Artisan and imported butter are appearing in stores around town — at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati, they have a whole dairy kiosk devoted to butters of the world.
The pricing varies widely, so Ivy Tech Community College baking students did a little side by side tasting to find out what difference there is between Prairie Farms and Plugrá.
All butter must be made entirely from milk or cream and contain 80 percent milk fat by weight. Of the remaining 20 percent, 15 percent is usually water and 5 percent is usually milk solids. Depending on the milk itself and the churning methods, the fat content can reach as high as 84 percent.
Of course, just as with cheese, wine, and any other agricultural product, terrior is all-important. Everything that goes on in the cow's daily life — what they're eating (the nutritional and mineral components of the plants they eat reflect the sunlight, temperature, soil type, elevation, rainfall, etc. of the area), what they are drinking, their level of activity and general health affects the taste and composition of their milk.
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