Real butter (not margarine) is essentially made from milk fat. To make butter, the water found in milk is removed through heat.
When more water is removed through the heating process, the natural color of butter becomes darker: from white to ivory then pale yellow.
While butter’s natural color is yellow, the intensity and brightness of the yellow depends on the origin of the milk.
The natural yellow found in butter comes from carotene, an orange photosynthetic pigments that are naturally present in the plant matter eaten by ruminants.
The ruminants’ diets include: grass, hay, silage, seeds, and cereals.
When carotene enters the digestive system, it is transformed into Vitamin A.
Also read: Why is Milk White? (SIMPLIFIED)
Why is Summer Butter Darker than the Rest of the Year?
The color of butter depends on what cows eat.
Butter made in summer is darker because ruminants’ grass diet is high in carotene and chlorophyll.
To conserve the same color year-round, carotene or another natural pigment is often added to butter to give it that beautiful vivid yellow color.
On the packaging label (nutrition list), these added pigments appear as colorants.
The Best Organic Real Butter (OUR FAVORITES)
Below are the 2 of the best organic real butter that we enjoy spreading on our complex carbohydrates:
4th & Heart Original Grass-Fed Ghee
- UPGRADE ANY RECIPE: Replace your current butter, olive oil, coconut oil or other cooking oil 1:1 with ghee.
- DIET FRIENDLY: Great addition to any diet – Certified Keto, Paleo, Gluten Free, Ayurvedic, Whole 30, and FODMAP friendly.
- WE SOURCE THE BEST: Our lactose-free ghee comes from grass-fed, pasture-raised, antibiotic and hormone free New Zealand cows.
- NO SHORTCUTS: Our ghee is made the old-fashioned way and spreadable at room temperature. No refrigeration required.
- HELPFUL NOTE: Ghee may liquefy during shipping, but will re-solidify within a few hours of refrigeration, or overnight at room temperature.
Allgau Grassfed German Butter
- ONE 8.8 OZ. STICK OF GERMAN BUTTER
- ONE 8.8 OZ. STICK OF GERMAN BUTTER
- ONE 8.8 OZ. STICK OF GERMAN BUTTER
- ONE 8.8 OZ. STICK OF GERMAN BUTTER
- ONE 8.8 OZ. STICK OF GERMAN BUTTER
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- What is ‘Fake’ Synthetic Cheese Made Of?
- Can I Eat the Rind on Cheese?
- The History of Cheese 101 (TIMELINE AND FACTS)
- 35 Words Every Cheese Lover Should Know (TERMS)
Last update on 2022-09-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API