12.09.2008

bottled butter

Have you heard about bottling your own butter? I did only recently and was intrigued. Who wouldn't want butter in their food storage?

As I did research on the internet, I discovered that for some bottled butter is a very controversial topic. I know that many of us (me included) bottle foods a certain way because that's the way we were taught by our mothers and grandmothers (and "no one has ever died"). I felt like it was important, though, for you to be aware of some possible dangers and then armed with the facts, you can decide how you'll proceed.


Jana Darrington, family consumer science agent for Utah State University extension stated, "When canned at home, items like butter and breads can provide fertile grounds for the paralytic illness botulism. We're just in the beginning stages of researching and trying to develop a safe method. Commercial enterprises have certain equipment and an ability to process that we can't do in our own kitchen. . . We don't know if there is any safe method for canning butter at home at this point."

I rely on extension services for a lot of my information on storage and canning. I'm excited about the possibilities of extension services developing and recommending a method for canning our own butter. But it sounds like we'll need to be patient and proceed with caution.

These articles suggest that you are currently better off buying commercially canned butter. I've seen this product at my local grocery store recently. You can also purchase powdered butter in #10 cans at food storage stores. I have actually stored a little bit of both, but haven't tried either product. Let me know if you've tasted commercially canned butter or powdered butter and can comment on the taste!

10 comments:

Grandma Honey said...

My concern is buying butter in those #10 cans...wouldn't the butter go bad before we could use it all? Do you know any place where I can order butter, or freeze dried vegetables and fruits for that matter, in smaller containers?
Thank you for all your help through your blog! I love it.

Nita said...

Honeyville states their powdered butter is good for 3-5 years unopened & 12 months after you open it. But... I've never tried it.

Nita said...

wouldn't pumpkin butter be something like apple butter? no actual butter involved.

Wendy said...

Nita -

*laughing*

I confess that I've never made apple or pumpkin butter. I just assumed that they had butter in them. My bad. I've changed the post to eliminate that part. Thanks also for the information on the shelf life of powdered butter.

-Wendy

Wendy said...

Jill,

I've only seen dry butter powder sold in #10 cans. As Nita has said, the ideal storage life for powdered butter is 3 to 5 years.

The "wet" butter usually comes in a tuna-sized can. A gal who does Utah County (only) orders (http://www.alpinefoodstorage.com/butter-and-cheese) states that the canned butter can last from 25 to 30 years. Her order lists a 12 oz can of butter for $4.75. So, it's pretty expensive.

I'm looking for some resources for freeze dried foods. I'll do a post on it. Thanks for your comments.

Vickie said...

I've used powdered butter in making bread and other baking, but never to spread on toast or anything. As far as taste it's good in baking and I try to use it to rotate my storage as well as my powdered milk. But just like I don't like powdered milk straight, I don't think the texture of powdered butter would cut it.

Wendy said...

So maybe the commercially canned butter is best stored for toast and the powdered butter for bread and cooking. Do you have to add any oil to reconstitute the butter?

- Wendy

Vickie said...

I was following a bread maker recipe that actually called for powdered butter - I don't think I added any oil, but maybe there was a little more water in the recipe. I haven't made that recipe for a while since I had to toss my open can of butter (past expiration date) and I haven't replaced it yet.

Anonymous said...

Red Feather canned butter from New Zealand is delicious !! Shelf life is up to 2 years so needs rotating.
Jeni

Wendy said...

Jeni,

Red Feather is also what I store. Thanks for the recommendation.
-Wendy