate the fat globules from the buttermilk. Dairy salt has been added to butter since antiquity to help preserve it, particularly when being transported; salt may still play a preservation role but is less important today as the entire supply chain is usually refrigerated. In modern times, salt may be added for tasteInstitute of Medicine. Committee on Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake (2025). 9780309148054, National Academies Press. . ISBN 9780309148054 and food coloring added for color. Rendering butter, removing the water and milk solids, produces clarified butter (including ghee), which is almost entirely butterfat.
Butter is a water-in-oil emulsion resulting from an inversion of the cream, where the milk proteins are the emulsifiers. Butter remains a firm solid when refrigerated but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature and melts to a thin liquid consistency at . The density of butter is . It generally has a pale yellow color but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. Its natural, unmodified color is dependent on the source animal's feed and genetics, but the commercial manufacturing process sometimes alters this with food colorings like annatto or carotene.
In 2022, world production of butter made from cow milk was 6 million , led by the United States with 13% of the total.
Churning produces small butter grains floating in the water-based portion of the cream. This watery liquid is called buttermilk, although the buttermilk most commonly sold today is instead directly fermented skimmed milk. The buttermilk is drained off; sometimes more buttermilk is removed by rinsing the grains with water. Then the grains are "worked": pressed and kneaded together. When prepared manually, this is done using wooden boards called scotch hands. This consolidates the butter into a solid mass and breaks up embedded pockets of buttermilk or water into tiny droplets.
Commercial butter is about 80% butterfat and 15% water; traditionally-made butter may have as little as 65% fat and 30% water. Butterfat is a mixture of triglyceride, a triester derived from glycerol, and three of any of several fatty acid groups.Rolf Jost "Milk and Dairy Products" Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2002. Annatto is sometimes added by U.S. butter manufacturers without declaring it on the label because the U.S. allows butter to have an undisclosed flavorless and natural coloring agent (whereas all other foods in the U.S. must label coloring agents).Butter: A Rich History. Elaine Khosrova. 2016. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Pages 123–124. ISBN 978-1-61620-739-7 (PB). The preservative lactic acid is sometimes added instead of salt (and as a flavor enhancer), and sometimes additional diacetyl is added to boost the buttery flavor (in the U.S., both ingredients can be listed simply as "natural flavors").Butter: A Rich History. Elaine Khosrova. 2016. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Page 125. ISBN 978-1-61620-739-7 (PB). When used together in the NIZO manufacturing method, these two flavorings produce the flavor of cultured butter without actually fully fermenting.Butter: A Rich History. Elaine Khosrova. 2016. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Page 129–30. ISBN 978-1-61620-739-7 (PB).
Butter made from fresh cream is called sweet cream butter. Production of sweet cream butter first became common in the 19th century, when the development of refrigeration and the mechanical milk separator made sweet cream butter faster and cheaper to produce at scale (sweet cream butter can be made in 6 hours, whereas cultured butter can take up to 72 hours to make).
Cultured butter is preferred throughout continental Europe, while sweet cream butter dominates in the United States and the United Kingdom. Chef Jansen Chan, the director of pastry operations at the International Culinary Center in Manhattan, says, "It's no secret that dairy in France and most of Europe is higher quality than most of the U.S." The combination of butter culturing, the 82% butterfat minimum (as opposed to the 80% minimum in the U.S.), and the fact that French butter is grass-fed, accounts for why French pastry (and French food in general) has a reputation for being richer-tasting and flakier. Cultured butter is sometimes labeled "European-style" butter in the United States, although cultured butter is made and sold by some, especially Amish, dairies.
Milk that is to be made into butter is usually pasteurized during production to kill bacteria and other . Butter made from unpasteurized raw milk is very rare and can be dangerous. Commercial raw milk products are not legal to sell through interstate commerce in the United States and are very rare in Europe. Raw cream butter is not usually available for purchase.
Ghee is clarified butter that has been heated to around 120 °C (250 °F) after the water evaporated, turning the milk solids brown. This process flavors the ghee, and also produces that help protect it from rancidity. Because of this, ghee can be kept for six to eight months under normal conditions.
In the Mediterranean climate, unclarified butter spoils quickly, unlike cheese, so it is not a practical method of preserving the nutrients of milk. The ancient Greeks and Romans seemed to use the butter only as unguent and medicine and considered it as a food of the . A play by the Greek comic poet Anaxandrides refers to Thracians as boutyrophagoi, "butter-eaters".Dalby p. 65. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder calls butter "the most delicate of food among barbarous nations" and goes on to describe its medicinal properties.Bostock and Riley translation. Book 28, chapter 35 . Later, the physician Galen also described butter as a medicinal agent only.Galen. de aliment. facult.
In antiquity, butter was used for fuel in lamps, as a substitute for oil. The Butter Tower of Rouen Cathedral was erected in the early 16th century when Archbishop Georges d'Amboise authorized the burning of butter during Lent, instead of oil, which was scarce at the time.
Across northern Europe, butter was sometimes packed into barrels () and buried in , perhaps for years. Such "bog butter" would develop a strong flavor as it aged, but remain edible, in large part because of the cool, airless, antiseptic and environment of a peat bog. Firkins of such buried butter are a common archaeological find in Ireland; the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology has some containing "a grayish cheese-like substance, partially hardened, not much like butter, and quite free from putrefaction." The practice was most common in Ireland in the 11th to 14th centuries; it had ended entirely before the 19th century.
Like Ireland, France became well known for its butter, particularly in Normandy and Brittany. Butter consumption in London in the mid-1840s was estimated at 15,357 tons annually. The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.III, London (1847) Charles Knight, p.975.
The first butter factories appeared in the United States in the early 1860s, after the successful introduction of cheese factories a decade earlier. In the late 1870s, the centrifuge cream separator was introduced, marketed most successfully by Swedish engineer Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval.Edwards, Everett E. "Europe's Contribution to the American Dairy Industry". The Journal of Economic History, Volume 9, 1949. 72–84.
In 1920, Otto Hunziker wrote The Butter Industry, Prepared for Factory, School and Laboratory; three editions were printed, in 1920, 1927, and 1940. As part of the efforts of the American Dairy Science Association, Hunziker and others published articles regarding: causes of tallowiness (an odor defect, distinct from rancidity, a taste defect); mottles (an aesthetic issue related to uneven color); introduced salts; the impact of creamery metals and liquids; and acidity measurement. These and other ADSA publications helped standardize practices internationally.
Butter consumption declined in most western nations during the 20th century, mainly because of the rising popularity of margarine, which is less expensive and, until recent years, was perceived as being healthier. In the United States, margarine consumption overtook butter during the 1950s,Web Exhibits: Butter. Eating less butter, and more fat . and it is still the case today that more margarine than butter is eaten in the U.S. and the EU.See for example this chart from International Margarine Association of the Countries of Europe statistics . Retrieved 4 December 2005.
Melted butter plays an important role in the preparation of , notably in French cuisine. Beurre noisette (hazelnut butter) and Beurre noir (black butter) are sauces of melted butter cooked until the milk solids and sugars have turned golden or dark brown; they are often finished with an addition of vinegar or lemon juice. Hollandaise and béarnaise sauces are of egg yolk and melted butter. Hollandaise and béarnaise sauces are stabilized with the powerful emulsifiers in the egg yolks, but butter itself contains enough emulsifiers—mostly remnants of the fat globule membranes—to form a stable emulsion on its own.
Beurre blanc (white butter) is made by whisking butter into reduced vinegar or wine, forming an emulsion with the texture of thick cream. Beurre monté (prepared butter) is melted but still emulsified butter; it lends its name to the practice of "mounting" a sauce with butter: whisking cold butter into any water-based sauce at the end of cooking, giving the sauce a thicker body and a glossy shine—as well as a buttery taste.
Butter is used for sautéing and frying, although its milk solids brown and burn above 150 °C (250 °F)—a rather low temperature for most applications. The smoke point of butterfat is around 200 °C (400 °F), so clarified butter or ghee is better suited to frying.
Butter fills several roles in baking, including making possible a range of textures, making chemical leavenings work better, tenderizing proteins, and enhancing the tastes of other ingredients. It is used in a similar manner to other solid fats like lard, suet, or shortening, but has a flavor that may better complement sweet baked goods.
are mixtures of butter and other ingredients used to flavor various dishes.
In a reference amount of , salted butter supplies 717 and 76% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin A, 15% DV for vitamin E, and 28% DV for sodium, with no other in significant content (table). In 100 grams, salted butter contains 215 mg of cholesterol (table).
As butter is essentially just the milk fat, it contains only traces of lactose, indicating that moderate consumption of butter is unlikely to cause symptoms for lactose intolerant people. People with milk allergies may still need to avoid butter, which contains enough of the allergy-causing proteins to cause reactions.Allergy Society of South Africa. Milk Allergy & Intolerance . Retrieved 27 November 2005.
A meta-analysis and systematic review published in 2016 found relatively small or insignificant overall associations of a dose of 14g/day of butter with mortality and cardiovascular disease, and consumption was insignificantly inversely associated with incidence of diabetes. The study states that "findings do not support a need for major emphasis in dietary guidelines on either increasing or decreasing butter consumption."
Industrialization
Until the 19th century, the vast majority of butter was made by hand, on farms, for farm family use or to sell. They used wood presses with carved decoration identifying the producer to press butter into pucks or small bricks to sell at nearby markets or general stores. This practice continued until production was mechanized and butter was produced in less decorative stick form.
+ Production of butter (cow milk) 933,830 459,180 459,000 412,730 314,202 299,400 247,230 5,982,453
Production
In 2022, world production of butter made from cow milk was 6 million , led by the United States with 13% of the total (table).
Storage
Normal butter softens to a spreadable consistency around 15 °C (60 °F), well above refrigerator temperatures. The "butter compartment" found in many refrigerators may be one of the warmer sections inside, but it still leaves butter quite hard. Until recently, many refrigerators sold in New Zealand featured a "butter conditioner", a compartment kept warmer than the rest of the refrigerator—but still cooler than room temperature—with a small heater. Bring back butter conditioners . Retrieved 27 November 2005. The feature has been phased out for energy conservation reasons. Keeping butter tightly wrapped delays rancidity, which is hastened by exposure to light or air, and also helps prevent it from picking up other odors. Wrapped butter has a shelf life of several months at refrigerator temperatures. How Long Does Butter Last? . Retrieved 03, October 2014. Butter can also be frozen to extend its storage life.
Packaging
In most countries butter is sold in packets by weight, often in and packages.
Bulk packaging
Since the 1940s, but more commonly the 1960s, butter pats have been individually wrapped and packed in cardboard boxes. Prior to use of cardboard, butter was bulk packed in wood. The earliest discoveries used firkins. From about 1882 wooden boxes were used, as the introduction of refrigeration on ships allowed longer transit times. Butter boxes were generally made with woods whose resin would not taint the butter, such as sycamore, kahikatea, hoop pine, maple, or spruce. They commonly weighed a firkin ().
United States
In the United States, butter has traditionally been made into small, rectangular blocks by means of a pair of wooden butter paddles. It is usually produced in sticks that are individually wrapped in waxed or foiled paper, and sold as a package of 4 sticks. This practice is believed to have originated in 1907, when Swift and Company began packaging butter in this manner for mass distribution.
Due to historical differences in butter printers (machines that cut and package butter), 4-ounce sticks are commonly produced in two different shapes:
In cooking and gastronomy
Butter has been considered indispensable in French cuisine since the 17th century.Jean-Robert Pitte, French Gastronomy: The History and Geography of a Passion, , p. 94 Chefs and cooks have extolled its importance: Fernand Point said "Donnez-moi du beurre, encore du beurre, toujours du beurre!" ('Give me butter, more butter, still more butter!').Robert Belleret, Paul Bocuse, l'épopée d'un chef, 2019, Julia Child said, "With enough butter, anything is good."Katie Armour, "Top 20 Julia Child Quotes", Matchbook, April 15, 2013
Nutrition
Butter (salted during manufacturing) is 16% water, 81% fat, and 1% protein, with negligible . Of the of total fat, saturated fat is 51 g, monounsaturated fat is 21 g, polyunsaturated fat is 3 g, trans fat is 3 g, and trans fat designated as "18:1 t" is 3 g, for a total of 81 g (source for table).
Health concerns
A 2015 study concluded that "cholesterol people should keep their consumption of butter to a minimum, whereas moderate butter intake may be considered part of the diet in the normocholesterolemic population."
See also
Further reading
Crawford, R. J. M. (1990). 9789251028995, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251028995 Full text online
(2025). 9781616203641, Algonquin Books. ISBN 9781616203641
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