butter

butterbutterbutter

BUTTER!!

oh wait what was the question?

I use Parkay and have for the 53 years I have been married. I guess Mother bought butter before margarine came out but I don't remember it. I do remember her getting margarine in a plastic bag and it was white, looked like crisco to me. There was a small capsule of coloring in it and it was my job to break it and knead the color into the margarine. Vique.
John 3:16

I buy Country Crock spread in the tub. Larry likes it. I also get the one with butter and canola but it's hard to find lately.

When I used to use margarine I used Country Crock soft spead and stick Blue Bonnet.

dishesdone, try a local Safeway if you have one (or one of their affiliates, such as Vons or Pavilions). I just saw the butter/canola combo at Vons.

We've been using Blue Bonnet - both regular and "Light".

DonnaR/CA

I use Becel olive oil margarine. I don't use it often, only in certain baked goods.

I keep Smart Balance and butter all the time. The SB is for my Dad who lives with us and whenever I don't want hard butter on a piece of toast.
It's not bad.

I also like Smart Balance. For me, it came to closest to butter in flavor.

Lars

Thanks, Donna! No Safeway in my area.

Coconut Oil is often used as a vegan substitute for butter or other dairy (margarine) spreads, and a fat I use instead of shortening. It works just fine as a bread spread instead of butter or margarine.

FYI - Most people who are lactose intolerant can consume butter (in moderation) because it has very little lactose in it. The higher the fat content of a dairy product, the lower the amount of lactose. Butter has 0.8%-1.0% lactose while margarine has 0%-1.0%. So margarine can have just as much lactose in it from milk solids as butter has.

-Grainlady

I use Becel but I don't think it is available in the US of A. Honestly it tastes very good, not quite butter but not at all like like that oleo stuff that you normally get.

All I know is the cardiologist that I entrust with my life say no butter and no trans fat laden margarine.

If I trust him with my meds and with my tests and with my angioplasty then I have to trust him on the issue of butter and other fats. I do cheat sometimes....

My mother is quite fond of Smart balance, but it doesn't taste quite right to me.

I always get Imperial, but I couldn't say there's anything special about it. It just tastes normal to me. But it's probably just because it's what we've always had.

Vique, I remember my dad telling me about those little capsules of coloring in the maegarine. He used ot think that was so much fun!

Butter....or olive oil....
I am trying not to open that bottle of meyer lemon oil....at least not right now!
Linda C

My nephew has a severe milk allergy so when I bake for him, I have to make sure I use something completely dairy free. Lately I've been using Soy Garden by Earth Balance from Trader Joe's and it's worked just fine. In the past I've used Fleishmann's Lactose free, but I'm not sure if they still make that or not.

Tracey

Jess, I use the same tub ones from TJ's --they have no dairy whatsoever, but for baking I've always liked Fleishman's unsalted. Fleishman's has a lactose free? That's good news to me!

Oh dear, I really like butter the best. However, to get the texture right on my chocolate chip cookies I require half butter and half Blue Bonnet or Imperial stick margarine. Not that I care, I don't really like chocolate chip cookies but Ashley loves 'em.

For bread, if I can't have butter I'll use olive oil which is preferable to me. I just don't like margarine.

I've tried the Brummel and Brown, Fleischman's, Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. I've tried the whipped butter and the stuff in a tub and the stick. I don't like any of them.

So, I use just jam on toast or peanut butter, no butter. I put maple syrup on pancakes, no butter. I spray my skillet with PAM when I'm making an egg, then add a drop of water and put the lid on so the egg "bastes". I use olive oil on bread.

Sigh. I really like butter, but I'd rather have nothing at all than have margarine.

Annie

Butter for me, most of the time, and Smart Balance for hubby... I like the Smart Balance because, to me, it has the taste and texture of real butter... Straight from the refrigerator it's hard like butter, you can cook with it and it's lower in saturated fats than butter... But it has whey in it, not sure if that would break Kosher rules or not.

Rita

Can't Believe It's not Butter, Lite -

Fleishman's salted sticks. I grew up using/eating it, so it's the taste I'm used to and want with certain things (potatoes, toast, toasted bagels, some vegetables,...). We keep both butter and margarine in the house (only unsalted butter; Plugra and occasionally Land O' Lakes).

Sharoncb pointed out something interesting on the other butter/marg thread.

Evidently the product known as Becel here in Canada is called Promise in the States. If anyone is looking for a butter substitute this product is very good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Promise Butery Spreads

That is good to know about Promise. I will try it next time.

I go between Smart Balance Light and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light.

Jessy,
In these here parts, I can only find one non-dairy margarine, and that is Fleishman's. All the other margarines have some dairy in them. Do you have access to other brands?

The problem is that most of the margarines have some milk products in so they don't work for kosher purposes. I haven't found any parve (no dairy or meat products) margarine that tastes like butter or has much flavor. None of them is a satisfactory bread spread IMO; I'd rather have the bread without a spread or substitute something totally different like olive oil, hummus, horseradish, etc.

When I need to use non-dairy, if possible I use olive oil or vegetable oil rather than margarine, but for baking sometimes I'll use a parve margarine to replace butter to produce the right texture.

Grainlady, coconut oil sounds interesting - where do you find it? I don't recall seeing it at my usual grocery.

cloud swift - Most health food stores carry it, just make sure it's NOT for skin/hair application only. There are brands that have no taste, and others that have a very mild coconut flavor. I keep both on hand. Make sure it's NON-Hydrogenated. There are 0g trans fat.

I get LouAna brand coconut oil at Wal-Mart (next to the Crisco). It has no flavor and works well for all uses. It's solid, more or less like shortening when the room temperature is cold and will become liquid at 77°F. So during the year it will go from solid to soft, to semi-liquid depending on how warm your kitchen gets.

Other brands:
Omega Nutrition Coconut Oil (no coconut flavor)
Tropical Traditions (coconut flavor)
Nutiva (coconut flavor)
Coconut Oil Supreme (coconut flavor)

I've used all these brands at one time or another.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: A New Look at Coconut Oil

(I'm reading, I'm reading, I'm just running ragged for a bit, I promise to come back and thank and ask more question!)

Found this information on the Promise web site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Is Promise Kosher

Sorry go to question 17 second page of FAQ's. (click on "click" at the bottom of the page)

Bottom line Promise Buttery Spreads and tubs are Kosher but not their Lite Product.

Because of a cholesterol problem, I searched the entire dairy shelf for a margarine without hydrogenated oils, coconut oil or palm oil, but found nothing.

fast check in

doesn't necessarily have to be kosher, just dairy free

looking more for sticks/bars for baking (can't use olive oil for that....)

pink warm momma we should start a thread on coconut and palm oils because i'm finding them in the health food stores - aparently they are not the big bad boogie mosnters. its the transfats and hydrogenated. still hard for me to consider the real unadulteraated stuff

running off and getting ready for college night

College night? Oy, they grow up too fast.

Oh, yeah, sorry, butter for me, but Dad likes the ICBINB stuff. Yuck.

Just checked to make sure. I am using Promise Activ and I don't think it tastes too bad.I was using Take Control but it was more expensive and the ingredients were much the same.
Lois

Hi Jessy - I keep Smart Balance and unsalted butter in the fridge. We buy Smart Balance by the tub at Costco.

I know most people here use butter when they bake but.... I make some of the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet and I always use Land O Lakes margarine. It is a little more expensive but worth it. The flavor, texture and appearance of my cookies are close to perfect.

For things like toast we use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (DH has high cholesterol and we don't need the calories).

PS: I use the Betty Crocker recipe that calls for only one egg (not two) and no electric mixer! Much better texture if you mix by hand.

A lot of margarines are Kosher but dairy. Does anyone know if Promise has dairy ingredients? I didn't see an ingredient list on the website.

Cloud, here are the ingredients in Becel. Taken right off the side of the container. From what was mentioned above it is the same as Promise.

Canola and Sunflower oils 74%, water, modified palm and palm kernel oils 6%, salt 1.8%, whey powder 1.4% soy lecithin 0.2% vegetable monoglycerides, potassium sorbate, vegetable colour, artificial flavour, citric acide, vitiamin A palmiate, vitamin d3, alpha-tocopherol acetate.