What Do Butter Grades Really Mean?

Just a dollop of butter on a frying pan can make the whole house smell amazing, and just a smidge in scrambled eggs can transform the entire meal, so long as you know how to properly cook with butter. With the average American consuming about 6 pounds of butter in 2022 alone, it's no wonder that so much time and effort goes into categorizing and grading the quality of butter. On the whole, butter can be put into three categories: U.S. Grade AA, U.S. Grade A, and U.S. Grade B. From there, it can be further categorized into salted, unsalted, whipped, and clarified butter. To be graded, butter must contain at least 80% milk fat, but the grading scale itself was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take a closer look at the color, salt, body, and flavor.

The USDA takes painstaking care to verify that the butters they encounter meet the standards of their grade. About 85% of butter sold in the U.S. is officially graded by the USDA, who employ federal butter graders around the country to perform weekly quality checks at facilities. When you pick up a package of butter with the little USDA shield, you can rest assured that your butter has passed a set of rigorous standards to meet its grade. While the most common grade of butter in grocery stores, and most common for baking, is U.S. Grade AA, the other grades are equally important in the kitchen.

U.S. Grade AA butter is described by the USDA as having a "pleasing" and "fine" butter flavor, while also sparking notes of "slight feed" or a "cooked" flavor. U.S. Grade A butter has a similarly desirable flavor, but not on the same level as Grade AA. U.S. Grade A butter can taste coarse, aged, bitter, flat, smothered, or acidic. The final grade, U.S. Grade B, is also described as pleasing but has the lowest mark for flavoring. It's described as tasting scorched, malty, musty, or bitter, among other flavors.

Baking and cooking with each grade of butter provides a unique experience, with differences in taste, texture, and versatility affecting how it interacts with other ingredients. Grade AA butter, as the most common and best tasting overall, is frequently used in baking (though mistakes can be made) thanks to its light flavor and smooth consistency. The high-fat content and low acidity make it ideal for professional and home chefs alike. Grade A butter is still used often for cooking and baking, but its bitter flavor and coarse texture means it yields a different result than Grade AA. Grade B butter is the most acidic and musky flavor of the bunch, and thus least used in the kitchen, especially because of its sticky and crumbly texture. The next time you use a stick of butter, remember, it's not just a kitchen staple -– it's the result of serious grading, lots of churning, and decades of high standards.