Margarine! *eeek*

[Heaven]

Hmm...I get confused about which one is better/worse, now I will remember. But then when I go to the supermarket it's hard to tell which is actually butter and which is margarine. Which do you think is the best brand to buy?
And if they're both bad how can you get by without it!! I use it in cooking a fair bit.

[Bathsheba]

I personally prefer Devondale's Extra Soft or just plain/pure butter (often wrapped in paper). Extra Soft has 25% less fat than most margarines, is blended with canola oil to make it more spreadable but tastes very buttery. It has a preservative though so this might not suit everyone. We get this brand because DH demands it. if it was just me i would buy cultured butter (Girgars is a good one) it is devine and is a very pure food. I use it to make shortbread and pastries.

[Pandora]

margarine is black, and lots of chemicals are used to make it yellow.
My mum worked for years at whats now food science australia/CSIRO, and none of the research scientists there would eat or allow their families to eat margarine.
DH prefers butter but still buys marg. I dont use it for anything other than baking, in which case I try to use butter anyway.

[Bathsheba]

OMG... if they wouldn't eat it that a bit of a clue I think!

Butter is definitely better for cooking... things just taste and turn out better, from my experience.

[Heaven]

I usually use the home brand butter in the paper for cooking. But last time I noticed it had trans fats so now I don't know what to do.
I got some light 'Butterfully' from Aldi last time I was there but I'm chucking it, I have no idea what it is but it looks weird, all like whipped. It just looks wrong anyway, it can't be good.

[Astrid]

Butter user here. Tastes better and where possible I prefer to eat more natural food that has not been messed with too much.

[Bathsheba]

SJ: with the butter in the paper: it wasn't "Fairy" was it? That's shocking stuff and not butter at all. If you buy the plain usually no-name brand butter in paper or Western Star there are usually only two or three ingredients: cream, water and sometimes salt. My Coles brand butter in foiled paper has only 2 ingredients: pasturized cream and water, can't beat that when it comes to avoiding additives and man-made chemicals.

ETA: probably organic butter would be the best... no trace pesticides etc.

[Heaven]

No, it was the home brand one from woolies!

[Liz]

Yep - butter here too.. coz it's yummy and more natural. I use Mainland Butter Soft - same ingredients as pure butter.. somehow they've taken out the bit that makes the butter go hard. LOL. I don't like the oil blends.. don't like the taste, and it makes the bread go soggy LOL.

Everything in moderation I say. Butter's only harmful if you have too much.

So I wonder if those ones like Logicol that reduce cholesterol absorption do it by lining your stomach with plastic? heheh.

ETA: hmm.. I get the one with salt... aah well

[Bathsheba]

SJ: weird... I've bought a few generic butters in my time and only ever seen the 2/3 ingredients. Transfats are actually banned in some countries... it makes me angry that here in Australia they sell things that are banned over seas.... like we are some kind of dumping ground

If you use plain butter in the block, just buy yourself a butter dish with a lid. Then you can store it outside the pantry (as long as it's a cool pantry) for up to a week i think, longer in winter. I used to do that when i lived by myself pre-family. Always spreadable.

[christy]

When I went to a LC she said to use devondale even if Jovie was allergic to cows milk as its the lesser of two evils. Then she found something called Nuttlex. Its Dairy free... 54% sunflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, water, salt,sunflower lecithin, vitamens a, d, e and flavouring from vegetable sources. It has no artificial additives, and is "virtually free of trans fatty acids".... made in Australia.

I use it for my baking... because Matilda is highly allergic to milk and I prefer more natural substances. Otherwise we use avocado to spread on bread or we use olive oil if we want the fat side of things (but only cold pressed olive oil here...).