To wonder why anyone uses "spreads" instead of butter?

[AjasLipstick]

They're awful! So fake and plastic-ish. Hasn't it been proved that butter's better for you?

Do you use spread? Why?

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I use spreadable butter so halfway between 😁. I never know how you'd use normal butter, either you keep it in the fridge and it's way too hard to use, or you have to plan every time you want it and get it out early to soften or you have to leave it out all the time slowly going rancid [boak]

Butter never lasts long enough to go rancid I leave it out! Use Kerrygold or similar, a much softer butter.

And spreads, never.

it's as spreadable (unlike butter when it comes from the fridge) and loads cheaper too. have you noticed that prices of butter recently? some people are on a budget, believe it or not!

HChoc well I am in Oz....it's about 2-3 dollars here depending on brand. Seems ok to me. We go through a pack a week if I don't bake. How much is it in the UK?

I don't like the taste of butter so I use 'spreads'. I always have, probably always will. I assume it's just what one gets used to/prefers. i don't eat loads so I don't really consider health/financial impact of this decision at all.

Op, £1.60 for supermarket brands .other brands are dearer. it's gone up loads in the past 1-2 years .

By 'spreads' do you mean margarine (bleugh!) or Lurpack Spreadable (butter spreadables) Which taste more like butter but 'spread' 😂 If margarine...then maybe cost, dairy intolerances perhaps or just upbringing, if that's what they were brought up with. I personally think they taste awful, but that's because I have always had butter. But if I'd been brought up on margarine, I guess I'd think the same about butter!

Oh, and the PP who said about it 'going rancid' if left out...it doesn't!! Well, not unless you live somewhere with Saharan like temperatures and leave it out, uncovered, for weeks on end! It just sits in its little dish on the side. Completely wonderful.

I grew up eating margarine as at the time my parents believed it was healthier. For a long time this meant I found the taste of butter much too strong. I eat Lurpak now but it's taken a while to get to that point!

Cows milk protein allergy

I’m milk intolerant. Don’t have much marg and need to eat it because butter doesn’t agree with me. I can tolerate hard cheese much better.

I use butter all the time. I'm in Ireland and we have gorgeous butter from our grass fed cows. There are no spreads that come close to the taste. I'm in the UK regularly to visit my in laws and they use lurpack spread. It's disgusting IMO. Doesn't resemble butter in the slightest.

Spreads are quite a bit cheaper than butter as there is always one brand on special offer so you can usually get a tub for a pound. I imagine if you had teenage boys and a dh in the house, you’d notice the cost difference. I try to buy butter but the cheapest one is £1.40 now for a block that wont last anywhere near as long as a tub of gloop would.

I grew up on margarine (Flora). I think it was a combination of budget and thoughts about what was healthier in my mum's opinion. I was easily 26/27 when I learned the superiority of butter...

It’s price surely? Butter is £1.60 for 250g, flora is £1 for 500g.

Bertolli (olive oil spread) is OK. It doesn't rip the bread to buggery when you use it from the fridge

We use butter sometimes, from the farmers 👩‍🌾 market, it's lush! Guzzilions of calories don't care

Because of cows milk protein allergy and yes butter does taste much better but I can’t eat it.

My DH prefers the taste of 'spreadable' butter. I prefer butter so we have both

We use vitalite as have a dairy free dc

Honestly i dont notice the difference

Generally yes butter is better for you, it was a victim of the great fat is the enemy propaganda when it should have been sugar.

I use spreadable butter. I prefer real butter but it's too expensive now. I did spend years eating utterly butterly, then one day decided to go back to butter and never looked back.

Price. We don't use much spread and I'd rather economise on that and be able to buy more ethically farmed meat.

Daughter has dairy intolerance

It does go rancid when left on the side, even in a dish. I can definitely taste when that’s happened, anyway.

I read that somewhere that the molecular content of butter is only one step away from being plastic.

It's a shame Gregg Wallace and his fascinating series on how food is manufactured, have yet to include margarine!