The pros: Trader Joe's Unsalted Butter is good quality butter. It's comparable to what you get in the supermarket, but it's not European level better.
The cons: The stick size is completely different. I had to reexamine the package a few times to make sure I actually bought a pound of butter (I did). See my pictures as to why the butter dish may not be the best place for this.
The verdict: For $2.69 it may or may not be cheaper than the butter you'd get on sale at your local market. I'd bake with this, but won't put it in a butter dish a serve to guests because I didn't realize they made the stick of butter in a different dimension.
The box of Trader Joe's Unsalted Butter Quarters:
The nutritional information:
Out of the package you get something curious. The top stick is regular supermarket butter. The bottom is Trader Joe's butter:
And you are probably wondering is it the same size even though it doesn't look it? The answer is yes:
Would I buy this again? If I need butter Trader Joe's Unsalted Butter Quarters bakes well, but I wouldn't put this in the butter dish and I'll need 2 sticks to do the job.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
This review made me smile... Depending on where you live, the sticks or cubes of butter are long or short.. The first time I bought butter in long sticks I thought it was a weird way to package butter..
As an aside... When I grew up during World War 2, "butter" was bought in a large white cube, along with a package of yellow powder.. My job, as a kid, was to scrub my hands and mix the powder into the soft cube to make "butter"... A fond memory... :o)
I love stories like this. Thanks so much for sharing! Glad rationing is over. I still have the family ration book from the end of the war.
West coast cubes vs. East coast sticks -- Sticks have been around longer and are much more common (can be found East and West), the cubes are far more common out West. Trader Joe's being founded and based in California, it makes sense their butter is produced out West.
Supposedly, when the commercial dairy/butter industry was born, a company called Elgin produced most of the processing equipment for eastern based dairies and so butter sticks were all the same size...as West coast dairies started popping up and producing butter, the Elgin company had shut down or was no longer producing equipment and the company that replaced them made shorter and fatter sticks. Today, larger companies like Land O Lakes produce butter in both sizes to meet the preferences of their respective customers and regional dairies produce the same size they always have, so both sizes live on...
Great insight K. Myers! Thanks fo sharing!