yikes - the price of butter

stefejb

some time ago I stopped buying marge in a bid to eat more wholefoods and less unpronouncables. Yesterday t-value butter was 85p :eek: trying to find a marge that wasn't full off trans fats and unpronouncables proved very difficult as I'm not sure which ones are ok and which not. any ideas about a wholefoodish marge that's not going to cost as much as the butter and can be used for baking and spreading. alternatively can I make the butter more spreadable so we don't use as much?

TIA

thriftmonster

There is an idea in More with Less for hardmarge but I think it would work with butter where you soften and cream it and the beat in up to a cup of milk. It is to make it go further and to make it spreadable. I have never tried it however and I think you would have to watch it quite carefully.

We use Pure margarine - the sunflower one which is vegan, dairy free and the composition of fat is ok. However it's not cheap either - £1.09 for 500g and it's going up all the time as well. It spreads and bakes well though.

whatatwit

Hi Stefejb, having almost fainted at the price of store's own cheapo butter myself, I bought a tub of Asda's Soft spread.
It is freezable, suitable for vegetarians.
Has a little sign, No Hydrogenated Fat...it does contain soya though.
It can be used for baking.
Not yet tried it, but comparing it to the Stork that I usually use for baking, the asda one has a tiny bit less salt.

Can't remember the price, but it is a 2kg tub and it was cheap.

Now, I probably won't use it for toast/sandwiches, but it will do for baking.

villeroy1502

As I work inthe catering trade, I see most of the prices rises coming early.

Got bad news...... Price of milk has risen, so most of the producers are now selling their milk to cheese producers (apparently they get more money). Thus butter prices have risen because there is less milk available to them.

In the summer one of my suppliers added 50p to a packet of butter. Thats £20 on a box. At some stage, if not already this will filter through to domestic market which is not good.

dorry_2

I never buy butter, as I thought it was really bad for your cholestral levels, we buy flora, the low fat one, I don't think it has hyrogentated trans fats in it??

FunkyFairy

I dont buy butter but we sometimes make it.

We use Pure organic which is dairy free as i can not eat dairy. I use it for everything it works well.

mouseymousey99

I buy butter for spreading, but I've noticed the prices going up too. I bought some spread with olive oil in it for baking bread & greasing cake tins etc. So far its working out ok. What I would like is a butter dish, but no one seems to use them anymore; I know Lakeland has one but I'd like a ceramic one.

Kadeeae

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

What I would like is a butter dish, but no one seems to use them anymore; I know Lakeland has one but I'd like a ceramic one.

I've seen ceramic butter dishes in my local Wilko a while back, but here are some others online:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nigella-Lawson-Living-Kitchen-Butter/dp/B000BOK5OQ

http://www.objects-of-design.com/products1/561/45/striped-butter-dish.htm

http://www.choiceful.com/disprod.php?pId=102458&deptId=K1

That last link, Choiceful, has quite a few different types - just enter "butter dish" into their search feature for the others.

**Sorry, I don't know (yet) how to shorten the links without !!!!!!!**:(

Doom_and_Gloom

FunkyFairy wrote: »

I dont buy butter but we sometimes make it.

We use Pure organic which is dairy free as i can not eat dairy. I use it for everything it works well.

That's what I use also (can not have dairy and am vegan :rotfl: ) and I can get it for £1.45 at the moment I do believe for the 500g but some places are selling it for £1.99 or more :eek: . The normal soya is about 80p I do believe but it does depend on where you are and what shop.

Seakay

stefejb wrote: »

some time ago I stopped buying marge in a bid to eat more wholefoods and less unpronouncables. Yesterday t-value butter was 85p :eek: trying to find a marge that wasn't full off trans fats and unpronouncables proved very difficult as I'm not sure which ones are ok and which not. any ideas about a wholefoodish marge that's not going to cost as much as the butter and can be used for baking and spreading. alternatively can I make the butter more spreadable so we don't use as much?

TIA

My mother used to do this for nutritional reasons, many years ago.

Combine 1 part butter to 2 parts oil - you have to soften (but not melt) the butter to start with and then really beat in the oil so an electric beater helps.

Mum got the idea from a nutritionist called Adele Davis, who suggested walnut oil. We didn't want to add that flavour so used flavourless polyunsaturated vegetable oil. If you want to increase the monosaturates then try an olive oil - not extra virgin but pomace which is extracted from the stones, is cheaper and much less strongly flavoured.

The resulting spread is softer than butter and can be stored in the freezer long term.

woofwoofwoof

I stopped using margarine a couple of years ago and now only buy proper butter as I don't think butter should have a 'list' of ingredients. I use an old fashioned butter dish that I keep in the cupboard - mine is one of the old ones shaped like a little cottage (very cute!). Anyway, it keeps the butter perfectly and is easily spreadable - we only use one little pat of butter (not sure of the size but it is called 'English Butter' about 85p from Mr T's) a week and it stays fresh with no problems.