# Butter or margarine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637 "2012-07-28T02:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/1 "2012-07-28T02:06:51Z")
I made some fresh butter from skimming the cream off the top of the whole milk I got from a local dairy today. I like butter and am a little suspicious of margarine, but without any good reason. I use olive oil much more that butter, but fresh butter is really, really good. So, then I just got to wondering “What are folks using these days?” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/2 "2012-07-28T02:11:01Z")
Margarine, same as my mother did when I was a child. Or should I say non-dairy spread? I cannot find the word “margarine” on any labels in the margarine section at the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/3 "2012-07-28T02:12:18Z")
Butter has lots of saturated fats. You can get better spreads that are healthier (like Smart Balance), but usually nowhere near as tasty, and because of the way water separates from them, can’t always be used the same way butter can. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/4 "2012-07-28T02:13:57Z")
I prefer \*Olivio \*or _I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter - Olive Oil_ flavored to real butter. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/5 "2012-07-28T02:15:42Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Butter has lots of saturated fats. You can get better spreads that are healthier (like Smart Balance), but usually nowhere near as tasty, and because of the way water separates from them, can’t always be used the same way butter can. Smart Balance might be the healthiest choice, but it’s not very tasty. Regular ole’ \*ICBINB \*kicks its ass in the taste department. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/6 "2012-07-28T02:16:45Z")
I won’t allow margarine in my house. I use vegetable or olive oil for cooking and butter for spreads and sauces. One of my less pleasant childhood memories is of having to salt my toast because margarine had absolutely no flavor. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/7 "2012-07-28T02:19:59Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > I won’t allow margarine in my house. I use vegetable or olive oil for cooking and butter for spreads and sauces. One of my less pleasant childhood memories is of having to salt my toast because margarine had absolutely no flavor. With the margarine of the old days, I would agree. But “buttery spreads” have improved greatly in the taste and health departments. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/8 "2012-07-28T02:23:19Z")
If I’m going to use margarine, I’d better have a very specific reason for doing so (i.e. “this recipe won’t work with actual butter”). Otherwise, it’s either use butter or eat something that doesn’t call for a butter-category spread. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/9 "2012-07-28T02:26:20Z")
Based on frequency of usage: Butter and olive oil are tied for first place. Then lard and bacon grease. Occasional uses of other oils, corn (always when cooking corn), canola, walnut, soy, etc. Then rendered duck fat. Then everything else except margarine. Modern margarine doesn’t have that weird taste it had when I was a kid, but I can still tell if I get served margarine. (I posted this before. Don’t know where it went, but the poll wasn’t up yet. Maybe something to do with that) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/10 "2012-07-28T02:26:40Z")
There’s a reason why you never see butter advertising that it tastes like margarine. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/11 "2012-07-28T02:29:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Based on frequency of usage: Butter and olive oil are tied for first place. Then lard and bacon grease. Occasional uses of other oils, corn (always when cooking corn), canola, walnut, soy, etc. Then rendered duck fat. Then everything else except margarine. Modern margarine doesn’t have that weird taste it had when I was a kid, but I can still tell if I get served margarine. > > (I posted this before. Don’t know where it went, but the poll wasn’t up yet. Maybe something to do with that) There’s a duplicate thread. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/12 "2012-07-28T02:34:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Based on frequency of usage: Butter and olive oil are tied for first place. Then lard and bacon grease. Occasional uses of other oils, corn (always when cooking corn), canola, walnut, soy, etc. Then rendered duck fat. Then everything else except margarine. Modern margarine doesn’t have that weird taste it had when I was a kid, but I can still tell if I get served margarine. That’s almost my list as well, with the exception that duck and goose fat is right up there with pork lard (leaf lard actually, since I bought half a pig last year and rendered it down), and I don’t use bacon fat quite as much as the others. I ended up with tons and tons of goose fat after stumbling on a pile of geese on sale at an amazing price, and the result of having a ton of goose fat in the freezer made my duck fat last a lot longer. I don’t allow margarine in my house. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/13 "2012-07-28T02:42:59Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > That’s almost my list as well, with the exception that duck and goose fat is right up there with pork lard (leaf lard actually, since I bought half a pig last year and rendered it down), and I don’t use bacon fat quite as much as the others. I ended up with tons and tons of goose fat after stumbling on a pile of geese on sale at an amazing price, and the result of having a ton of goose fat in the freezer made my duck fat last a lot longer. I’d use more duck and goose fat if I had it around. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/14 "2012-07-28T03:01:59Z")
Olive oil for cooking, butter to spread. Can’t beat natural, at least for taste. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/15 "2012-07-28T03:32:09Z")
I cut all levels of hydrogenation out of my diet a bunch of years ago. I prefer Earth Balance if I’m going the non-butter route, so I voted _something else_. I’ll buy Smart Balance in a pinch, and I have real butter in the fridge, I just try to be sparing about using it. Then I use a combination of extra virgin and/or “light tasting” olive oil, depending on what I’m cooking. I use the light olive oil for stovetop popcorn, then drizzle EV as a topping unless I’m being indulgent and using butter. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/16 "2012-07-28T04:02:33Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > With the margarine of the old days, I would agree. But “buttery spreads” have improved greatly in the taste and health departments. I live in a dairy state, so all pretenders to the butter throne are politely declined—unless I’m in a restaurant, in which case the polite part goes right out the window, along with the buttery spread and non-dairy creamer. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/17 "2012-07-28T12:47:51Z")
There is a real question as to how much butter one should consume. But eating margarine is less pleasant than eating nothing! I heard (?) that margarine was introduced to the French military and they discovered that they could use it to lubricate big guns, and could use the grease made for lubing guns on their bread, which tasted better. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/18 "2012-07-28T12:57:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s a reason why you never see butter advertising that it tastes like margarine. You win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/19 "2012-07-28T13:05:41Z")
I used to buy margerine because it was cheaper, but then I realized that I just don’t eat that much so it wasn’t a big financial burden to buy butter. When I bake, I prefer to use butter - to me it adds a really subtle, but delicious flavour. Not so much that I notice BUTTER FLAVOUR, but just that something extra. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637/20 "2012-07-28T13:34:31Z")
You haven’t lived until you’ve had a giant thick ribeye cooked in a half stick of butter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-or-margarine/629637.md?page=2)