A recent post on the popular social media site Reddit has sparked a heated online discussion about a staple product from Costco, one of the largest big-box retailers in the United States.
Many loyal Costco shoppers have been expressing their dissatisfaction with the store's own brand of butter, claiming that it is causing their baked goods to fall apart. This has led to speculation that the formulation of Costco's Kirkland Signature "blue box" sweet cream butter may have been changed.
In order to be classified as butter, cream products must meet the federal standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These standards require that butter be made exclusively from milk or cream, or a combination of both, and contain a minimum of 80% milkfat.
A four-pack of one-pound boxes of Kirkland butter is priced at approximately $17.40, according to Instacart. This is significantly cheaper than the Land O'Lakes butter sold at Walmart, which would cost around $24 for the same quantity. However, some bakers claim that they are switching brands after experiencing issues while baking with Costco's butter.
CBS MoneyWatch reached out to Costco for comment regarding any potential changes to the Kirkland butter formulation, but did not receive a response.
Variables Affecting Butter
In the United States, butter typically contains between 80% to 82% fat. However, European butters tend to have higher fat contents, resulting in denser baked goods. Another factor to consider is the water content of butter, which experts believe may be a contributing factor in the ongoing debate about Costco butter.
Rosemary Trout, a professor of culinary arts and food science at Drexel University, explained, "The amount of water that is incorporated or separated out during the churning process of cream can vary." This variability in water content can potentially lead to issues such as crumbly dough.
Trout further emphasized the importance of the structure of fats in butter, as they affect the melting and softness of the butter.
Furthermore, the quality of the milk used in butter production can also impact its behavior when used in baking. Trout stated that she is unsure if Costco made any changes to its butter recipe or formulation.
"Loss of Confidence in Costco Butter"
Many individuals have reported that they no longer purchase Costco butter and have switched to other brands due to its perceived inadequacy.
A Redditor named momster0519 initiated the debate by stating, "My mom and I have been loyalists of Costco 'blue box' salted butter for a while."
"We use butter for our pie crust recipe and that crust would not hold up! 2 batches just crumbly and could not get it to roll," a Reddit user posted.
They tried the same recipe with a different brand of butter and it worked, leading them to claim that Costco's butter had somehow changed.
"I'm hesitant to bake with it for any recipe now," the Redditor wrote.
"All sorts of trouble"
A baker who shares videos on TikTok also suspected Costco's butter was the reason her Swiss meringue buttercream frosting didn't turn out the way she'd expected. So she swapped it for another brand, while keeping everything else the same, with positive results.
"So I've been experiencing all sorts of trouble with my Swiss merengue butter cream that I've been making for years the same exact way. Have not changed a single thing and as of, just about two months ago it decided it's no longer going to work," she said in the video.
She identified the Costco butter as the culprit, saying that when she added it to the cooked egg whites, the concoction refused to whip into frosting. "It used to work wonderfully and it no longer is," she said.
According to Trout, a professor, using butter with a high water content would make it more difficult to create a product like that.
Other individuals have also mentioned having similar issues with Kirkland Signature butter, stating that it caused their cookies to spread or bake differently. Trout suggests that if cookies or other baked goods do not stick together or are too crumbly, it could indicate that the butter does not have enough water content.
Is a boycott necessary?
A writer for the food website and social network Allrecipes.com also looked into the alleged change in butter formula and could not definitively determine if the Costco butter had indeed changed, as she was unable to compare the current version to a previous one.
Her best guess is that Kirkland Signature Sweet Cream Butter may have a lower butterfat content and therefore a higher water content compared to its previous version or other butter brands.
However, the writer concluded that if this is true, it does not seem significant enough to justify boycotting Costco's butter.
