Butter versus anhydrous milk fat
Butter and clarified butter are basic ingredients for the production of baked goods and the manufacturing of ice cream, confectionery and chocolate products. They differ mainly in their fat content. What else is there worth knowing?
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Butter and butterfat are important baking ingredients -
Deutsche Markenbutter gibt es als 2,5 kg Stange und Blockware -
Butterfat - long shelf life and concentrated butter flavour
The fat content of German branded butter is 82 percent. The most popular variety in Germany is mildly acidified German branded butter. Here, the addition of lactic acid cultures provides the typical fresh butter flavour. By contrast, sweet cream butter, which is also often used in bakeries and patisseries, has a mild, creamy flavour.
Butterfat (anhydrous milkfat, concentrated butter, clarified butter) is more or less butter in concentrated form and contains almost no water. This means it can be kept for many months. Normal concentrated butter has a milk fat content of at least 96.0 percent and may also contain vanillin (to round off the flavour) or carotene (for a beautiful pastry colour). Anhydrous milk fat on the other hand, must have a milk fat content of at least 99.8 percent.
Butterfat and anhydrous milk fat are produced from butter or fresh cream by the purely physical separation of the fat-free dry matter and the water it contains. The terms clarified butter, butterfat, anhydrous milk fat, butter oil and concentrated butter are often used synonymously. Butterfat is also available in ‘soft’ quality, i.e. whipped with nitrogen for a slightly softer consistency. As a highly concentrated milk fat, concentrated butter is naturally lactose-free.
The following applies when replacing butter with concentrated butter in recipes for baked goods: 1 kilogram of butter is equivalent to 820 grams of concentrated butter. The formula for the conversion is: grams of butter according to the recipe x 0.82 = grams of clarified butter required. The necessary weight compensation is achieved by adding the appropriate amount of water or milk.
