Butter substitute?

[On Our own]

I have milk, not cream, not even whole milk. What can I make or use as a substitute for butter? I mean as a spread? I can use shortening in some places as a baking substitute right??

 

[Wifezilla]

You can use shortening, but it doesn't always give the best results. What are you trying to make?

 

[freemotion]

Sorry, couldn't resist....Avoid shortening at all costs. It is also known as trans fat and hydrodenated fat and is associated with BAD health issues, including diabetes and heart disease. It gets into the lipid bilayer of the cells of the body and interferes with all kinds of functions, they are just discovering how bad it really is. It is absolute poison. Avoid it at all costs, and read labels, it is in almost EVERYTHING. It is a silent poison, too, accumulating over the years, starting with the first cookie.

And don't be fooled by states that have laws about the use of trans fats in restaurants. There are so many exceptions that it is a joke. It is just to keep us thinking that "they" watch out for our health. "They" don't. We have to.



If you save every bit of fat from cooking, you can do amazing things with it. It adds wonderful flavor to meat dishes. I make lots of broths with bones and skin and such and strain it, chill it, and take the hardened fat off and save it. I put it in baked goods, too.

You can easily render your own lard, and I have found the fat for free by simply asking....I was ready to pay, but the butcher told me he throws it away, and I can have 60 lbs (what will I do with that much? Make soap!) if I come back in the fall, when people bring their animals in for processing.

Pig fat for lard for pastry (lard in the stores now is partially hydrogenated, because they use low quality fat). Beef fat and suet for tallow, some old recipes call for this, and it makes great soap and suet cakes for the birds.

And my personal favorite, chicken fat! It can be used as a spread, too. Don't be fooled at the food industry hype that veg fat is healthy and what you can get for free at home is bad for you. It is just a lie. (Everything in moderation, though!) Chicken fat is soft, yellow, and delicious in many uses. I will add some spices (basil, oregano, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, a dash of cayenne) and toss root veggie "fries" with it and bake them at 450 until browned a bit. We've used olive oil, chicken fat is so much better!

 

[Wifezilla]

That's what I was thinking, but I thought I would find out what she was making first

 

[On Our own]

Not making anything in particular, I just am literally out of butter and was thinking that if I don't have a ready supply of cream (I get my milk through barter sometimes, but my source won't part with her cream as it is her cash crop) I cannot make my own butter.

So, I was looking for substitutes. Do you "spread" chicken fat as a bread spread?? Like what do you use on pancakes??

Edited to ask, now I am confused, my shortening package says it has 0 trans fat. Are they lying?

 

[mrs.puff]

It doesn't matter if it says 0 trans fat. The whole product is nasty. Stay away from it. For some good info on the different types of fats, check out "Real Food" by Nina Planck. It's a good read.

People in the old days used chicken fat, bacon grease, etc as a spread for their bread and such. Animal fats from free-range, grass fed, organic, farm raised animals (basically animals not from factory farms) are actually better for you than any vegetable oils, especially soy oil, corn oil, palm oil, etc.

 

[Beekissed]

Free, I don't know if I would be ready to collect just any old animal fat from the butcher for cooking or eating, considering what that animal may have been fed.

Maybe if it were animals I raised....wouldn't have a problem with that at all!

 

[enjoy the ride]

When I was in Italy, a lot of people seemed to use olive oil with some herbs for dipping bread. I have never tried it so can't say whether is is an acquired taste or not. I notice they did not use a lot of it.
Olive oil is great for anyghing not needed high temp for frying.

I bet there is a recipe out there somewhere for margerine- my mom told me they used to make it during WWII as butter was mostly unavailable. They used to add some dye to make it yellow.

 

[Beekissed]

My mom and I use olive oil for our breads, instead of butter, especially when making garlic bread. We also use it, instead of butter, on corn on the cob.

Mom also makes any of her pastries with canola oil or olive oils. They are not as flakey, but she uses whole wheat anyway, so we don't get all worked up about flakey.

 

[patandchickens]

Is this like "in general because I'm giving up butter" or "right now today because I am temporarily out of butter"?

Apple butter is nice on bread (well, *I* think so anyhow ), or roasted garlic (roast whole head with tippy top cut off, when done squish cloves out, the resulting mushy paste is really really good and can be spread directly on bread or toast if you want, and freezes well)

For a kind of crusty bread, olive oil with (good quality) dried oregano and grated garlic and maybe hot pepper flakes in it, makes a good drizzle or dip.

Nothing but butter is really "butter"y, though. For some people it's better not to even try to fool yourself, just sort of go in a different direction instead.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat