# I much prefer butter to margarine... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546 "2017-11-13T19:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zetetic\_Skeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Zetetic\_Skeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zetetic_Skeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/1 "2017-11-13T19:41:25Z")
When I was a child, my household only purchased and used different varieties of margarine. Usually Country Crock. When I got married and started doing my own cooking, I bought and used real butter (usually the salted kind). Got used to that for many years. Then last week my wife buys a big tub of margarine. She says it was cheaper than butter. But it really made our food taste terrible. Still edible I suppose, but it had a bad aftertaste and just didn’t sit well with my sophisicated palate. Does anyone else have this problem? She thinks they are interchangeable, but I just can’t do margarine any more. To me, I might as well just pour vegetable oil on my rolls. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/2 "2017-11-13T19:48:31Z")
It’s always been butter in my house. The only time I ever remember buying margarine is for chicken wings. Otherwise, keep that shit outta here. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/3 "2017-11-13T19:59:07Z")
To be honest, I can’t tell the difference. Even on something like corn on the cob: I really can’t tell. Margarine has an almost infinite fridge life, so that’s what I use. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/4 "2017-11-13T20:02:39Z")
My wife will not let a tub of margarine come anywhere near our house. And I’m okay with that. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/5 "2017-11-13T20:13:47Z")
I was raised in a margarine family. “Imperial”, I think, was what we used. I went on to real butter after I moved out. And it was unsalted, too, so that I could control the salt content of recipes better. I got used to using unsalted on bread and toast, and now I dislike the salted kind. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/6 "2017-11-13T20:24:54Z")
I My mom uses parkay margarine. I switched to Land of Lakes butter after I got my own home. I use margarine for cooking. Can’t tell the difference and it’s cheaper. Butter is for spreading on corn on the cob, toast, and cornbread. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/7 "2017-11-13T20:26:50Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > To be honest, I can’t tell the difference. Even on something like corn on the cob: I really can’t tell. > > Margarine has an almost infinite fridge life, so that’s what I use. Doesn’t butter have an almost infinite fridge life too? A quick internet search says 6 to 9 months, which would be a long time for my household to have a stick of butter around. I’m with you on not noticing much of a difference. Nevertheless, we use butter for most things. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/8 "2017-11-13T20:34:32Z")
Food discussions are best suited to cafe society. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/9 "2017-11-13T20:36:33Z")
Margarine is one of those cases where I can smell or taste things that other people can’t. “I can’t Believe it’s Not Butter?” I can’t believe it’s not poison. Margarine tastes infinitely different to me, like a tub of “Comet” bathroom cleanser. There are a few brands that I can eat, mainly pure hydrogenated corn oil. But those are just the ones I can physically force myself to swallow. Given my 'druthers I’ll have Double Devon on bread, but it’s expensive here, so an occasional treat. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/10 "2017-11-13T20:44:56Z")
I can tell the difference, and I prefer butter. But I don’t prefer it strongly enough to justify the difference in price. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/11 "2017-11-13T20:45:15Z")
Butter is vastly superior in every way to that tub of chemicals called margarine. I mean, how could something that can be sprayed by Fabio be better than butter? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/12 "2017-11-13T20:46:59Z")
With the discovery that Costco carries Kerrygold Irish butter at a reasonable price, we have left store-brand butters behind us. Yes, we are now butter snobs. I use lesser butters for some things, particularly when a recipe calls for unsalted. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/13 "2017-11-13T20:48:22Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Doesn’t butter have an almost infinite fridge life too? A quick internet search says 6 to 9 months, which would be a long time for my household to have a stick of butter around. > > I’m with you on not noticing much of a difference. Nevertheless, we use butter for most things. Why not? Interesting. Butter seems to get off-coloured and questionable to me after a month or two. I’ve never googled the longevity. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/14 "2017-11-13T20:50:07Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Butter is vastly superior in every way to that tub of chemicals called margarine. I mean, how could something that can be sprayed by Fabio be better than butter? Cut with the chemical bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/15 "2017-11-13T20:52:25Z")
When I was growing up (50’s and early 60’s) our table had two kinds of spread. My parents used butter. Us two children were obliged to use margarine, mostly on our toast or dinner rolls, occasionally on corn on the cob or other special occasion food. We all ate the same homemade popcorn and I don’t remember which was used on that. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but looking back it rankles a bit. I’m sure it came from my mother’s ineluctable need to run a frugal household, but really, the difference between the cost of margarine vs. butter for two children must have been minimal. Since the adults insisted on the real thing, they must have been aware of the taste difference, and so I conclude that they thought that we weren’t worth the better product. They’re both dead now, so this is no longer on their consciences. Since being an adult and on my own, margarine has not crossed my threshold. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/16 "2017-11-13T20:55:42Z")
I’m amazed when people say they can’t tell the difference between butter and margarine. To me, it’s like saying you can’t tell the difference between butter and cheese. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/17 "2017-11-13T20:58:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I can tell the difference, and I prefer butter. But I don’t prefer it strongly enough to justify the difference in price. I prefer butter strongly enough that if my only choice is margarine, I’d rather eat a dry slice of bread. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/18 "2017-11-13T21:08:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I can tell the difference, and I prefer butter. But I don’t prefer it strongly enough to justify the difference in price. How much is the difference in price? I can’t imagine it is even 25 cents a day even for people who use a lot. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/19 "2017-11-13T21:12:42Z")
As a child I didn’t known the difference, in my later teen years I recall my dad saying that margarin does not taste good and used as a cheaper alternative to butter and it is very noticeable. As a later teen I did not accept what he said but accept that we bought butter as a way of compromising. The habit stuck, and it was many year till I had the occasion to try margarin and it was horrible. I instantly recognized the taste and all the times I have been served this, just thinking that the chef was in the wrong profession and should be wrong for the sewer department. Margarin is really if I can compare it, to rancid butter, which real butter never gets to, but if it did it would taste like margarin. Now when I say rancid I don’t mean ineatable, as I have eaten rancid meat on more then one occasion, but the off taste is something like eating rotten meat. It does have the texture, and some of the flavor, yet lots of yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546/20 "2017-11-13T21:36:11Z")
I grew up on margarine, but always use butter now. I buy unsalted because if most recipes specify, I find it usually calls for unsalted. My MIL was here for dinner one night and realized right away it was unsalted (she uses salted.) My daughter and I were floored we don’t think we’d know the difference unless we were doing a side by side taste test. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-much-prefer-butter-to-margarine/801546.md?page=2)