I never realized how much I like Kerrygold butter

(Brian) #1

I have been buying Kerrygold butter for several months now. I like it. Normally, there is several pounds of it in the refrigerator and a stick of it in a butter dish that’s out on the kitchen counter. It’s a nice soft consistency at room temperature, good for spreading on stuff and good flavor.

A few weeks ago, the place where I usually get it only had two packages of it on the shelf, both of which were badly damaged, and I needed butter. I was not going to buy them with actual butter open to the air. Nope. And they’re the only store in town that sells it. So, I made the decision to buy some of the organic stuff I bought before I knew about Kerrygold.

DANG!! I never realized how much of a difference there was. The old stuff, despite being “organic”, was non-flavorful (hard to describe). It was also much stiffer at the same room temperature than the Kerrygold which was much more spreadable, quite noticeably so.

The flavor I get. But the difference in how spreadable it was at room temperature, that was a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting that. Any idea why that would be? I don’t have the package anymore to look but I am pretty sure it was 100% butter.

New one
(Vladaar Malane) #2

Yes, my wife bought the expensive version that was grass fed butter from Costco, before we knew about the cheaper grassfed Aldi version. I love the taste of it in my fried eggs. Not of course that you need grassfed, but it does taste better.

(CharleyD) #3

Hopefully it’s the ratio of Omega3:Omega6 is closer to 1:1 with the Kerrygold?

#4

IRISH COWS - the rainbows in Ireland are powerful!

…Despite so much cultural genocide, and the deforestation of the island by various empires, the grassfed Irish dairy community has a lot of heart in it.

Here’s a pic of a Belted Galloway - they’re a heritage breed that originated on the west side of southern Scotland but do well in Ireland. (This one’s a bull, but his Ma is a cow, haha).

bessie%20rainbow
bessie rainbow.jpg1200×900 246 KB

#5

And here’s some heifers :sparkling_heart:

Have a good friend from a dairy family in Cork (near the county Kerry border) - and their milk goes into Kerrygold, which gladdens my heart here in the U.S. where I amazingly am able to buy it at Trader Joe’s and Costco.

Irish%20grassfed%20heifers
Irish grassfed heifers.jpg1946×1460 1.06 MB

#6

I don’t really get what the hype is about this butter. I’ve done side by side taste tests with kerrygold and regular butter and it tastes the same, looks the same, incorporates into food the same. The only thing that isn’t the same is the price tag. Also, using either kind of butter has no impact on ability to be in ketosis or lose weight.

(Karen) #7

Sorry, not drinking the Kerry Gold kool-aid. I don’t like the greasy texture at room Temp. Disappointed at the flavor.

(Vladaar Malane) #8

I can taste a difference myself. Your getting grass fed butter, instead of corn fed butter. Which is the main reason most prefer it. If you can’t tell by taste, at least you know your not getting corn. What cows eat, you eat if your eating butter.

#9

I don’t think any of that really makes a substantial difference to be honest. You’re going to be healthy following keto and eating any brand of butter.

(Sophie) #10

I’ve been to the UK/Europe five times and I can say without a doubt that KerryGold is the closest thing to European quality that I can find stateside, aside from making my own butter, which I also have done due to disappointment in the quality of Amer. products. I’ve been buying KerryGold for 7+ yrs now. American, over processed butter is a sad excuse and doesn’t hold a candle to it. No how, no way. It’s totally lacking quality. KG is worth every penny to us. Just buy it on sale and freeze that shitso you always have a relatively cheap source on hand. And I used to think Land 'O Lakes was da Bomb! ROFL :laughing:

(Brian) #11

It’s interesting, some love it, some don’t. No worries. But I really do taste the difference and like it. I’d not really noticed the difference until comparing side by side.

I’ve never been to Ireland through I might like to visit someday. My great grandparents were Irish, of the McClune family. :slight_smile:

(Rob) #12

I don’t know what it is about US butter that makes it less pleasant than Kerrygold. It seems to have the same fat content and salt content and no other ingredients.
I was brought up in the UK where ironically Kerrygold was and still is fairly cheap, standard butter, slightly above Anchor (cheap New Zealand export brand) but way below Lurpak (Danish) and fancier continental brands. Of course when I was a kid we ate margarine (Flora) as the healthy choice so any butter was awesome!
My preference for Kerrygold here in the US could come from the ‘taste of home’ but with so many US ‘natives’ preferring it too I can’t explain it. I’ve tried fancier US brands and they don’t unseat KG as the champ. A lot of US butter says ‘Sweet Cream’ on them… I don’t know what that means but is that a difference or is that just the US term for standard milk cream? Does it come down to churning, trace additives, etc. Who knows… someone, anyone?:grin:

(Brian) #13

Sweet cream is just cream that hasn’t been soured or cultured.

(Rob) #14

Makes sense… so it’s not that then :thinking:

#15

Costco (or perhaps its predecessor, Price Club) years ago used to sell ‘Swiss butter’ as it’s generic brand, and it too was very good. I can really tell the taste difference between grass-fed and corn fed butter, and to my taste buds, it’s profound.

KerryGold is expensive here, and I have come to use it only when it’s eaten ‘raw’. I use the much less expensive butter when cooking and the taste would be hidden.

In addition, grass-fed contains Vit K2 that ‘ordinary’ butter does not (or has far less of). Since KerryGold in winter says they feed their cows some silage, many people who want to keep their uptake of K2 up, will buy lots of KG butter in the Summer and freeze it. Spring/Summer naturally fed grass is better in that respect.

(Brian) #16

It’s very possible that this is what my taste buds are catching.

Interestingly, in my current location, Kerrygold isn’t really that much more expensive than any other butter on the shelf. I don’t know if other butters are just more expensive or whether it’s because Walmart is the only local store that has KG. The organic butter I got when the KG was sold out actually was more expensive than KG. The non-organic stuff was only a few cents less.

It’s strange how prices can vary. I use SaltLite. And I’ve noticed that it’s getting a little low in the container. I figured it was no emergency but maybe I’d put some in the cart with Amazon Prime. And then I saw the price. It’s like $11 for the same 11 oz container that Walmart lists on it’s website as being $1.98. OUCH!!! I won’t be ordering it from Amazon. Exact same product.

The KG comes in an 8 oz package here, for $2.xx, can’t remember the exact price. I haven’t seen it on sale yet but will have to watch for that, especially come spring. I wonder how long the supply lines are that get it here? Will have to go look at the dates on the packages that I have.

#17

I’ve only seen it on sale once, sometime in the fall or early winter of 2016. That was in Costco, and they sell 3 large ‘cube’ boxes, salted only. When they had it on sale (a very good sale), I purchased 10 of those boxes and froze them. It took months to use. (It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it, lol)

As for how long the supply lines are, I’d like to know that too since the Vit K2 is important to me. I figured butter purchased in summer or fall would have a good chance of having been produced in spring or summer on fresh grass. Just a total guess however.

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #18

image
image.jpg3024×4032 1.82 MB

I find that this is closer to the butter of Italy or France, but I’m gonna get some K-gold to do a side by side.

If I want something really nice, it’s Plugra.

#19

I used Aldi butter because of price, and then I got Kerrygold. There is absolutely a taste difference. Kerrygold tastes clean and fresh on the palate, the Aldi butter was bland and fatty in taste. Hubby also got some salted President, same price as Kerrygold, and it tasted like dull cream cheese. I guess if you’re taste buds are whacked you’re lucky because you can eat anything, but there is a definite difference in Kerrygold, and not just the price.

(Roy D) #20

Kerrygold is pretty widespread in my area, most supermarkets carry the brand. No need to purchase in a “natural” grocery store (at the higher prices).

I’ve found Kerrygold at both Walmart and Costco.

The local Costco only carries the salted version.

One local Walmart carries both salted and unsalted. Another local Walmart only carries the salted version. I also noticed that the local Walmarts are starting to carry Kerrygold not only in stick form, but also in a small tub.

Sometimes I find Kerrygold with 4 oz sticks (typically 2 sticks to a package), while at other locations I can only find the 8 oz “blocks” (cut the block in half to get a 4 oz stick).