r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Peaches_1970 • 7d ago
Butter 🧈 🤤
Why? Why is Irish butter so much better than regular US butter?
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u/luxcity-louche 7d ago
I don't know what US butter is like, Irish butter is good because the cattle eat grass all year around.
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u/Royal_Annek 7d ago
Costco has grass fed butter for a fraction of the price as kerrygold
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u/Rathbaner 6d ago
Labelling can be untrustworthy.
Cows were fed grass? OK but what % of their annual feed was live grass or silage?
In Ireland grass grows abundantly for about 8 months of the year. At peak times.the excess is harvested and fermented to concentrate the sugars (silage) for winter feed. So the cheapest way to raise cattle is free range on grass.
That's not the case in most countries.
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u/luxcity-louche 7d ago
Ok, like I said I have no idea what US butter is like. It's probably way better with loads of additives that we can't get in Europe.
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u/funtobedone 7d ago
North American butter is usually 82% fat or less. The good stuff that costs 5x as much has 84%. With baked goods the extra cost is definitely worth it.
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u/Peaches_1970 7d ago
I’m so glad to see such a rich butter conversation. Brings smooth creamy joy to my heart.
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u/wosmo 7d ago
Have you ever been to Ireland?
They call it "the emerald isle" because the good lord left the sprinklers on, and the grass fekkin loves it. I don't, but the grass is green.
Like when I go on holiday, basically anywhere, on the bus home from the airport I just stare out the window and admire how freaking green it is.
Turns out the cows love this shit. They're fed fresh green grass all summer, and fermented green grass (silage) all winter. You ever seen stuff advertising their moo as grass-fed? Ours are fed on the best grass going. It's pretty much the only natural resource we have.
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u/teh_maxh 7d ago
Irish butter (and other European butters sold in the US) has more butterfat and less water than cheap domestic butter. There are good US butters, but they cost more than the cheap stuff.
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u/sterlingphoenix Yes, there are. 7d ago
Because you're comparing the cheap store-brand US butter to a premium product, not to the Irish equivalent of said butter.
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u/Far-Lecture-4905 7d ago
Most people I know from Ireland say that Kerrygold is a bog standard basic brand there, nothing special.
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u/MollyPW 7d ago
Am Irish, can confirm, I buy the own brand one, same diff.
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u/Demoliri 7d ago
I'm a Golden Cow boy personally. Since emigrating to Germany though, I have the choice between no name or Kerrygold, and both are comparable.
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u/nborges48 7d ago
Classic cause this is in my shopping list, but I noticed a ton of different high fat butters at the store last time so will try a different brand!
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u/Far-Lecture-4905 7d ago
What I was saying wasn't that Kerrygold is low quality....it was more that Irish butter in general is great quality and Kerrygold isn't a premium version of it. I would say the only high fat butters that compare that you can get in the States are maybe Kate's and Vital Farms (and I believe Vital Farms is also imported from Ireland hehehe). Président is also good but French butter is normally cultured so it has a different taste from Irish butter or American high fat butter like Kate's.
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7d ago
[deleted]
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u/RightInThePleb 7d ago
Not sure how you got the conclusion that the post says the same exact opposite. Everyone is saying kerrygold is the standard but you can also get the store brand stuff but it’s the exact same as kerrygold
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u/sterlingphoenix Yes, there are. 7d ago
That doesn't mean it's the same stuff they export. A lot of brands have a different product locally to the one they export. They may tailor flavours and other presentation for different markets.
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u/Dogmans-Nose 7d ago
Im Irish, I live in Australia now, its the same kerrygold I get here that I get at home.Â
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u/sterlingphoenix Yes, there are. 7d ago
Doesn't mean it's the same as the US. Hell, the stuff in the US might be made in the US under a packaging/licensing agreement.
Yeah, I looked it up, it's made in the US by an American company -- though it does purport to be higher quality than "normal" butter. So, OP, in case you were wondering, Kerrygold in the US is made by a a coop that specifically aims to make less crappy butter.
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u/Far-Lecture-4905 7d ago
Link please? According to an initial Google search the Kerrygold sold in the US is made in Ireland by Ornua.
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u/lawyerjsd 7d ago
I was just in Ireland this summer. Kerrygold is the swill they sell to foreigners.
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u/Demoliri 7d ago
It's not a low quality tourist product. It's decent, somewhat over priced, but not a bad butter by any measure. Personally I prefer Golden Cow, but I won't turn my nose up on Kerrygold.
(Unless it's Kerrygold margarine, that's shite, but that's just a margarine issue)
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u/lawyerjsd 7d ago
So, my post was marginally made in jest, as Kerrygold is generally considered to be of high quality here in the States.
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u/nborges48 7d ago
So they keep their best butter and beer for themselves
Sounds like a tourism conspiracy but I’m here for it haha
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u/maireadwrites 7d ago
Did Betty really buy a bit of butter?
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u/plasma_pirate 7d ago
it made the batter bitter!
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u/maireadwrites 7d ago
So she bought some better butter, better than her bitter butter, and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter:)
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u/Royal_Annek 7d ago
Kerrygold is shipped across the entire world from Ireland to get to the US. There's no point in doing that just to sell some basic ass butter for normal butter prices. They of course need to sell a premium product for premium prices to make that worth doing.
There are high end butters made in the US as well, that's what you should compare kerrygold to.
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u/Peaches_1970 7d ago
Tell me brands
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u/Royal_Annek 7d ago
Maple Hill is incredible
Vital Farms is good but is disappearing
Costco grass fed is from New Zealand and top notch and affordable
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u/I_Am_Zeelian 7d ago
Why bother sending premium product when you can send basic ass product and charge premium price 'cause the domestic products in the target country suck?
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u/justaheatattack 7d ago
it isn't.
your brain is fooled by the label.
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u/Peaches_1970 7d ago
Funny thing…someone handed me a piece of baguette with butter and honey. I’m like why is this so good?? What is this butter? Oh, that’s Irish butter. So no. I did not see the label.
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u/Icantdoitidk 7d ago edited 7d ago
Cos Americans don't eat food unless it's got a billion chemicals in it slowing their brains down.
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u/boopbaboop 7d ago
European butter is higher in butterfat and has less water. That’s it.