Do you know the difference between butter and margarine? The butter is of animal origin, derived from the cream of milk, rich in saturated fats and cholesterol. While margarine is obtained by hydrogenating vegetable oils, such as corn or sunflower. In the process, unsaturated fats are transformed into partially saturated and trans (hydrogenated).
Although butter and margarine are tasty, both are harmful to your health when consumed in excess, as they are made with high amounts of fat. However, it is extremely important to learn about the particularities of each one to know which is the best option for you to choose.
We prepared this article for you to understand the difference between butter and margarine.
If you have extraordinary bread and extraordinary butter, it’s hard to beat bread and butter.
-Jacques Pepin
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Butter
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The origin of butter is still somewhat obscure, but it is believed that since when cows are milked, there is also butter. In fact, the oldest known traces of butter production date back to 3500 BC.
Nowadays, butter production starts by separating the cream from the skim after pasteurization. Then the cream is pasteurized a second time to eliminate pathogens.
Pasteurization is the method of preserving food in which it is heated to a certain temperature for a specified time and then cooled immediately.
To make butter, the cream is heated to 80°C for 30 min and then cooled to 18°C.
Later, it is left to mature with or without cultures to ferment. Fermentation helps the butter to enrich a stronger flavor and aroma.
After maturation, the cream is agitated, forcing the fat to coagulate into grains. The buttermilk is drained, and the grains are worked until they form butter.
At this point, it may or may not be salted and packaged for sale. International food standards dictate that butter must contain a minimum of 80% fat, 2% milk solids, and no more than 16% water.
Margarine
Margarine was developed in 1869 as a cheap substitute for butter for the poor and the French navy. It was originally made from beef tallow and skim milk. Today, beef tallow has been replaced by vegetable oils, and margarine is made from the hydrogenation process that consists of artificially adding hydrogen molecules to fat at high temperatures.
As in most industrialized products, chemicals are added so that the margarine gains consistency, flavor, and greater durability.
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