I’m new to this preparing stuff. I’m not too keen on dehydrated foods so I’m looking for real foods that store a long time. I was reading about real butter here and noticed everyone was talking about this internetgrocer place. I just got back from their site and noticed that they have there butter ON SALE for $80.00 per case. It said that the sale ends Oct. 2. I thought that this was a real bargain and wanted everyone to know.
See the thread on the Red Feather distributor for the USA.
You can buy it directly at retail from the distributor and cut out the middle-man.
There is also a source for group buys on that thread.
Not only is the butter cheaper direct from the disributor, but they have the cheese in a can too. Go to www.mredepot.com and use the code take10 for the group buy discount. Definately better than freeze dried.
Internet Grocer also has the cheese, too.
Has anyone tried this butter? Can you tell me how it was?
Fully Prepped In SoCal
I have an open can of butter sitting on my counter right now. I had to try it! It’s just butter, spreads great,ingredients are pasturized cream and salt. I measured about 1 1/4 cup per can although it’s 12 oz, that’s like 3 sticks of butter(that should be 1 1/2 cup, maybe I’ll measure agin with the next one). We don’t use a lot of buter on bread and stuff like that but I like to bake with it. I bought two cases.
I’ve tried ghee, which has the consistency of thick oil and it works great but adds it’s own flavor which my family hasn’t gotten used to yet. I have a 32oz jar that’s been sitting open on the counter for well over a month now and it’s still fine. I’ve used in making rice dishes, bannana bread and cookies. I’ve stored a couple of jars but not a lot. It creams with sugar GREAT!
Kathy in FL has recipes for butter substitutes. I’ve tried butter powder but haven’t found the mix I can really like. I’m still experimenting with that. I do have a #10 can of butter powder(unopened) and a half pound from my local bulk store that I get to play with.
I’ve put up my own butter in jars but it came out too salty. I figure I have better uses for my canning jars. Plus there are numerous comments about botulism since it doesn’t use traditional canning methods.
sorry that was me:-)
Fully Prepped In SoCal – at 09:47 Has anyone tried this butter? Can you tell me how it was?
I tried it today. I love butter and I must say, the canned butter is GOOD, surprisingly. So good that I will order another case tonight. Hope that helped. It’s just like real butter…still can’t get over it :)
Bump! Thanks!
Thank you silversage & orange-brown - can’t ask for a better endorsement from real folks (not some advertisment), and figured I would check before I buy. I definately agree on the butter powder - just not the same thing. OK for baking or seasoning stews, but you can’t spread it on a piece of bread!! I just ordered a couple of cases with the 10% discount mredepot dot com, thank you to Lasiker for spreading the word and saving me enough to pick up some of the canned cheese too!
The things we buy for prepping, huh? But, I guess all those beans and rice will taste better for sure with a big dollip of butter on them!
I figured if people will sell you canned butter, it must be possible to can your own. Here’s how to do it.
And here’s a nifty way to keep it fresh for many days after you’ve opened a jar:
I would have thought the same thing, and always like to save a few bucks whenever possible - but after seeing a post from Bird Guano – at 17:13 on a different thread (Canned Butter and Cheese Distributor, http://tinyurl.com/hjmab);
“I would much prefer to use commercially canned butter, than risk botulism by canning my own. The risk is very real.
Sure, you may have 299 people who have had no problem. With my luck I would be #300 and get botulism.
MUCH SAFER to use a commercial process canner.”
And, from Clawdia – at 17:10 on the same thread;
“Oh - and by the way - I refuse to run the risk of botulism poisoning by canning my own butter. I can’t imagine many things worse than making myself deathly ill trying to save money during a pandemic. I’d feel stupid (but that’s just me).”
After seeing that, I think I’ll pay a couple of dollars more and sleep better at night knowing it (and my family) is safe - after all, you won’t know until you have to dig into your preps because you need to, and then if it’s bad, it’s going to be too late…
Thanks for the word. I will not be “canning butter” after all unless I find a better means to do it. I wanted to check out your concern and googling turned up this from the University of Georgia:
Should I use directions for canning butter at home that I see on the Internet?
Indeed, there are some directions for ‘canning’ butter in circulation on the Internet. Most of what we have seen are not really canning, as they do not have Boiling Water or Pressure Canning processes applied to the filled jar. Jars are preheated, the butter is melted down and poured into the jars, and the lids are put on the jars. Some directions say to put the jars in the refrigerator as they re-harden, but to keep shaking them at regular intervals to keep the separating butter better mixed as it hardens. This is merely storing butter in canning jars, not ‘canning’. True home canning is when the food is heated enough to destroy or sufficiently acid enough to prevent growth of all spores of Clostridium botulinum (that causes botulism) and other pathogens during room temperature storage on the shelf.
Additionally, when you consider the economics of the process (energy costs involved with heating, cost of jars and lids, etc.), even if the butter is bought on sale, it may not be economically viable to prepare butter to store for years in this manner. Good quality butter is readily available at all times, if butter is needed for fresh use. If the concern is about emergency food supplies, there are dry forms of butter that can be purchased and stored, oils that can be used in an emergency, or commercially canned butter in tins (although we have only seen this for sale from other countries). Melted and re-hardened butter may not function the same as original butter in many types of baking anyway.
There are a few issues with the common directions circulating on the Internet at this time (Spring 2006):
Physical safety and food quality: In the provided directions, the jars are preheated in an oven (dry-heat), which is not recommended for canning jars. Manufacturers of canning jars do not recommend baking or oven canning in the jars. It is very risky with regard to causing jar breakage. There is no guarantee that the jars heated in this dry manner are sufficiently heated to sterilize them, as we do not have data on sterilizing jar surfaces by this dry-heating method. The butter is not really being ‘canned’; it is simply being melted and put in canning jars, and covered with lids. Due to some heat present from the hot melted butters and preheated jars, some degree of vacuum is pulled on the lids to develop a seal. It rarely is as strong a vacuum as you obtain in jars sealed through heat processing. The practice in these ‘canned’ butter directions is referred to as ‘open-kettle’ canning in our terminology, which is really no canning at all, since the jar (with product in it) is not being heat processed before storage.
Although mostly fat, butter is a low-acid food. Meat, vegetables, butter, cream, etc. are low-acid products that will support the outgrowth of C. botulinum and toxin formation in a sealed jar at room temperature. Low-acid products have to be pressure-canned by tested processes to be kept in a sealed jar at room temperature. It is not clear what the botulism risk is from such a high-fat product, but to store a low-acid moist food in a sealed jar at room temperature requires processing to destroy spores. A normal salted butter has about 16–17% water, some salt, protein, vitamins and minerals. Some butter-like spreads have varying amounts of water in them. We have no kind of database in the home canning/food processing arena to know what the microbiological concerns would be in a butter stored at room temperature in a sealed jar. In the absence of that, given that it is low-acid and that fats can protect spores from heat if they are in the product during a canning process, we cannot recommend storing butter produced by these methods under vacuum sealed conditions at room temperature.
Some other directions do call for ‘canning’ the filled jars of butter in a dry oven. This also is not ‘canning’. There is not sufficient, research-based documentation to support that ‘canning’ any food in a dry oven as described on this web page or any page that proposes oven canning is even sufficient heating to destroy bacteria of concern, let alone enough to produce a proper seal with today’s home canning lids.
In conclusion, with no testing having been conducted to validate these methods, we would NOT recommend or endorse them as a safe home-canning process, let alone for storing butter at room temperature for an extended period. We do know that the methods given for preheating empty jars, or even filled jars, in a dry oven are not recommended by the jar manufacturers or by us for any food. Aside from the physical safety and quality issues, and the fact that it is not canning at all, if there happened to be spores of certain bacteria in there, these procedures will not destroy those spores for safe room temperature storage.
Death is kind of “expensive” to me vs a higher priced commercially canned butter that uses a commercial process.
But YMMV.
I’m risk averse (yes I know, a funny statement coming from someone who walks INTO burning buildings voluntarily)
I’m not willing to risk it, and have thus purchased a bunch of commercially canned butter.
I would never even THINK of “home canning” butter because of the risks.
I’ve been researching butter and found this, also… anybody have any thoughts on this?? I found it at: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000SO5
Butter can be canned… Put 3 or 4 quarters of butter into a quart jar, cover with salt water. This salt water should have been boiled and cooled. It should also have enough salt in it to have an egg flowt(−5sp) on the top. Cover the butter to overflowing the jar and put jar lid on go and tight. Most sailers use this method, and if kept in a cool dark storage area, will keep butter for at least a year.
If this is safe … this just might be the answer!
InKy’s info is correct according to all info I’ve seen, but it didn’t stop me from trying it — but after the first jar I used, I was afraid to use the others so I dumped them after a year.
Bird Guano – at 20:53 nailed it—don’t do it.
Botulism is an anerobic microbe.
Covering it with salt water won’t do ANYTHING but give it a cozy environment to grow without oxygen.
It’s still a risk higher than I would be willing to take for butter.
I’ll stick with the commercially processed product.
BG, I’ll be sticking with that commercially processed product as well.
I hope that because of the statements you and I made about this, perhaps someone who would otherwise have been willing to risk their health and that of their family by canning butter themselves will realize what a bad idea it can be - that’s why we’re here, after all, to share knowledge and to try to help one another.
My butter from mredepot arrived today. I ordered it last thursday, so given the weekend, it was pretty fast. Great communication from the company, several e-mails from them as a follow up. I used the take10 discount and it was around $96. Great packaging, I would do it again if I need it. Good company.
Take care,
Worldman
I ordered from mredepot friday night around 9 pm, had an email waiting for me when I got home from work today and it should be here tomorrow.
thats fast. Mine was 97.11
I just ordered a case of the canned butter and I would encourage anyone thinking about it to do so before they sell out like they did earlier in the year. Has anyone tried the canned cheese from Red Feather?
I believe the cheese is manufactured in Australia under the Kraft Label. It has a mild flavor with just a hint of sharpness to it, and has texture similar to a Gouda or Edam cheese. I am a sharp cheese kind of gal, but I do like this cheese sliced with crackers. I haven’t tried it in cooking yet, but imagine it will do just fine.
Does anyone know the shelf life on the Kraft canned cheese? Got my case today, and its printed on the outside of the box, Best Used by Aug. 07. Guess I was expecting a longer shelf life.
I have to admit it…not only can I NOT afford these prices for this canned butter ya’ll are raving about; but I wouldn’t pay that even if I could !
Soooo; as alternatives, I’ll be using:
Honey or jam on toast, & hot breads & cereals, A Vietnamese fish sauce on Cold Rice, ( among other sauces and condiments) I have Jasmine Rice; and it’s good even cold, with no salt or anything !
Peanut Butter, as a substitute, too..
Can you pressure can Velveeta ?
I know plain Lard can be pressure canned, you just have to clean the jar rims extra good, so they will seal.
The cheese will keep indefinitely—someone on another board said he tried it five years out; the exp date is required by law. The recommendations are that you keep it in a cool place—got mine stashed under the guest room bed.
I canned some butter - then got scared so I froze it. Would that make it safe to eat?
I canned some butter - then got scared so I froze it. Would that make it safe to eat? I put it in the freezer the next day. It was never sitting out on a shelf.
You know Lkay, if you used it up right away it would most likely be OK since botulism would take a little time to form I guess. If it were me, I’d probably take a jar out, dip in it water to soften the butter enough so that it could slide out of the jar, then cut some off to use & put the rest back into the jar & back into the freezer.
Has anyone tried making their own ghee? I’ve found several site with recipes and it sounds like a workable deal.May be more expensive as they say to use only organic butter to make it but it does seem to be more stable then canning your own butter.
Good question Lkay, I wonder if it was used in baking something would the heat kill all the bugs? Most breads, cookies and such bake at about 350 degrees. Would that do it? Because I too have some in the freezer.
Do you all REALLY want to be risking botulism or even food poisoning during a pandemic, where basic medical care may not be available at ALL ?
For me the alternatives to save a few $$$ are just not worth the risks.
I just got my red feather butter from mrewholesalers (www.mredepot.com) - took 2 days to get here, and I for one will sleep a LOT better at night knowing that I don’t have to worry about botulism if I have to dip into it. Kudos to mredepot for fast service, online tracking and great packaging - I highly recommend them! Thanks for the tip on this stuff everyone!!
I just cannot justify the cost of the online butter and cheese products.
I have a #10 can of powdered margarine which I bought before I learned how to make a really reasonable butter substitute using powdered milk. I’ve actually started using the butter substitute I make as much as the regular stuff.
Kathy in FL, could you share how you make your butter substitute if you haven’t already. New to this site so I’m still trying to find myself around and hate to ask something that has already been posted. Thanks.
Chesapeake, good question too. I know so little about botulism (do know just the name scares me) so have no idea if cooking with it would kill it. I’ve always frozen butter so thought that freezing that butter I canned so soon after doing it would make it safe. Now I’m second guessing that decision.
Lkay …
Here it is. I usually add a little more powdered milk and a little less oil as I live in a very humid state and prefer a thicker product. Some people like it to be thinner and spritz it on similar to the fancy new salad spritzers on the market.
Good Tip: whisk your oil a little at a time into your powdered milk so that you can have more control over how thick/thin and how smooth your product comes out.
Margarine Substitute using powdered milk
Mix water and food coloring with powdered milk until completely dissolved. Drizzle the cooking oil into the milk/water mixture and whisk as you drizzle. You need a nice, even incorporation of the oil. If your mixture is still too soft for your preference, you can mix in a little additional powdered milk. You can also add just a little bit of salt if you desire.
I also add a couple drops of butter flavoring/extract if I am using it on veggies, potatoes, etc to give it just a little extra oomph.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the recipe Kathy.
I hope NEVER to use it. LOL
It reminds me of my grandmother’s stories about WW2 rationing , and putting yellow food coloring in Crisco sticks.
Just got a case of canned cheese from mredepot.com to go with my canned butter, and it also shipped lightening fast. Great value - 36 cans to a case instead of 24 for the butter, so I’m set for a while (unless the wife keeps raiding my supplies like she did with the butter;-)! Label says it is 25 pounds worth, so why mess around with powdered when you can have the real thing for the same price per pound as real cheese from the deli (~$3/pound already canned for me - commercially by Kraft, so I know it is safe). The sale still worked Sunday night, so it must still be on. take10 is the code you enter at check out.
Recieved my Butter and Cheese from mredepot on Friday. Made it from CA to MD without a dent one. Good job packing and quick delivery. A little disappointed in the shelf life of the cheese….label said best if used by Aug. 2007
Recieved my Butter and Cheese from mredepot on Friday. Made it from CA to MD without a dent one. Good job packing and quick delivery. A little disappointed in the shelf life of the cheese….label said best if used by Aug. 2007
Anon7588 - that’s a “Best Buy” date, not an expiration date. I talked to mredepot to confirm after reading on another post that the shelf life is indefinate, and although they say it actually isn’t “indefinate”, it is 10 to 15 years comfortably. I guess the FDA started requiring a best by date for importation this year, and for the last 10+ years it never had a date on it. Because it’s packed in a no oxygen environment with a fully lined can (cheese doesn’t touch metal, just like the butter), it will probably never actually spoil (no way for microbes or bacteria to grow if they are never present or never introduced), but beyond 10 years or so, it will start losing nutritional value like all canned, retort packed food (mres) or even freeze dried/dehydrated meats, fruit and vegetables.
So bottom line, it will still be fine to eat probably 20+ years from now. Heck, I’ve seen canned k-rats and c-rats left over from the vietnam era that are almost 40 years old now and still OK to eat even though they may taste a little stale and have 1/3rd the vitamins and minerals. However, they will fill you up and taste pretty good in a pinch if TSHTF and you have to tap into your preps 20 years from now.
AchillesMM…..Thanks, that’s good to know.
If anyone is still looking for a deal on canned butter and canned cheese - be sure to see the thread “Join in with Group Buying for Canned Butter Cheese and MREs” (http://tinyurl.com/ync9ul). We need all the help we can get…
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