{"id":14853,"date":"2018-11-12T04:15:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T12:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=14853"},"modified":"2024-01-07T08:19:17","modified_gmt":"2024-01-07T16:19:17","slug":"my-margarine-taste-test-which-brand-tastes-most-like-butter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id14853-my-margarine-taste-test-which-brand-tastes-most-like-butter-2.html","title":{"rendered":"My Margarine Taste Test: Which Brand Tastes Most Like Butter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stick<\/a>Did you know margarine was invented in 1869 after a challenge from Emperor Louis Napoleon III, who was looking for a satisfactory low-cost substitute for butter that could be used by commoners and his military? It was.<\/p>\n

Over the years, butter consumption has steadily decreased<\/a> in the United States. By the end of World War II, the average person consumed roughly 15 pounds of butter annually, but less than 4 pounds of margarine. However, since the 1960s, Americans have preferred the lower-cost butter substitute — so much so that, by the turn of the 21st century, the average American was consuming approximately 8 pounds of margarine per year, compared with only 5 pounds of butter.<\/p>\n

Of course, every margarine maker wants you to believe that their spread tastes like the real thing. Obviously, they can’t all<\/strong><\/em> be dead-ringers. It’s only natural that some margarine brands do a — if you’ll pardon the expression — “butter” job than others, which is why I decided to conduct yet another of my taste-test experiments to sort out the posers from the creme de la creme<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How the Test Was Conducted<\/strong><\/p>\n

As with all of my experiments, like the blind ketchup taste test<\/a>, I recruited a bunch of family members as an expert panel. As an added bonus, this time three additional family friends joined in the fun too.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for my dog, Major<\/a>, he was forced to sit this one out, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n

Anyway, with the panel in place, I prepared the individual samples by spreading five butter substitutes — plus one more that was real butter — on individual baguette slices. To ensure the taste test was a blind comparison, the samples were placed on plates marked ‘1’ through ‘6.’<\/p>\n

The experts were asked to give each sample a traditional letter grade solely for taste<\/em>. The top performers received ‘A’ grades, and the worst-tasting samples received an ‘F.’ The panel was also free to note any accompanying comments they had regarding each sample.<\/p>\n

When comparing products, panelists who could not discern a clear taste advantage between two or more brands were allowed to give identical grades.<\/p>\n

Finally, each panelist was asked to give their best guess as to which of the six samples was the real butter.<\/p>\n

The Expert Panel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before we get to the results, let’s once again meet our distinguished panel of experts:<\/p>\n

\"Doris\"<\/p>\n

Aunt Doris<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: London, England
\nAge: She’ll never tell. (No, wait … she did!<\/a>)
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Josh Brogin<\/p>\n

\"Mom\"<\/p>\n

Mom<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Youngstown, Ohio
\nAge: 71
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Kenny Rogers<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tony<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: New Haven, Connecticut
\nAge: 69
\nFavorite Musical Artist: The Bee Gees (No, wait … Carrie Underwood!)<\/p>\n

\"Rose\"<\/p>\n

Rose<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Los Angeles, California
\nAge: Old enough to be my mother-in-law.
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Garth Brooks (No, wait … Fleetwood Mac!)<\/p>\n

\"Chris\"<\/p>\n

Chris<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Hemet, California
\nAge: Something-nine
\nFavorite Musical Artist: David Phelps<\/p>\n

\"Honeybee\"<\/p>\n

The Honeybee<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Whittier, California
\nAge: 44
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Matchbox Twenty (“Because Rob Thomas is HOT!<\/a>“)<\/p>\n

\"Mark\"<\/p>\n

Mark<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Escondido, California
\nAge: 31
\nFavorite Musical Artist: The Beatles<\/p>\n

\"Matthew\"<\/p>\n

Matthew<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Fontana, California
\nAge: 15
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Matchbox Twenty<\/p>\n

\"Nina\"<\/p>\n

Nina<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Fontana, California
\nAge: 13
\nFavorite Musical Artist: One Direction<\/p>\n

\"Laura\"<\/strong>Laura<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: A hospital.
\nAge: Older than Mark
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Fernando Ortega (I know. I never heard of him either.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Paul<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Not sure. He was just a baby at the time.
\nAge: Younger than Aunt Doris
\nFavorite Musical Artist: The Monkees<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Claire<\/strong>
\nBirthplace: Anytown, USA
\nAge: What Paul said.
\nFavorite Musical Artist: Steve Green<\/p>\n

Introducing The Competitors<\/strong><\/p>\n

I ran down to my local Albertsons supermarket and bought five butter substitutes they were offering for sale:<\/p>\n