What is the difference between margarine and butter when baking. What is the difference between butter and margarine. What is healthier: butter, margarine or spread What is more harmful than margarine or butter
For several decades, many housewives have been interested in the question - is margarine in baked goods harmful to health? What are the consequences of using this product, and is there evidence of benefits and harms?
It is almost impossible to refuse homemade baked goods, despite the abundance of such products on the shelves of modern supermarkets. Homemade pies, pies and buns have a special charm, even their taste is very different. This food is prepared with love, family members and guests are happy to eat homemade products.
For many decades, margarine has been the basis for baking. Of course, today there is an opinion that this product is unhealthy, therefore advanced housewives are trying to replace it with butter or other dairy products. However, our ancestors did not see any harm in margarine, they added it to all baked goods, and no side effects were found.
Butter or margarine?
For many years, there has been a fierce debate about which is better - butter or margarine for baking? Healthy lifestyle promoters argue that margarine is harmful, it has a negative effect on health, it contains a lot of cholesterol and unhealthy fats, so its use leads to serious consequences.
However, many housewives still use this particular product, despite the well-known benefits of the oil. So, what makes these products different, which one is better and safer?
Pros and cons of oil
Butter is a product made entirely from natural cream. The component is whipped to the desired consistency. One tablespoon of butter contains:
- 30 mg of bad cholesterol.
- 7 grams of fat with harmful fatty acids.
Note! In order to avoid health problems, you should exclude from your diet oil, which is high in fatty acids. An excess of this substance can harm the arterial system.
People who cannot give up the use of butter, even realizing its harm, are advised to pay attention to those types of food that contain less fat and cholesterol. It is generally not difficult to find a good oil made with olive oil or canola oil today. In this form, it is easier to digest, which has a better effect on human health.
In baked goods, butter beats margarine because its fat content reaches eighty percent. Due to this, the adze turns out to be tender, soft and ruddy. It should be understood that oil created with the addition of other components will not produce a similar effect, therefore you need to carefully choose the product.
It is important to keep in mind that butter melts rather quickly, so it is unlikely to be suitable for making puff pastry. Moreover, to create creams, you must use odorless oil, otherwise the aroma will remain on the finished products.
Pros and cons of margarine
Unlike butter, margarine is not a natural product. It is produced by adding hydrogen molecules to vegetable oil, due to which a mass of medium or high hardness is obtained, outwardly resembling ordinary butter.
In many products of this nature, hydrogenated fats are present, which can cause serious harm - they significantly reduce the content of good cholesterol, which the body needs, and increase the amount of bad, which is harmful to the body. The harm of margarine is to increase the risk of cardiovascular and arterial diseases.
When buying, you should focus on margarine marked "soft" - in such a product, the content of hydrogenated fats is either completely absent, or significantly below the dangerous level.
For baking, even with great popularity among older generations, margarine is not the best solution. Despite its low price, this product can spoil the dish instead of making it tasty and attractive. The fact is that the fat content in margarine is only thirty-five percent, the rest of the composition is ordinary water. That is why baked goods based on margarine will simply creep over the dishes and burn.
Besides:
- The trans fats contained in margarine easily penetrate the cells of the body, creating a fertile ground for malignant neoplasms. Therefore, people with serious illnesses should refuse to use this product.
- The use of margarine by people whose diet contains mayonnaise and other sauces is strongly discouraged - these products also contain harmful trans fats that can harm the body. Together with margarine, a dangerous mixture is obtained that instantly destroys good cholesterol, saturating the body with bad.
Note! In some recipes, margarine is the main component and is prescribed specifically - in this case, you must adhere to the recommendations and follow the step-by-step instructions exactly.
Soft margarine, despite the popular belief, is much safer than butter. It's not for nothing that when choosing margarine or butter, housewives often read the composition. The soft product contains a minimum amount of harmful cholesterol and hazardous fats, therefore this product is excellent for preparing a variety of dishes.
The only thing the hostess needs to take into account is that baked goods made with margarine are likely to burn or blur.
Margarine has a rather specific taste and smell. As a rule, when baking, these qualities of the product are completely preserved, and all buns and pies acquire the taste of margarine. Despite this, housewives still do not refuse margarine, preferring it because of the low price and difficult heating.
Spread
Another popular product used for baking is spread. It is created from a mixture of a wide variety of fats, both animal and vegetable. Often natural cream, milk are added to the product, and any of the vegetable oils must be present in the composition.
Such a product often replaces the usual margarine and butter, not only due to its affordable price, but also due to the content of natural ingredients in its composition.
Video: Margarine, Spread or Butter?
Vegetable oil
One of the safest, but at the same time no less popular baking products is vegetable oil. Its main advantage is that it almost always contains exclusively natural ingredients. Moreover, manufacturers are trying to avoid harmful cholesterol in the composition of the product, therefore, the harm to health is minimal.
Despite the fact that technical progress allows us to use any products, get acquainted with their composition and replace them with analogues, margarine is still popular.
The experience of past years shows that there is nothing deadly in the use of margarine - our parents and grandparents have used this artificial substance for years, masterfully creating delicious homemade cakes and delighting guests and family members with baked goods created with warmth and love.
Take a walk through the dairy section and you will find that the selection of butter and margarine is huge. Moreover, both products are equally popular among the population. Each person has their own opinion explaining their choice. However, not everyone knows how butter actually differs from margarine.
Difference between butter and margarine
Despite the fact that these products are used mainly for the same purposes, they have little in common. The main factors that distinguish butter from margarine are the way it is made and the composition. First of all, these products contain fats of different origin. 
Butter
Butter lovers are probably aware that it is made from milk. That is, it contains exclusively animal fat. Fresh milk or cream becomes the main ingredient. The selected component is foamed to separate the fat. In this case, the liquid solidifies.
The butter we buy in stores is usually made from cow's milk, although sometimes it is substituted with other varieties. Sheep or goat milk products are also available to the consumer. 
The color of the finished oil can vary from white to deep yellow. In fact, the shade does not speak about the quality of the product, but about the diet of the animal from whose milk it was made. Moreover, for churning liquid into a dense mass, only one ingredient is required.
You may have noticed that butter packages tend to be labeled as "sweet and creamy." Why is this happening? The answer suggests itself. It's just that the main component of this product is not milk, but cream. In addition, it is pasteurized or heated before churning. This is done to extend the shelf life of the manufactured product. In many countries, such as the United States, it is strictly forbidden to sell oil that has not been pasteurized.
During churning, milk or cream turns into a thick paste. In this case, the process itself contributes to the fact that air enters the mass, making it lighter. This is why butter contains fewer calories than regular animal fats.
Yesterday I bought butter at the market, my husband attacked me with reproaches, they say I’m a kettle, I don’t understand butter, and they slipped me margarine!
I felt hurt, because I am 160 p. I gave it for a piece, about 400 grams and, today I decided to rummage and-no and interview experienced relatives and friends in butter / margarine matters, and this is what I found:
Butter is a natural product made from cow's milk or cream.
Margarine is an artificially created product from animal and vegetable fats.
Differences - butter / margarine:
1. The words "natural", "environmentally friendly" are not yet an indicator that this is oil. "Light Butter", "Sandwich Butter" ... are essentially margarine. The phrase "Butter" must be written. Also, words like “Cow's Butter” or “Made from Cream” will be a plus in favor of butter.
2. If the pack contains GOST number R 52969-2008, it is butter. However, here too you need to be careful and pay attention to the price of such oil. If a 200-gram pack costs 19 rubles, most likely it is a fake. Real oil should cost at least 30-40 rubles per package.
3. On the package, examine the composition of the product. Butter is made only from milk or cream. If the composition contains vegetable fats (peanut, coconut, palm oil, or generally "milk fat substitute"), before you - margarine!
4. You can distinguish butter from margarine empirically, but only at home: leave the purchased pack for one hour on the kitchen table. If drops of water “fogged up” appeared on it, it is margarine. The same conclusion will be if the piece from the pack immersed in water does not dissolve evenly, but stratifies into particles.
5. The color of the oil can range from whitish to pale yellow, but the oil in one batch should have a uniform color.
The color of margarine is more intense yellow, but modern margarine producers have learned to lighten margarine by adding a certain percentage of milk to it.
6. Butter practically does not smell. And you certainly shouldn't smell any smell when sniffing the selected product through the paper packaging.
7. Salt is allowed in butter.
National differences - butter / margarine:
1. Oil should be applied to bread and margarine should be spread.2. Melt butter and margarine separately at home. While solidifying, the butter will solidify into a uniform mass - ghee, and the margarine will be divided into a fatty part and a layer of milk water.
3. Standing at the refrigerator counter, slide your finger along the edge of the package, pressing lightly: the chilled butter will be harder and the edge of the packed bar will feel firm under your finger. For chilled margarine or spread, it is much softer, the edge of the package will crumble under the finger.
4. Frozen butter splits and breaks, but margarine remains plastic, easy to cut and spread.
5. Oil should not crack and crumble from the refrigerator. When cut in a thin layer, the oil should curl:
6. There is always cholesterol in oil!
7. A piece of butter in the mouth - will melt evenly without a trace, and the margarine in the mouth is smeared and sticks to the palate.
8. Butter leaves behind a pleasant creamy aftertaste, and margarine - a nasty, unnatural aftertaste.
9. In the cold, margarine does not harden like butter, and at room temperature margarine holds its shape worse than butter.
10. Buy homemade butter from someone in the village, then buy shop butter and margarine from the store. Then try option 1, after options 2 and 3, and draw conclusions))
So, what I bought from my granny meets all the requirements for butter, and its "butter" looks like margarine more ...
When he comes, I will teach him ... let's see which of us is a teapot ...
Even professionals can give you information that seems to directly contradict what you read the other day.
A good example of controversy is the health effects of consuming butter and margarine (spread).
This article compares the two products, looking at both sides of the discussion.
What are butter and margarine?
Butter is a traditional product made from whipped cream.
It is mainly added to side dishes such as mashed potatoes, cereals, pasta, or is a component of sauces, cakes and baked goods.
As a concentrated source of milk fat, it is mainly composed of saturated fat.
Long-standing studies linked high consumption of saturated fat to an increased risk of heart disease, and public health authorities in the 1970s began recommending that people limit their consumption of butter.
Margarine is a processed product that tastes and looks similar to butter. It is often recommended as a heart-healthy substitute for butter.
Today's margarines are made from vegetable oils that can lower LDL cholesterol when used in place of saturated fat.
Because vegetable oils are liquid at room temperature, food scientists change their chemical structure, making them as hard as butter.
For the past several decades, a process called hydrogenation has been used to harden vegetable oils in margarine.
Hydrogenation increases the content in the oil, but it also produces a byproduct such as unhealthy trans fats ().
A more modern process called transesterification gives similar results without the formation of trans fats ().
In addition to hydrogenated (hydrogenated) or transesterified vegetable oils, modern margarine can contain several food additives, including emulsifiers and colors.
Simply put, modern margarine is a highly processed food product made from vegetable oils, and butter is mostly milk fat.
Summary:
Butter is a dairy product that is made from whipped cream. Conversely, margarine is a product designed to mimic butter. Although butter is mostly milk fat, margarine is usually made from vegetable oils.
Useful properties of butter
Butter can contain several nutrients that are not found in many other foods.
For example, butter from grass-fed cows may provide some vitamin K2, which has been linked to improved bone health (,).
In fact, this kind of butter seems to be a better source of many nutrients than grain-fed butter.
The health effects of butter are highly dependent on the diet of the cows from which it is produced.
Cows in their natural habitat eat grass, but in many countries their menus are heavily based on grain-based feeds.
Butter from grass-fed cows is much more nutritious. It contains more:
- Vitamin AK2: This little known vitamin can help prevent many serious diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease (,,).
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): Studies show that this fatty acid may have anti-cancer properties and help reduce body fat (,,).
- Butyrate: A short chain fatty acid found in butter, which is also produced by bacteria in the intestines. It can fight inflammation, improve digestion, and may help prevent weight gain (,,).
- Omega-3: Grass-fed dairy butter contains less and more. This is important because most people consume too much omega-6 fats ().
However, butter is generally consumed in small amounts and contributes little to overall intake of these nutrients.
Summary:
Butter from grass-fed cows contains far more heart-healthy nutrients than butter from grain-fed cows.
Risks of consuming butter
Some experts are concerned about the high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol in butter and advise people to limit their intake.
High levels of saturated fat
For decades, butter has been demonized by its high saturated fat content.
It consists of about 50% saturated fat, and the rest is mainly water and unsaturated fat.
Observational studies investigating the relationship between saturated fat and the development of cardiovascular disease have produced mixed results (,,,,).
A recent review of studies concluded that eating less saturated fat was associated with a 17% reduction in the risk of heart disease when replaced with polyunsaturated fat ().
When it comes to switching saturated fat intake to carbohydrates or protein, this does not appear to have an effect ().
As a result, some experts doubt that saturated fat consumption is truly a concern. Others are still convinced that excessive consumption of saturated fat is a risk factor for heart disease ().
Proponents of this popular belief often point to studies showing that saturated fat increases levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.
While it's true that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, it's actually a little more complicated ().
Interestingly, some scientists believe that eating saturated fat may actually provide some benefits, including improving the lipid profile of the blood.
This type of fat can raise the level of "good" HDL cholesterol and change the particle size of LDL cholesterol from small and dense to large, which are considered more harmless (,,).
No compelling evidence supports claims that high consumption of butter or other dietary sources of saturated fat is directly responsible for heart disease ().
However, better research is needed before scientists can fully understand the metabolism of saturated fat and its implications for heart health.
Summary:
A high intake of saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, but the evidence is conflicting. This question is one of the most controversial in nutritional science.
High cholesterol
Butter also has high cholesterol levels.
High cholesterol intake was considered one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
This concern was based on research showing that high blood cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease ().
However, it is clear today that getting moderate amounts of cholesterol from the diet does not raise blood levels in most people. The body compensates for this by producing less of its own cholesterol.
This generally keeps blood cholesterol levels in the normal range, although very high intake can still cause a moderate increase in blood cholesterol levels (,,).
Public health authorities have advocated low-cholesterol diets for decades.
However, dietary strategies appear to have limited effect in this group ().
Scientists continue to discuss the role of dietary cholesterol in the development of cardiovascular disease, but in recent years, concerns have been decreasing (,).
Summary:
Butter has high cholesterol levels. However, it has a limited effect on blood cholesterol levels in most people.
Useful properties of margarine
The health benefits of margarine (spread) depend on which vegetable oils it contains and how it is processed.
May contain a lot of polyunsaturated fat
Most types of margarine are rich in polyunsaturated fat. The exact amount depends on which vegetable oils were used to make it.
For example, a margarine base may contain approximately 20% polyunsaturated fat ().
Polyunsaturated fats are generally considered healthy. They may even offer heart health benefits compared to saturated fat.
For example, replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat is associated with a 17% reduction in the risk of heart disease, but does not significantly affect the risk of death from cardiovascular disease (,).
Summary:
Margarine is often rich in polyunsaturated fat. Research shows that consuming polyunsaturated fat instead of saturated fat may lower your risk of heart problems.
May contain plant sterols and stanols
Some margarines are fortified with phytosterols or stanols. Vegetable oils are also naturally rich in these compounds.
Phytosterol-enriched margarines lower total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol, at least in the short term, but they can also lower “good” HDL cholesterol (,).
However, most studies found no significant association between total phytosterol intake and cardiovascular disease risk (,).
Summary:
Margarine is made from vegetable oils and is often rich in phytosterols. Although phytosterols can lower LDL cholesterol, they do not appear to affect cardiovascular risk.
The risks of eating margarine
While margarine may contain some heart-healthy nutrients, it often contains trans fat, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other chronic health problems ().
Vegetable oils are not solid at room temperature like butter.
To make them solid for use as margarine, chemical scientists chemically change their structure using a process called hydrogenation.
This process involves exposing vegetable oils to high temperatures, high pressure, hydrogen and a metal catalyst.
Hydrogenation changes some of the unsaturated fat to saturated fat, which remains solid at room temperature, and also increases the shelf life of the product.
Unfortunately, trans fat is generated as a by-product of the hydrogenation process. High consumption of these trans fats is associated with an increased risk of chronic disease ().
For this reason, health authorities strongly advise people to limit their consumption.
In addition, the FDA is enforcing a ban on trans fat in all processed foods, although food manufacturers can apply for an exemption.
As a result, many food manufacturers have begun using a new technique to cure vegetable oils to make margarine.
This method is called transesterification. It replaces some unsaturated fats in the oil with saturated fat ().
Transesterified vegetable oils are considered healthier than hydrogenated oils because they do not contain trans fats.
If you prefer margarine (spread), try opting for non-trans options. If you see the words “hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated” on the packaging anywhere on the ingredient list, avoid this margarine.
Summary:
Many margarines are high in trans fats, which are associated with an increased risk of chronic disease. However, due to the spread of information about their dangers and new laws, margarines without trans fats are becoming more common.
There are many types of polyunsaturated fats.
They are often divided into categories based on their chemical structure. The two most common are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Omega-3 fats are considered anti-inflammatory, which means that they are capable of reducing inflammation in the body. Conversely, consuming too many omega-6 fatty acids can contribute to chronic inflammation.
The optimal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is estimated to be approximately 1: 1.
People are currently eating too much omega-6 fats. In fact, in developed countries the ratio is estimated as 20: 1 ().
Observational studies have linked high intakes of omega-6 fats to an increased risk of obesity and the development of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and inflammatory bowel disease ().
However, an analysis of controlled studies concludes that linoleic acid (the most abundant omega-6 fat) does not affect levels of inflammatory blood markers (,).
Because of this inconsistency, it is unclear whether increased consumption of omega-6 fats is actually causing problems. For this reason, more research is needed.
Vegetable oils that are particularly high in omega-6 include sunflower oil, soybean oil, and cottonseed oil.
If you are worried about eating too much omega-6 fatty acids, avoid margarine based on these vegetable oils.
Summary:
Margarine is often high in polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids. Some scientists believe that excessive consumption of omega-6 may contribute to inflammation, but controlled studies do not support this theory.
Summarize
- Butter and margarine look almost the same and are used for the same purposes in the kitchen.
- However, their food profiles differ. While butter contains saturated fat, margarine is rich in unsaturated fat and often trans fat.
- The health effects of saturated fats are controversial, and their role in the development of cardiovascular disease has been reduced in recent years.
- On the contrary, scientists agree that trans fats, which are found in certain types of margarines, increase the risk of developing chronic diseases. For this reason, trans fat-free margarines are becoming more common.
- If you prefer to consume margarine, make sure you buy brands that are free of trans fat and made with healthy vegetable oils such as.
- If you prefer butter, consider buying products made from grass-fed cows rather than grains.
- It is difficult to say which is healthier, butter or margarine, since there are products of various quality and composition on the market. In any case, the more natural the product, the more beneficial it will be for health.
- Regardless of which one you choose, consume these foods in moderation.
In ancient and relatively old, published before the 60s, recipe books, there is no such word as "margarine" at all!
All baking recipes use only casein-free butter.
Today this pleasure is expensive. And no one will give a guarantee that under the guise of butter we buy butter and not a high-quality spread. Vegetable oils are everywhere.
If it is possible to use oil and you have nothing against increasing the calorie content of food, then use oil.
If you are more inclined in favor of margarine, keep in mind that this fatty product has no restrictions on the presence of vegetable oils in the composition. At the same time, the spread should not contain more than 8%. So, you can get as close as possible to the classic recipes using the spread.
I have ever baked on margarine, and on the cheapest. I can't say what turned out to be tasteless! Everything is very good. But cheap margarine is completely unsuitable for making fatty creams.
★★★★★★★★★★
The difference between butter and margarine is that the first (if it is a natural product) is almost pure fat, and margarine is a mixture of different fats with water, and more specifically, "water in oil".
Some types of margarine contain a lot of water, and if this is not critical for the type of baking you are going to make, you can use it too. But if you need to cook something of a very high quality, for example a Napoleon cake, then there can be no question of any margarine. Not only is this cake not baked with vegetable oils, there should be no water in it at all.
Another reason why it is better to refuse margarine. If you don't stick to the basics of proper nutrition, buy store-bought sweets, and use margarine in homemade baked goods, you can oversaturate the body with trans fats. We have already discussed on the site the problem of the harmful effects of trans fats on the body and health. I don't think you should make the situation worse if you can do without harmful ingredients in your diet.
Some scientists and nutritionists have come to believe that the presence of trans fats in the diet and the appearance of diseases such as coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, oncology and cardiovascular problems are not an accident, but a pattern. Trans isomers of fatty acids that are formed in various oils when it is heated are a huge harm to health, and this is a fact repeatedly proven.
Answering the question, what is better for baking: butter or margarine (spread), we can say the following - nothing is suitable. It is best to avoid these two fats as much as possible and use refined vegetable oil.
★★★★★★★★★★
In fact - no difference. It will not affect the taste of the pies in any way: the dough was cooked in butter or in margarine.
In my opinion, for successful baking, it practically does not matter which of these two industrial fats you use for baking. But! .. Quite other things are of no small importance, namely: the correct composition of the ingredients of the future dough and their quantitative ratio, the correct technological approach to dough preparation is also very important. Simply put: you can bake a delicious air cake based on ordinary margarine, but you can cook something inedible with the most expensive type of butter.
For persuasiveness I will add. My many years of experience with homemade baking eloquently testifies to the fact that the most inexpensive margarine is quite suitable for the preparation of any high-quality dough, be it: puff, shortbread or traditional yeast dough. It makes no sense to transfer money to butter. But for creams and fillings (meat, vegetable or fish), I always use the most expensive butter.
Examples of my pastries, where butter in the dough can be replaced with margarine:
Yeast pies with meat.