Introduction – Butter is one of the dairy products that is made up of the protein and fat components of churned cream. Mostly butter is made up of cow’s milk that contains 80 percent fat. It can also be made from the milk of other animals such as yaks, goats, buffalo, and sheep. Butter is made up of churning cream or milk to separate the fat globules from the buttermilk. Butter is used as an ingredient at room temperature in making sauce, baking, pan-frying, and many more.

Butter is also a water-in-oil mixture that is made from an inversion of the cream. When butter is refrigerated, it becomes solid, softens at room temperature, and melts between 32 to 35 degrees celsius. The color of butter is pale yellow or it may be deep yellow to nearly white.

Types of butter – There are several types of butter are discussed below –

1. Cultured butter – This type of butter is made from a fermented cream that contains active bacteria with a slightly tangy taste. Naturally, the cream sours as bacteria that convert milk sugars into lactic acid during fermentation. Cultured butter does not spoil easily that contains a longer shelf life.
2. Salted butter – It is the most common and versatile type of butter that is commercially available everywhere. This type of butter contains some amount of salt and is added for taste.
3. Unsalted butter – This type of butter is similar to regular butter without any extra salt added to it. Unsalted butter has less shelf life as compared with salted butter and is mostly used in bakery products.
4. European butter – It is that type of butter in which cultured butter is churned for a long time to get a minimum of 82 percent butterfat is called European butter. Generally, butter was kept to ferment to get a sour taste. It is available in little yellow color due to the high content of fat.
5. Clarified butter (ghee) – This type of butter originated from the Indian subcontinent. Clarified butter is made by simmering butter that is getting from cream by skimming. In this type of butter, the texture and color mainly depend on the quality of milk and the time spent in its preparation. This type of butter has entirely of fats that about 62 percent of it is saturated fat.
6. Homemade butter – This type of butter contains a high-quality cream blended in the food processor and is normally used to be churned manually. Homemade butter can prepare easily at home that may be the tastiest butter you ever had. You can add some salt for more taste and take it with parathas at breakfast.
7. Sheep and goat butter – This type of butter is made from sheep and goat milk and is prepared by the traditional method. It is available in white color with a little smell of sheep or goat.
8. Grass-fed butter – This type of butter is resulting from milk fat and is obtained from grass-fed cows. Grass-fed butter has about 400 different fatty acids that are highly complex in nature. This type of butter prevents bone loss and helps the body to build muscles instead of storing fats.
9. Spreadable butter – This type of butter is a mixture of vegetable oil and real butter. Spreadable butter is a combination of two fats that makes it very smooth so it is only used for spreading. The color of this butter is yellow and taken with toast and pancakes at breakfast.