Melt Organic Buttery Spread: There Might Be a Place for it in Your Fridge

Disclosure: I was compensated to write this post. The Melt Folks sent me coupons to try Melt Organic Buttery Spread on them. They also sent me a wee spreader and a thin, flexible cutting board. Thanks, Melt folks. Any text in block quotes comes from the folks at Prosperity Organics (Melt Makers). Photos,  unless otherwise noted, are from Prosperity Organics.

What Fats I Usually Use

I like butter. Love it, even. And I am also a huge fan of coconut oil. When I saute, I generally use a mixture of the two, the butter for flavor and the coconut oil for its relatively high smoke point and its health benefits.

When the Melt folks emailed me awhile back, asking if I’d like to give their product a whirl, I have to admit I was a bit dubious. I emailed them back and told them as much, but I also said I’d be willing to try Melt and see what I could do with it. They agreed and sent me my coupons which I used and a spreader and flexible cutting board, neither of which I have used at this point.

I couldn’t find Melt Organic Buttery Spread at either Kroger, Harris-Teeter or Lowe’s Foods here, so I pilgrimaged to Whole Foods to pick some up.

Currently, Melt comes in Original and Honey flavors, and I believe a chocolate version is set to come out in 2014. I intended to pick up the two available flavors, but all my Whole Foods carried was the Original, so Original it was.

Melt Products, 2021

As of now, May of 2021, Melt makes the following organic plant-based buttery spreads:

• Melt Organic Probiotic Butter Made from Plants in a 10 oz tub
• Melt Organic Butter Made from Plants in a 13 oz tub
• Melt Organic Salted Butter Sticks Made from Plants with 4 4oz sticks, or the way conventional butter is sold
• Melt Organic Unsalted Butter Sticks Made from Plants with 4 4oz sticks the way “cow butter” is sold

When I got my Melt home, I checked out the ingredient list:

• Organic Oil Blend (Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Organic Canola Oil, Organic Hi-Oleic Sunflower Oil, Organic Flaxseed Oil)
• Water
• Organic Unsalted Butter
• Sea Salt
• Organic Butter Flavor
• Non-GMO Sunflower Lecithin
• Tocopherols

Note that the original formulation of Melt included butter, so it was not vegan.

As the ingredient list currently states, and as their label states, Melt is now a plant-based butter substitute and contains no actual butter.

Melt Ingredients (2021)

• Expeller-Pressed Organic Oil Blend (virgin coconut oil*, palm fruit oil, canola oil, high-oleic sunflower oil, flaxseed oil)
• Water
• Sea Salt
• Organic-Compliant Natural Flavor
• Tocopherols
• Sunflower Lecithin
• Organic Annatto

*Fair for Life Fair Trade certified ingredient at least 20% fair trade content.

More About Melt’s Oil Blend, from the Melt Website

INGREDIENTS FROM A HIGHER SOURCE

Melt Organic’s clean label products has been carefully chosen and combined into the perfect blend so the benefits of each organic oil are enhanced. Melt Organic is free from gluten, soy and nuts.

Organic Coconut Oil

Organic coconut oil is a good, saturated fat that keeps undesirable (LDL) cholesterol down. Research has shown that organic coconut oil can boost metabolism, increase thyroid activity, promote weight loss, and provide optimal nutrient absorption. Plus, coconut oil has a similar melt point to butter, making it ideal for baking and cooking.

Organic Flaxseed Oil

Organic flaxseed oil is one of the best sources of Omega‐3s available. Clinical research has linked life‐threatening diseases such as obesity, some cancers, heart disease, and diabetes type II with a chronic deficiency of dietary Omega‐3 essential fatty acids. Flaxseed oil has the highest plant-based concentration of Omega‐3 and can reverse deficiencies common in the American diet.

Organic Palm Fruit Oil

Produced from the fruit of the palm, palm fruit oil contains very high amounts of carotenoids, the antioxidants our bodies convert to Vitamin A. Vitamin A may also provide protection from free-radical damage that some studies have linked to cancer. It is odorless and tasteless, perfect for baking and cooking. Our palm fruit oil is certified Eco-Social and Fair Trade by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to ensure that it is produced both ethically and ecologically.

Organic Canola Oil

Canola oil, made from the crushed seeds of the canola plant, is a non-GMO variety of rapeseed. It is an excellent source of monounsaturated fats in the form of Oleic Acid and Omega-3 fatty acid, and Alpha-Linoleic Acid. Studies show that ALA may help protect the heart through its effect on blood pressure, cholesterol, and inflammation. We only use organic canola oil that is expeller-pressed (hexane-free), and tested for GMOs and rancidity in every batch.

Organic Hi-Oleic Sunflower Oil

Organic hi-oleic sunflower oil is composed almost exclusively of monounsaturated fat (86%), with small amounts of saturated fat (10%), and polyunsaturated fat (4%). Hi-oleic oils have enhanced fatty acid profiles making them higher in monounsaturated fats and lower in polyunsaturated fats. Hi-oleic sunflower oil is also a source of Vitamin E. Melt Website

How Does It Taste?

As soon as I finished reading the ingredient list, I reached for a spoon. I don’t like to waste time.

Melt tastes rather pleasantly of both coconut oil and butter, although the finish is a bit thin. It doesn’t have the depth that either coconut oil or butter have by themselves, but still, I would call it pleasant and clean and certainly more tasty than the margarine I have tasted.

Do you know how coconut oil has a bit of texture to it? Well, Melt has that. It almost seems a bit grainy from the coconut oil, although that graininess goes away once it melts onto your tongue. The texture isn’t off-putting, but I just wanted to note it so you’d know.

Does It Spread Like Butter?

Melt Organic Buttery Spread is more or less like any spreadable margarine, consistency-wise.

Since coconut oil and ghee (in the 2014 iteration. Melt is now 100% vegan) are both pretty much rock hard at refrigerator temperatures, I would guess it gets its spread from the other mixture of oils, some of which I assume remain liquid when cold.

As well, water is the second ingredient listed after the “Organic Oil Blend,” and I’d bet the high water content has a lot to do with its spreadability straight from the fridge.

How Does Melt Behave When Heated?

When I melted some Melt (ha!) in a pan, it remained the same color as it did when solid.

That was kind of odd for me–I expect most fats to melt into a translucent (if not transparent) liquid. But the Melt remained opaque.

Eventually, it started to act like “regular fats,” and I would guess that happened when the water cooked off.

Since it does seem to have a relatively high water content, when melted, Melt first behaves like a water-type liquid and then eventually as a fat.

It is so “wet” when first melted that I didn’t even want to spread it on toast.

I had the feeling that the toast would just end up wet and not buttered. So, even though Science sighed, I passed on using it to butter toast.

I also knew that I wouldn’t really be able to bake with it since I didn’t know the water content and wouldn’t be able to substitute for that without a lot of futzing about. (UPDATE: Now that Melt produces “butter from plants” sticks, it is a viable baking ingredient that should not change the texture of your batter).

Melt: What I Cooked with It

As I write this review, my wee cube of Melt (13 oz) is almost gone.

I have used it to fry eggs, to cook rice and rice pilaf, in scrambled eggs, to make a lovely Israeli couscous dish with kale in it, and… Let’s see. I didn’t write down everything I did, but I pretty much used it for everything that I would have normally used butter and/or coconut oil and even olive oil in.

How It Works As a Fat to Cook With

Overall, Melt performed well.

Again, once the water cooked off, it behaved pretty much like any regular fat.

It kept my eggs from sticking, it lent a bit of a buttery/coconutty/creamy edge to almost everything I made with it.

Foods browned as expected (again, once the water cooked off), and I felt good about using rather copious amounts of it since it has a 2:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids (per the label), it contains healthy fats, and is organic, fair trade and non-GMO to boot.

Would I Buy Melt for Myself?

I have wrestled with this question for awhile.

I have to say that I will most likely stick with my organic butter (and grass-fed when I can find it and/or feel like splurging) and my big vat of virgin coconut oil from the Costco.

The main reason is that I can use butter and coconut oil in my baking, and I don’t think I can use Melt that way because of what seems to me to be a very high water content. (UPDATE: Sticks are now available, making it a viable baking fat).

Now that I know sticks are around, I might use it to make my vegan chocolate Christmas cake. And if I had vegan friends coming over for brunch, I’d absolutely use Melt for frying up these vegan hashbrowns.

Although here’s a brownie recipe made using the original tub formulation.

As you may notice in the photo of the couscous dish, the melted Melt is weirdly opaque (I told you), and I think that has a lot to do with how the water and fat are emulsified.

They must remain in a fairly stable emulsion at pretty high temperatures.

Even though I think I’ve figured out why it remains the same color when melted, I find it aesthetically off-putting, most likely because I’m used to the more translucent/transparent way that butter melts down over a stack of pancakes (or whatever Warm Thing you put it on).

Now I’ve given you two reasons why I would most likely stick with the fats that I’m already using.

Melt Vs. Earth Balance

I guess Melt’s most direct competition is Earth Balance Buttery Spread. It costs less than Melt ($3.99 for 15 oz, 2014 price) and is non-dairy so it’s suitable for vegan cooking.

If you’re not vegan and you like the taste of butter, Melt is the way to go, if the choice is between the two. Since Melt actually contains butter (or ghee, not to mention the Mysterious Butter Flavor) it actually does have an authentic-if-mild butteryness.

UPDATE 2021: Now Melt DOES NOT CONTAIN BUTTER, so it is 100% vegan.

How Does Melt Stand Up, Price-Wise?

I will say that for being fair trade, organic and non-GMO certified, Melt Organic Buttery Spread is a cost effective alternative to organic butter and virgin coconut oil. According to Wegman’s (all pricing is from the Fredericksburg, VA store and from 2014), a 13 oz container of Melt (original) costs $4.99 or about $0.38/ounce.

A 16 oz jar of Spectrum Unrefined Coconut Oil costs $9.49, or about $0.59 per ounce. A one-pound carton of Wegman’s brand Organic Butter costs $3.99. That translates to roughly $0.25/ounce.

If you wanted to use half coconut oil and half butter for cooking, you’ll spend an average of $0.42 for that mix.

Using Melt will save you 4 cents an ounce. That might not sound like a lot, but when budgeting, sometimes every penny counts!

The Bottom Line

Even though I probably wouldn’t purchase it doesn’t mean that I don’t think it’s a pretty good product. There are just some products that I am already using that I love and work beautifully for me in my baking, so I find no need personally to start baking with Melt.

Melt is certainly not margarine; it’s not butter; it’s not coconut oil. It’s a product that stands alone, so you can save a bunch of time in just picking up a container or two of Melt as opposed to comparison shopping for butter or coconut oil. And you can just leave the margarine right there on the shelf.

Thanks, Melt folks, for caring enough about our health, the environment, and our pocketbooks, to come out with a product that folks can feel good about using.

Although I wasn’t over-the-moon in love with Melt, I did like it. I tried to be as fair as I could so you’ll know what to expect. And if you get no other take-away from this post, know that I will always give my honest opinion about any product I encounter, coupons or not.

Have you guys tried Melt Organic Buttery Spread? What did you think? Would you be more likely or less likely to give it a try after reading this review?

Thanks so much for reading and for your comments, and I hope you have a wonderful day.