Concentrated butter is an industrially-made butter similar to clarified butter.
It is made in every country where there is a butter industry, from New Zealand to England.
The water, lactose and casein protein are removed from the cream or butter. It is most efficient to start from cream or butter, but sometimes the process is started from milk. If it’s made from butter, the butter will be unsalted, and it is best if the butter is a few weeks old. Any cream or milk used in concentrated butter will have been pasteurized first.
The separation is done using gentle physical techniques such as slow melting the starting butter first (so that taste / texture is not impacted), then decanting it and then applying centrifugal force, in order to remove as much of the water and milk solids as possible. In France, by law this separation process has to be physical, not chemical. Other countries may permit the use of food-safe chemicals to aid in this.
The actual technical term for concentrated butter is “AMF (anhydrous milk fat).” “Anhydrous” means “no water.” AMF is available in two forms, of which concentrated butter is one: [1]Concentrated butter and AMF. Société FIT. Rennes, France. Accessed July 2019 at https://www.fitsa-group.com/en/produit/concentrated-butters-and-anhydrous-milk-fat/
- Anhydrous concentrated butter is AMF in solid, cube form.
- When AMF is sold in liquid form, it is referred to as “anhydrous butter oil.” [2]In Canada, alkali chemical additives are permitted in the making of “butter oil.”
Canada allows a third category, called just plain “butter oil”, which Canada allows to have a lower butterfat content of 93 %, while the first two must be 99.8%. [3]Canadian Dairy Commission. Butteroil. 6 March 2017. Accessed July 2019 at http://www.milkingredients.ca/index-eng.php?id=173
Most intended customers are industrial, for use in large-scale food manufacturing, and so packaging ranges from large food-grade cartons, barrels to tankers. When packaging concentrated butter, the air in containers is often replaced with nitrogen or carbon dioxide. It is used a good deal in the chocolate and pastry industries.
When in solid form, concentrated butter is very hard to spread. But, it can be processed to have varying melting points ranging from 10 to 40 C (50 to 104 F ), making it easy to render it liquid again for pouring and spraying without changing the taste to that of “cooked butter.”
Concentrated butter stores well at room temperature because its water, lactose and casein protein are removed. This makes it good for third-world countries where refrigerated storage facilities aren’t available or can’t be relied on. There, it can be used to enrich milk made from powdered milk in order to make dairy products.
The convenience of room temperature storage is also why concentrated butter is used so widely in the food industry. [4]Concentrated butter and AMF.
When combined with the correct ratio of water to restore a normal water / butterfat balance for butter, concentrated butter is called “reconstituted butter.”
In the EU, a product’s ingredients can still say just “butter” if concentrated butter has been used, though it can’t add words such as “pure”, “fine”, or “fresh” to the word “butter.” [5]”En ce qui concerne le beurre concentré, reconstitué selon des procédés industriels et souvent utilisé en pâtisserie, la mention “beurre” peut être utilisée à condition que la composition de ce produit soit identique à celle du beurre, produit laitier. Il convient donc de s’informer auprès de la firme productrice afin de savoir si la composition autorise l’appellation “au beurre”. Celle-ci ne doit être accompagnée d’aucun qualificatif tel que : fin, surfin, supérieur ou autre.” “Le beurre.” Bonneau, Laurent, et al. Boulangerie Pâtisserie Artisanale: SASU Boulangerienet. St-Aubin/Gaillon, France. Accessed July 2019 at http://www.boulangerie.net/forums/bnweb/dt/mp/InfoBeurremargo.php [6]The word, “butter” or “cream” may not be used on the label of certain foodstuffs, unless the only fat used is butter fat. Concentrated butter may be used instead of butter and the word “butter” may be used on the label provided the fatty acid composition of the concentrated butter has not been altered by any treatment, in particular by hydrogenation. Hydrogenated butter is considered to be a food fat and not butter. If concentrated butter is used in the product , one may not use the words “pure”, “fine”, “extra”, “fresh”, etc., in combination with the word “butter”. — Gauthier, Roselyne. GAIN Report, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. France: Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards. Annual Report. 2005. #FR5053. 29 July 2005. Accessed July 2019 at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200507/146130420.doc
Butterfat content in concentrated butter content varies by country:
- In France and Canada [7]Canadian Dairy Commission, concentrated butter will be 99.8% butterfat;
- In the UK, the minimum fat content for concentrated butter is 96%;
- In Luxembourg, the butterfat content is allowed to range as low as 90%, and the product can still be called concentrated butter (“beurre concentré”);
- The “Codex Alimentarius” of international food standards, put out by the Food and Agriculture Organization, lists anhydrous butter (either in anhydrous solid or anhydrous liquid butter oil form) as being 99.8%; with butter oil being at 99.6%. [8]Codex Alimentarius. Standard for Milkfat Products. 1973, admended 2018. CXS 280-1973. Page 2.
Concentrated butter is also referred to as “baking butter.”
Equivalents
150 g water + 850 g Concentrated Butter = 1 kg reconstituted butter with a butterfat content of 85%.
Language
In French, Anhydrous Milk Fat is called “matière grasse laitière anhydre” (MGLA.)
In Dutch, concentrated butter is “geconcentreerde boter”, “boterconcentraat”, or “bakboter” (“baking butter”.)
References
↑1 | Concentrated butter and AMF. Société FIT. Rennes, France. Accessed July 2019 at https://www.fitsa-group.com/en/produit/concentrated-butters-and-anhydrous-milk-fat/ |
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↑2 | In Canada, alkali chemical additives are permitted in the making of “butter oil.” |
↑3 | Canadian Dairy Commission. Butteroil. 6 March 2017. Accessed July 2019 at http://www.milkingredients.ca/index-eng.php?id=173 |
↑4 | Concentrated butter and AMF. |
↑5 | ”En ce qui concerne le beurre concentré, reconstitué selon des procédés industriels et souvent utilisé en pâtisserie, la mention “beurre” peut être utilisée à condition que la composition de ce produit soit identique à celle du beurre, produit laitier. Il convient donc de s’informer auprès de la firme productrice afin de savoir si la composition autorise l’appellation “au beurre”. Celle-ci ne doit être accompagnée d’aucun qualificatif tel que : fin, surfin, supérieur ou autre.” “Le beurre.” Bonneau, Laurent, et al. Boulangerie Pâtisserie Artisanale: SASU Boulangerienet. St-Aubin/Gaillon, France. Accessed July 2019 at http://www.boulangerie.net/forums/bnweb/dt/mp/InfoBeurremargo.php |
↑6 | The word, “butter” or “cream” may not be used on the label of certain foodstuffs, unless the only fat used is butter fat. Concentrated butter may be used instead of butter and the word “butter” may be used on the label provided the fatty acid composition of the concentrated butter has not been altered by any treatment, in particular by hydrogenation. Hydrogenated butter is considered to be a food fat and not butter. If concentrated butter is used in the product , one may not use the words “pure”, “fine”, “extra”, “fresh”, etc., in combination with the word “butter”. — Gauthier, Roselyne. GAIN Report, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. France: Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards. Annual Report. 2005. #FR5053. 29 July 2005. Accessed July 2019 at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200507/146130420.doc |
↑7 | Canadian Dairy Commission |
↑8 | Codex Alimentarius. Standard for Milkfat Products. 1973, admended 2018. CXS 280-1973. Page 2. |