the fatty substance of milk from which butter is made.

Almost synonymous with milkfat; all of the fat components in milk that are separable by churning. Buttermilk -- The tangy, butter-flecked liquid left over when whole milk has been churned to make butter. Most commercial buttermilk sold in food stores is a cultured form made by adding lactic-acid bacteria to low-fat or nonfat milk.

The fat portion in milk. Butterfat can vary from 3.6 to 6.6 percent of the milk. Sometimes called milk fat.

see milk fat.

Synonymous with milk fat: the fatty particles in milk that are separated out during churning to make cream and subsequently butter. The higher the milk fat content, the creamier, richer and more caloric the milk, cream, ice cream, etc.

The fat content, or cream of the milk. Often expressed in percentage of milk.

A term used to describe the fat content of milk.

The amount of butterfat/fat in any cheese. Fat content is determined by analyzing the fat in the dry matter of cheese. The fat is expressed as a percentage of the entire dry matter. In reference to cheese fat, milkfat and butterfat are synonymous. See Dry Matter.

Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain.