Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning cream to concentrate milk fat. It is a water-in-fat emulsion whose flavor and texture vary with production and storage.

Cream: Cream is the fat-rich portion of milk that rises naturally or is separated mechanically. Butter begins as cream, whose concentrated fat makes churning possible.
Milk: Milk is a nutrient-rich fluid produced by mammals to feed their young. Cream, the raw material for butter, is separated from milk.
Clarified butter: Clarified butter is butterfat separated from butter’s water and milk solids. Removing water and solids raises butter’s smoke point for high-heat cooking.
Domestication of cattle: The domestication of cattle was the process by which humans bred and managed wild bovines. Dairy cattle made sustained milk and cream production possible.
Margarine: Margarine is a spreadable fat product made primarily from vegetable oils. It was developed as a less expensive alternative to dairy butter.
Churning: Churning agitates cream until fat globules coalesce and separate from the liquid. This mechanical step breaks cream’s emulsion and forms butter grains.
Triglyceride: A triglyceride is a lipid molecule made of glycerol bonded to three fatty acids. Most milk fat consists of triglycerides with varied melting points.
Ghee: Ghee is butterfat clarified by heating, typically until its water evaporates and milk solids brown. It is a cooked, shelf-stable form of butterfat used in South Asian cuisines.
Dairy farming: Dairy farming raises animals for milk and related products. Butter production depends on organized milk production and cream separation.
Lard: Lard is rendered fat from pigs, used in cooking and baking. It performs some of butter’s culinary roles but contains no dairy fat.

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