Butter has become quite often counterfeited lately. Such a product can only be called creamy if there is a lot of optimism. Unscrupulous manufacturers add various extraneous additives to it in order to save on production.
Examining the packaging
It is possible to distinguish high-quality natural butter from margarine and a product with foreign additives without special chemical tests and at home. First, you need to carefully read the labels on the packaging of the product - if its fat content is more than 60%, butter really is. If the fat content is below the stated percentage, then you have purchased a spread or margarine.
A spread is a product based on vegetable and milk fats, which is a competitor to butter and does not contain cholesterol.
Also, special attention should be paid to the composition of the product - if it contains palm or peanut oil, then this is not butter. This product should contain only animal fats, not vegetable fats. The expiration date is also important here: if it is too long, the butter definitely contains preservatives, and vice versa, the shorter the expiration date, the less various chemicals and extraneous additives in the product.
We conduct a home experiment: we check the naturalness and quality
To determine the "authenticity" of butter, cut a slice from it and leave it for an hour at room temperature. The natural product will become soft, but will not spread on the plate, retaining its original shape. You can also pour boiling water over a piece of butter - it should quickly melt and spread over the water as oily yellowish islands or droplets.
The spread or margarine will continue to float in the boiling water, dividing into small pieces as you try to stir it.
In addition, you can put a piece of butter in the freezer for three to four hours, after which you need to try to cut it with a knife. A natural product without additives will crumble and break off in pieces. You can also determine the presence of chemistry using a hot frying pan - high-quality butter is melted evenly, without forming whitish foam and pools of water, which are usually characteristic of low-quality vegetable fats.
Good butter should be smooth and hard to the touch, and its smooth and shiny cut should not delaminate under the knife. The oil of a pleasant yellow color definitely contains chemical dyes, since a pure white color and an unobtrusive creamy smell are always inherent in a natural product. In addition, real butter has a delicate and mild taste without bitterness and other foreign impurities.
