# What to do with 5 pounds of Amish butter



## medtran49 (Sep 29, 2013)

Went shopping yesterday and the market had gotten in a shipment of 5 pound logs of Amish butter for $6.  Very creamy and rich tasting.  What to make, what to make?


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## Hoot (Sep 29, 2013)

That is a mighty good price.
For starters.....biscuits!


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## GotGarlic (Sep 29, 2013)

Mmmmm, butter. Pound cake. Baklava. Fresh homemade artisan bread. Shortbread cookies. Butter cookies.


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## pacanis (Sep 29, 2013)

Lobster! A lot!


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## CraigC (Sep 29, 2013)

pacanis said:


> Lobster! A lot!


 
Funny you should mention that as the lobsters were back on sale as well!


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## Oldvine (Sep 29, 2013)

Any and everything that requires lots of butter, freeze some for a later holiday treat.


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## CatPat (Sep 29, 2013)

You can find a very nice London Broil and as you are broiling this in the oven, brush with a mixtures of butter, cracked black pepper, and minced garlic or garlic powder. Mamma and DA do this to steaks also, under the broiler.

Your friend,
~Cat


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## taxlady (Sep 29, 2013)

Is it salted or unsalted butter?

I don't know how fast you guys use butter, but at my house, I would chunk it, by eye, into pounds and then into quarter pounds and freeze it. I would leave one pound in the fridge. Did you know that unsalted butter lasts longer in the freezer than salted butter. I think it's because salt lowers the freezing point of water.


Compound butters
Banana bread
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f40/pear-tarte-77329.html#post1096293 or just the crust or with apples (that was really good)
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f41/quick-chocolate-cake-tnt-68163.html#post935807


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## joesfolk (Sep 29, 2013)

Man at that price I would have bought thirty pounds!  Divide and freeze.   I would start with shortbread cookies ans maybe some herb butter's.  Lucky lucky you!


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## Mad Cook (Sep 30, 2013)

taxlady said:


> Is it salted or unsalted butter?
> 
> I don't know how fast you guys use butter, but at my house, I would chunk it, by eye, into pounds and then into quarter pounds and freeze it. I would leave one pound in the fridge. Did you know that unsalted butter lasts longer in the freezer than salted butter. I think it's because salt lowers the freezing point of water.
> 
> ...


 
Salt was originally added to butter to give it a longer shelf life.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 30, 2013)

medtran49 said:


> Went shopping yesterday and the market had gotten in a shipment of 5 pound logs of Amish butter for $6. Very creamy and rich tasting. What to make, what to make?


Spread thickly on slabs of fresh homemade bread. On hot toast. 

Just idle curiosity - how is Amish butter different to anyone else's butter? (I know who the Amish are.)


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## taxlady (Sep 30, 2013)

Mad Cook said:


> Salt was originally added to butter to give it a longer shelf life.


A friend once told me that they only used unsalted butter at home. This was because they had noticed that salted butter didn't go off as fast, so he knew there were preservatives in the salted butter. Well, yeah, it's called salt.


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## CharlieD (Sep 30, 2013)

Of course freeze it. It will stay fresh and good in freezer for a long time.


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## pacanis (Sep 30, 2013)

Mad Cook said:


> Spread thickly on slabs of fresh homemade bread. On hot toast.
> 
> Just idle curiosity - how is Amish butter different to anyone else's butter? (I know who the Amish are.)


 
It was made from mistreated farm animals and churned by children not allowed to speak.


Over here there is *something* about having the Amish name attached to things. I haven't quite figured it out myself, but when I see two brands of blue cheese in the counter and one says "Amish" on it, it's the one that goes in my cart  
Pennsylvania Dutch is another one. I doubt those egg noodles I like have any real attachment to the PA Dutch, but I like 'em!


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## joesfolk (Sep 30, 2013)

Amish folk are known to be hard working simple living upright people.  Amish cooking is hardy and delishious.  So anything associated with the Amish is generally considered to be of high quality.


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## jennyema (Sep 30, 2013)

taxlady said:


> Is it salted or unsalted butter?
> 
> 
> Did you know that unsalted butter lasts longer in the freezer than salted butter. I think it's because salt lowers the freezing point




Sorry but that doesn't make sense to me.

Both salted and unsalted butter freezes within hours in a modern freezer.

Salt doesn't inhibit the protective effect of being frozen.


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## jennyema (Sep 30, 2013)

pacanis said:


> It was made from mistreated farm animals and churned by children not allowed to speak.
> 
> 
> Over here there is *something* about having the Amish name attached to things. I haven't quite figured it out myself, but when I see two brands of blue cheese in the counter and one says "Amish" on it, it's the one that goes in my cart
> Pennsylvania Dutch is another one. I doubt those egg noodles I like have any real attachment to the PA Dutch, but I like 'em!



Maytag Blue one of my favorites comes from the heart of Amish Iowa but I don't think the maker is Amish.


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## taxlady (Sep 30, 2013)

jennyema said:


> Sorry but that doesn't make sense to me.
> 
> Both salted and unsalted butter freezes within hours in a modern freezer.
> 
> Salt doesn't inhibit the protective effect of being frozen.


Are you sure? I got the info from _Joy of Cooking.

_I'll ask my sister. She's a chemical engineer who specialized in food.


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## Addie (Oct 1, 2013)

Mad Cook said:


> Spread thickly on slabs of fresh homemade bread. On hot toast.
> 
> Just idle curiosity - how is Amish butter different to anyone else's butter? (I know who the Amish are.)



The Amish do not treat their cows with hormones. And they are fed mostly grass, not chemically treated hay. So it makes their butter purer in the real sense. They do adhere to the laws of their State as to what the cows must be tested for before it can be sold to the public. Such as TB. And the milk or cream must be pasteurized also. But it is not ultra pasteurized. Ultra pasteurized is when it is pasteurized twice. I have no idea why, but it certainly kills the flavor of the product. Restaurants here do not use the ultra products. And you can really taste the difference.


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## jennyema (Oct 1, 2013)

taxlady said:


> Are you sure? I got the info from _Joy of Cooking.
> 
> _I'll ask my sister. She's a chemical engineer who specialized in food.



No.  I'm not sure.  It just doesn't make any sense logically to me.

Once butter is frozen, it's preserved.  Done.

Both salted and unsalted butter freeze quite quickly in a modern freezer.

I can't imagine that unsalted keeps better in the *freezer*.  

In the fridge or on the counter the salt matters more.

I wouldn't trust JoC for food science, so lets hope your sister can weigh in.  If I have time later ill do some research


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## Andy M. (Oct 1, 2013)

Salt does lower the freezing point of water so it remains liquid at 32ºF rather than ice.  That's why we salt our roads when it snows.  Salted foods may not get frozen hard at 32ºF but will still be preserved.

However, once a food is chilled to a certain temperature, the bacterial activity that causes spoilage has been stopped and will remain stopped until the food temp is raised to a higher temperature.  

I keep pounds of both salted and unsalted butters in my freezer and never noticed a difference in freshness after prolonged storage.


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## taxlady (Oct 1, 2013)

jennyema said:


> No.  I'm not sure.  It just doesn't make any sense logically to me.
> 
> Once butter is frozen, it's preserved.  Done.
> 
> ...


_JoC_ was referring to periods of over six months. When I first read it, I thought it sounded so weird that I thought about it a lot. All the bits of food science I have read in _JoC_ that I have bothered to check on have been correct.



Andy M. said:


> Salt does lower the freezing point of water so it remains liquid at 32ºF rather than ice.  That's why we salt our roads when it snows.  Salted foods may not get frozen hard at 32ºF but will still be preserved.
> 
> However, once a food is chilled to a certain temperature, the bacterial activity that causes spoilage has been stopped and will remain stopped until the food temp is raised to a higher temperature.
> 
> I keep pounds of both salted and unsalted butters in my freezer and never noticed a difference in freshness after prolonged storage.



You make good points Andy. And if we are talking about a deep freezer with a temperature of 0 F (-18 C) water will freeze, whether there is salt in it or not.


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## Steve Kroll (Oct 1, 2013)

medtran49 said:


> Went shopping yesterday and the market had gotten in a shipment of 5 pound logs of Amish butter for $6.  Very creamy and rich tasting.  What to make, what to make?


Are you certain the butter is actually made by the Amish? I wouldn't be so sure. Take a look at this:

Amish Butter: Really?

I've also seen "Amish Country"  or "Amish Style" on packaging here, but that doesn't carry any weight since there is no government standard that defines specific requirements for including the word "Amish" on the label. It might mean nothing more than the product was rolled into a log shape.


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## jennyema (Oct 1, 2013)

taxlady said:


> _JoC_ was referring to periods of over six months. When I first read it, I thought it sounded so weird that I thought about it a lot. All the bits of food science I have read in _JoC_ that I have bothered to check on have been correct.
> 
> 
> 
> You make good points Andy. And if we are talking about a deep freezer with a temperature of 0 F (-18 C) water will freeze, whether there is salt in it or not.


 
Andy made my point much better that I did!


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## Andy M. (Oct 1, 2013)

taxlady said:


> ...You make good points Andy. And if we are talking about a deep freezer with a temperature of 0 F (-18 C) water will freeze, whether there is salt in it or not.



Water will freeze @ 32ºF where salted water won't.  At 0ºF salted water will also freeze depending on the salt concentration.  BUT, whether or not the salted water is solid ice, slush or liquid, it's still at 0ºF so it is preserved and will not spoil.  Freezing isn't required for preservation, low temperature is.


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## Cooking Goddess (Oct 2, 2013)

Scones.  As a bonus...THEY freeze well!  If you are so inclined you can also use it to bake a butter crust pie.  Crud, now I want pie...


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## mysterychef (Oct 2, 2013)

How about some different  compound butters with garlic or any fresh or dried herbs?


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## sparrowgrass (Oct 2, 2013)

Addie, I am in cow country out here in MO, and I never heard of chemically treated hay.  Almost all pasture raised cattle eat hay in the winter, because grass doesn't grow when it is cold outside.

Hay is just dried grass, the same grass that the cows eat all summer.  One field is for grazing, one for pasture--sometimes farmers even cut hay and then pasture.  No chemicals, unless you are talking about fertilizer, and the fertilizer is used on hayfields and pastures.

About 'Amish' butter--I leave my butter out on the counter in a covered container, all year round.  The only butter I have ever had mold was labeled 'Amish'.  May have been a bad batch, but I have been cautious about it ever since.


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## Addie (Oct 2, 2013)

sparrowgrass said:


> Addie, I am in cow country out here in MO, and I never heard of chemically treated hay.  Almost all pasture raised cattle eat hay in the winter, because grass doesn't grow when it is cold outside.
> 
> Hay is just dried grass, the same grass that the cows eat all summer.  One field is for grazing, one for pasture--sometimes farmers even cut hay and then pasture.  No chemicals, unless you are talking about fertilizer, and the fertilizer is used on hayfields and pastures.
> 
> About 'Amish' butter--I leave my butter out on the counter in a covered container, all year round.  The only butter I have ever had mold was labeled 'Amish'.  May have been a bad batch, but I have been cautious about it ever since.



The Amish tend to let the cow patties do the fertilizing. They don't use chemicals in their fields.


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## GotGarlic (Oct 2, 2013)

Addie said:


> The Amish tend to let the cow patties do the fertilizing. They don't use chemicals in their fields.



Actually, most of them do: Do Amish use pesticides? Most Amish farms are not organic, and most Amish farmers use a variety of pesticides and fertilizers

Mad Cook, I think, as someone mentioned earlier, there is a "mystique" about the Amish and their lifestyle that makes some people assume that they live as if it were 1850. They don't. But the myth allows them to command higher prices for their goods. It's excellent marketing


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## Zagut (Oct 2, 2013)

Great price for the butter. 

What to do with it? 

Toast, Cinnamon/Sugar toast, Cheese toast,
Garlic toast, Cookies, Heap on Baked Taters, and any way you normally use butter.

It freezes well so you can do that too.

The best thing to do with it is to enjoy it.


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## Mad Cook (Oct 18, 2013)

mysterychef said:


> How about some different compound butters with garlic or any fresh or dried herbs?


Anything with high levels of salt or garlic eg bacon or garlic butter freeze OK and are safe to eat (assuming all other factors are OK) but the flavours start to go off - not "off" as in contaminated but just less pleasant to taste. I think the recommended time for keeping bacon in the freezer, say, is one month. It won't do you any harm after this but the longer you keep it frozen after the recommended time the less it keeps its flavour. Garlic can get to taste quite nasty if the product it's in is kept too long in the freezer

Butter may be the same although I haven't noticed it much.


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## Mad Cook (Oct 18, 2013)

Addie said:


> The Amish do not treat their cows with hormones. And they are fed mostly grass, not chemically treated hay. So it makes their butter purer in the real sense. They do adhere to the laws of their State as to what the cows must be tested for before it can be sold to the public. Such as TB. And the milk or cream must be pasteurized also. But it is not ultra pasteurized. Ultra pasteurized is when it is pasteurized twice. I have no idea why, but it certainly kills the flavor of the product. Restaurants here do not use the ultra products. And you can really taste the difference.


Thanks, Addie. I thought it might be something like that. It probably makes the butter taste better too. Contented and healthy cows living as natural a life as is possible in captivity must produce better and more flavoursome milk and cream.


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## cave76 (Oct 19, 2013)

I know this is late----- but ghee (clarified butter) is one way to use up a lot of unsalted butter. Or if you ever buy more----- just send it to me. LOL


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