What is Lactic Butter?
Lactic butter is made from whole milk which has been fermented with lactic acid. It has a characteristic low moisture content and tangy flavor which some people find preferable to sweet cream butter. Depending on where in the world one is, lactic butter can be easy or challenging to obtain; in Europe, lactic butter is readily available. It can also be made at home, by people who can maintain sterile conditions for buttermaking.
Butter from cow's milk breaks down into one of two types: lactic butter and sweet cream butter. Traditionally, lactic butter was made by allowing milk to sit for several days, which would encourage the formation of beneficial lactic acid, fermenting the milk into a product almost like yogurt which could then be churned into butter. Sweet cream butter is made from fresh milk which is skimmed to separate the cream and the milk. Only the cream is churned for sweet cream, while the milk is used elsewhere.
Once either type of butter has been churned, it is typically washed before being packaged, and it may be salted as well to keep it stable in storage. Traditionally, salted butter was heavily salted and fresh butter was a rare treat; most modern butter is only lightly salted to evoke the flavor of old-fashioned butter. Just like sweet cream butter, lactic butter is available in salted or unsalted varieties, and it is extremely suitable for baking; some people find that it actually yields better baked goods because of the lower moisture.
Some producers call their lactic butter cultured butter, in a reference to the cultures which the whole milk is inoculated with to mimic the conditions of sitting for several days to ferment. Others may refer to it as “ripened butter,” also in a reference to the ripening of these cultures. Lactic butter also has a higher smoking point than sweet cream butter, which makes it a preferred cooking butter in some regions of the world.
Lactic and sweet cream butters also taste different. Lactic butter has a full, rich creamy flavor with a hint of a tang, while sweet cream butter is more sweet and flat in taste. Lactic butter is also perfectly safe to eat; the fermentation process is halted through pasteurization, and it is carefully packaged to keep it shelf stable, just as with sweet cream butter. In regions where lactic butter is not readily available, people might want to try checking with small local dairies, which sometimes produce small batches, or with Internet retailers who can ship lactic butter.
Written by S.E. Smith
