Sticks of butter

Can someone tell me why on the west coast of the U.S. the sticks of butter are squatty and in the east they are the same length of the packaging (when you buy a pound--four sticks)? My butter dish is "eastern" apparently, and the squatty ones don't fit! ha.
What shape are they where you live?

We have 250 gm blocks, with the wrapper marked to help you cut 25 gm quantities. But we live in Europe, where weighing machines are commonplace.

Made 350 g of brandy butter and 350 g of rum butter to go with the Christmas pud tomorrow.

Taylor's 63 should wash it all down pretty well.

if someone tells me that land of lakes butter is different shapes in different markets, i will be shocked, shocked, shocked.

The 68-pound blocks I buy are of a different shape.

I'm a West Coastian and all the butter cubes I've seen are "squatty", not long and skinny. I don't recall seeing long, skinny cubes of butter when I was on the East Coast, but then I was in the Army and it was 45 years ago, so it doesn't really count.

John

if someone tells me that land of lakes butter is different shapes in different markets, i will be shocked, shocked, shocked.

Get ready to be shocked, David...
http://www2.prnewswire.com/mnr/landolakes/27231/

Okay, I guess I found the answer.

From Wikipedia:

Shape of butter sticks

In the United States, butter sticks are usually produced and sold in 4-ounce sticks, wrapped in wax paper and sold four to a carton. This practice is believed to have originated in 1907 when Swift and Company began packaging butter in this manner for mass distribution.[25]

Due to historical variances in butter printers, these sticks are commonly produced in two differing shapes:

The dominant shape east of the Rocky Mountains is the Elgin, or Eastern-pack shape. This shape was originally developed by the Elgin Butter Tub Company, founded in 1882 in Elgin, Illinois, and Rock Falls, Illinois. The sticks are 4¾ inches long and 1¼ inches (121 mm × 32 mm) wide, and are usually sold packed side-by-side in a rectangular container.[26] Among the early butter printers to use this shape was the Elgin Butter Cutter.

West of the Rocky Mountains, butter printers standardized on a different shape that is now referred to as the Western-pack shape.[26] These butter sticks are 3¼ inches long and 1½ inches wide (80 mm × 38 mm) and are typically sold in cube-shaped boxes stacked two by two.

Both sticks contain the same amount of butter, although most butter dishes are designed for Elgin-style butter sticks.

The stick's wrapper is usually marked off as eight tablespoons (120 ml/4.2 imp fl oz; 4.1 US fl oz); the actual volume of one stick is approximately nine tablespoons (130 ml/4.6 imp fl oz; 4.4 US fl oz).

The 68-pound blocks I buy are of a different shape.

And does the wrapper have tablespoons marked off on it?

if someone tells me that land of lakes butter is different shapes in different markets, i will be shocked, shocked, shocked.

Be shocked. We have purchased LOL Butter in the same store right here in New Hampshire that have come in both quarter pound sticks and eighth of a pound sticks (eight to a package).

The 4 sticks to the pound butter is primarily a North American thing. Throughout Europe and the Middle East most of the commercial butters come in 100 gram rather flat rectangular packages or 350 gram packs. Most of the truly good butter however comes in blocks that weigh up to 15-20 kilograms and one tends to buy the necessary amount cut from those blocks.

Despite the reputation for example of Normandy butter, the commercial packages (Elle et Vivre, President's, etc) are rather ordinary but those that are shipped from smaller creameries in blocks can reach godlike qualities. Even in Israel where Tnuva butter in small packages is basically tasteless, the cognescenti know that even Tnuva makes fine butter but that will be found primarily in the shuks in large blocks and not at supermarkets wrapped in whatever that paper is that they use.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

I'm a West Coastian and all the butter cubes I've seen are "squatty", not long and skinny. I don't recall seeing long, skinny cubes of butter when I was on the East Coast, but then I was in the Army and it was 45 years ago, so it doesn't really count.

John

Land O'Lakes is here, and they're long and skinny cubes (to alay Mr. Creighton's fears). Basically you can tell by the shape of the packaging what's inside. I'm not aware of any other long/skinny grands; however, I preferentially buy my butter from Canada, a Quebecoise butter, which is also long and skinny.

When all's said and done, though, "It's better with butter!"

John

jenise, we travel to windsor ontario to buy presidents choice fresh churned butter - now called country churned i think. it has a very fresh clean taste similar to the old land o lakes that has long since become new and 'improved'. i'm sure a good farm butter would be better; but if you've never tried it, i recommend this version of presidents choice.