Having been born in New York and growing up along the East Coast, I’ve always known butter sticks to be long and slender, bundled in fours and arranged in a cube. However, they handle butter a bit differently on the west side of the Rocky Mountains.
It’s All About Stick Shapes
There is, indeed, a difference between East Coast and West Coast butter, but it pertains to the packaging’s size and shape rather than the butter’s composition. A 4-ounce stick remains a 4-ounce stick, but on the East Coast, these sticks are long and thin. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the butter sticks are shorter and wider, earning them the nickname “stubbies.”
Why East Coast and West Coast Butter Sticks Are Different
The history behind the difference in butter sticks is quite fascinating. Prior to 1906, butter was sold in one-pound blocks, wrapped in parchment, and boxed. A New Orleans restaurant requested that a butter company package butter in four quarter-pound sticks instead of one large block, a request they fulfilled, leading to the popularization of these sticks.
In that era, Elgin, Illinois, home of the renowned Elgin Butter Company since 1871, was dubbed the ‘Butter Capital of the World.’ The Elgin Butter Company’s cutting method determined the size of the East Coast butter sticks, which were then named Elgin sticks, as outlined in a 1948 paper on butter packaging.
The West Coast’s Sticks Are Stubbier
The West Coast entered the butter making industry significantly during the 1960s, as highlighted by reporter Tommy Andres on APM’s Marketplace. John Bruhn, former director of the Dairy Research and Information Center at the University of California, Davis, stated that “the size of the cube you see is a result of newer equipment purchased at the time to package the butter.” This distinction remains, with even Minnesota-based Land O’ Lakes producing butter in both sizes for regional distribution.
What This Means to You
Generally, the difference in butter size doesn’t affect cooking. Whether you’re whipping, melting, or churning butter, the packaging is irrelevant.
The issue of different butter sizes becomes significant when seeking kitchen accessories, such as a butter dish. For instance, if you move from Massachusetts to California, your butter dish may not accommodate the standard stick there. Instead of blaming the butter or trying to make it fit, consider purchasing a new dish that accommodates both sizes for convenience.
