Are the people that don’t like Kerrygold using it as a spread or as an ingredient in baked goods?
I honestly can’t remember the last time I used it as a spread, but it was probably around 2020 when I was baking more frequently and had some left over. Clearly it didn’t leave much of an impression either way. Personally, I think it’s great for baking but I rarely bother splurging because there are cheaper alternatives that get the job done nicely like Kirkland and H-E-B brands.
I saw that.
I’ve had Kerrygold, and I agree that it’s flavourless.
There are two primary category groupings available in the US, cultured/uncultured and European/American, for a combination of four possible types using those criteria. The cultured designation does indeed uses cultures as you state, although some are fermented, cultured cream and some are cream with cultures added. The European/American-style split is based on butterfat content. American-style (not necessarily the country of origin, but instead which set of rules it follows. USDA in this case) has to have at least 80% at. European-style (again, not country of origin specific as you can buy European-style butter that is made in the USA) requires that the fat content be between 82 and 90% for unsalted and at least 80% for salted butter, both with a maximum water content by weight of 16%. European butters often exceed the minimums, while American style almost never does.
Plugra, Challenge, and Kerrygold are all European-styled, but only Kerrygold is cultured (by adding cultures) and only in the unsalted version. Kerrygold is also the only of those three to be manufactured in Europe, as Plugra and Challenge are both US made. I see no evidence that Plugra nor Challenge has cultures in either salted or unsalted form.
America’s Test Kitchen (might be paywalled as I have a subscription) ranks Lurpak as the top Salted Butter, rating it Highly Recommended, while all others they tested landed in the Recommended category. They rated Challenge as the best unsalted, giving it a Recommended, but the other varieties also ended up in Recommended. Only two of the tested salted butters (Lurpak and Kerrygold) and and one of the unsalted (Kerrygold) were from outside of the US.
I think salted Kerrygold is pretty good and not bland.
On the other hand, I don’t splurge for it. I only get it when it’s on sale. Sometimes it’s as cheap as or cheaper than even store brand, and then I’ll definitely get it.
It’s not mind-blowingly amazing, but it’s not bad and I’d consider it above average.
Are you comparing it to salted butter that you are more used to?
That’s true but taste-wise (what the thread’s about), it’s all about cultured or uncultured and salted/unsalted. That extra 2-3% of butterfat doesn’t much change how the butter tastes, even if it’s a huge change in terms of pastry performance.
My husband used to eat half a stick of butter, sometimes, in one meal! In order to try to slow his descent into an early grave, I bought whipped butter. Different brands, but definitely butter, it was fluffy and definitely tasty. So what did he do? He used even MORE of the whipped butter to compensate, of course. And if I ever bought a store brand, there was heck to pay: Land O’ Lakes or nothing!
Plus, there may be genetics at play - like the “cilantro is yummy” versus “cilantro is soapy” camps.
I haven’t tried Kerrygold. Store brand butter always tastes fine to me. If Kerrygold isn’t salted, it might well go “off” if it hasn’t been handled right at the grocery store or along the supply chain.
I love making and eating my own bread. That pricey Amish Butter brick is where it is at. Together with Bob’s Red Mill flour I make magic every Sunday.
I bought some once, and got a snicker at howmit was abbreviated on the receipt. No joke, it was ’ Plug Butt.’ I doubt that it’s that way now, but I’m guessing someone had a sense of humor.
If the butter fits…
Having been raised on Wisconsin milk, cheese and butter I actually found Kerrygold to be much more buttery than our local AA rated brands like Lake to Lake, Weyauwega, Nordic Creamery, and even a few amish butters. Go figure. De gustibus non est disputandum
When I was a pastry chef decades ago, for a few months the butter we got was so over-cultured that it tasted like cheese, and not in a good way. I had to start sending it back. That ruined me to the taste of cultured butter, even the expensive stuff.