Effect of the Fat Content of Cream on the Physical Properties of Butter

Abstract

Butter used in commercial pastry making is often extruded into sheets for better use in lamination. Butter extrusion can result in water loss, and the degree of water loss is affected by the physical properties of the butter, which in turn can be affected by the fat content of the cream. In this study, butter was made from creams with different amounts of fat (38, 40, 42, 44, 46, and 48%) to understand how physical properties of butter, including water loss, are affected by the cream’s fat content. Physical properties measured include solid fat content, melting profile, water droplets size, hardness, viscoelastic behavior, water content, and water loss. Significant differences were not identified between cream fat content levels in most of the physical properties. However, strong correlations were identified between water loss and fat content of cream, enthalpy, G’, delta, and water content. These correlations identified that increasing the fat content of the cream had a positive correlation with water loss and with water content. As determined in a previous study, water loss is highly correlated with water content. Water loss was also positively correlated with enthalpy and G’. A negative correlation was determined between water loss and delta. Overall, these results indicate that water loss increases with an increased fat content of cream (p-value: 0.01, r: 0.918), with higher water content in the butter (p-value: 0.001, r: 0.971) and with higher melting enthalpy (p-value: 0.004, r: 0.950) and delta (p-value: 0.001, r: 0.975) and a decreased G’ (p-value: 0.043, r: 0.826).