I bought some Kerrygold butter this week, and when I compare the nutritional info to my regular store brand butter, there is no difference. I think Kerrygold does not use any artificial colors and has happier cows who eat only sustainable grass. That is laudable, but I am not sure what the difference is in taste and how it cooks.

I think Plugra has less water than US butter.

Sally - The 18% you're referring to is is not the percent fat in the butter, it's the percent of fat you're supposed to eat in a day. (Daily Value)

European Style butter tends to be a few percentage points higher in fat, but my understanding is that the major difference is butter here in the US is typically made from uncultured cream whereas in Europe the cream is cultured. The cultured cream is what gives it a better (IMO) taste.

I buy Plugra almost exclusively because I prefer the taste and get it for pretty much the same price as other national brands like LoL.

Kerrygold grass-fed butter is more nutritious - the gov just isn't including many important nutritional attributes in their labeling requirements. See this article about grass-fed dairy benefits:

Eat Wild - Super Natural

I guess I better eat more Kerrygold butter, since it's full of nutrition. ;)

dedtired, I agree, more butter is just what you need. (grin)

Actually, though, Gina is right, dairy from grass fed cattle is better, both nutritionally and in taste, IMO.

FOAS, here Plugra is over twice as expensive as LoL and maybe three times as expensive as the store brand, so I seldom buy it. The Kerrygold isn't available here at all, I have to drive to Grand Rapids to find that.

Annie

Yes, Plugra is twice as expensive as LoL and other national brands. I use it only as table butter, and use LoL for baking. I like the taste of Plugra better than Kerrygold.

Love to know where FOAS shops.

I gather that British and US butter is made from sweet cream and butter here has lactic acid added for keeping qualities and flavour. It shouldn't be more expensive, though.

I got the Kerrygold at Whole Foods. It was $2.55 for a HALF pound, but was on sale at that price. They also were giving out coupons, so I got it for about $2. I think LoL sells for about $4 a pound when it is not on sale here.

Pam, I bought a 1.5 pound package of Kerrygold at Costco yesterday for $6.79. So $4.53 a pound.
My usual butter is Giant brand, which I like better than Land o Lakes. It's on sale this week at 2/$5.

I paid $3.99 for the HEB/Central Market brand. I just went to check what the label said exactly, but unfortunately, I've already used it up and thrown away the box. I should have done a taste test! Kerrygold here is more expensive. I wonder if it's the same for FOAS because he lives where everything is expensive! lol

Sally

I use regular unsalted store brand butter for cooking, but will occasionally splurge on Plugra for things where you really taste the butter: on toast, potatoes, steamed veggies, etc.

One thing I immediately noticed about Kerrygold is that it was much saltier than the US butter I usually buy. My spouse likes salt so that was great, in his opinion!

Interestingly enough, he doesn't care for European butter in things like sauces (it's a big deal here for upscale restaurants to drown some dishes in melted butter sauce instead of making a real beurre blanc). Being Asian, he doesn't like cultured dairy products like sour cream or creme fraiche - it took decades before he would tolerate more than a thin schmear of cream cheese on a bagel with his lox, LOL. So the European butters taste a little "off" to his tastebuds.

I was just in the general direction anyway so I stopped to check butter prices at my supermarket. Indeed, Plugra is among the cheaper ones for me. All prices are per pound:

Breakstone - 3.79
Hotel Bar - 3.79
White Rose - 3.89
Plugra - 3.99
Land of Lakes - 4.59
Cabot - 4.99
Lurpak (Denmark) - 6.98
Eshire (Ireland) - 8.51
Smjor (Iceland) - 8.53
Cellos sur Bella (France) - 9.05
Kerrygold (Ireland) - 9.18
President (France) - 10.03

This post was edited by foodonastump on Tue, Dec 18, 12 at 12:13

I have found Plugra at Trader Joe's for around $3 a pound, but that was a while back. I haven't checked recently. FOAS's price for Lurpak is about what I paid in the Boston area (Russo's for Bay Staters). Lurpak makes wonderful shortbread, and is the only European-style butter I would pay extra for. Plugra is nice, but not that nice. Kerrygold is ho-hum. I would never pay $9 a pound for it. IIRC Whole Foods carries it.

Cheryl

Plugra is about $4.00/lb. here. I was using it a lot several years ago before we switched to organic butter. It makes wonderful wedding ball cookies, shortbread, and CCCs. Have never tried Kerrygold. I never switch around from one butter to another for baking because they are each a bit different and that itty-bitty difference does make a difference. I also used Plugra for butter sauces and it was very good.

/tricia

I get the Kerrygold at Costco as well. They sometimes have both salted and unsalted, and they have it in tubs or sticks. I buy whatever they have and it lasts a long time for me since I don't bake.

I just saw Kerrygold at my local Costco. Price was $6.75 (or so) for 24 oz. That's quite a bit lower than FOAS quotes.

Cheryl