Questions involving butter as an ingredient or as a final dish.
73
votes
10answers
17k views
Is it safe to leave butter at room temperature?
Is it safe to leave butter at room temperature? If so, how long is it safe to keep it out?
26
votes
13answers
53k views
How do I butter popcorn without making it soggy?
I've tried buttering my popcorn in the past, and it always turns out inconsistent. A few pieces will be soaked with butter, and others have no butter on them at all.
Perhaps there is a way to get the ...
25
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the purpose of creaming butter with sugar in cookie recipes?
I got distracted while assembling the dry ingredients for a cookie recipe and added the sugars, which were supposed to be creamed with the butter first. Fortunately, the sugar was added last and I was ...
24
votes
3answers
894 views
Does freezing butter or margarine change the properties?
I have a lot of butter & margarine and looking for ways to keep it for longer time.
Will freezing them change melting point, flavor, or anything that could be undesirable when cooking?
Update:
...
20
votes
16answers
17k views
Cooking an egg without oil or butter
I like scrambled and fried eggs but the butter or oil probably add unnecessary calories. How can I fry an egg with no butter? I tried in a Teflon pan but it was a mess.
20
votes
6answers
1k views
How to prepare butter for baking when time is limited?
From my experience, the best way to use butter when baking is to let it soften to room temperature. However, sometimes one is short on time and must use the microwave to soften the butter. I always ...
18
votes
2answers
9k views
When baking a cake that calls for butter, should you use salted or unsalted?
I'm baking a cake using a cake mix and extra ingredients. It calls for 5 tbsp of butter, but I'm not sure which to use, salted or unsalted. What difference would it make??
17
votes
2answers
3k views
How does butter remain edible for so long without refrigeration?
My wife and I keep a stick of butter in the cupboard rather than the refrigerator. Even with just the two of us, it rarely lasts very long, but I'd say it may go as long as a week without ...
16
votes
2answers
483 views
How much to reduce salt when using salted butter in place of unsalted butter
I normally don't keep unsalted butter on hand since I use it so seldom. So when a recipe calls for salt and unsalted butter among its ingredients would it be alright to use salted butter and reduce ...
15
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the butter for in a jam recipe?
I made plum jam at the weekend. The recipe I had (from my Good Housekeeping cookbook) wanted me to simmer the plums in water, add sugar and a knob of butter, then boil until a set was reached.
I ...
14
votes
4answers
3k views
What's the purpose of clarifying butter?
Seriously, if it's just an ingredient in something larger, is it going to make a difference if the butter's been clarified or not?
14
votes
5answers
3k views
How do you correctly soften butter for spreading?
How do you correctly soften butter for spreading on bread? Is it simply a matter of leaving it at room temperature for a few hours, or do tools like butter conditioners do a better job?
13
votes
4answers
2k views
What different uses do we assign to salted butter vs. unsalted butter?
What different uses do we assign to salted butter versus unsalted butter?
12
votes
4answers
782 views
Clarified butter? What should I know?
Ok, someone mentioned Mac-n-Cheese. Which led me to a mornay sauce. Which requires a bechamel. Leading to roux. Dropping me on the doorstep of clarified butter. I haven't ever used or made it. Is ...
12
votes
1answer
21k views
Conversion rule: how to switch oil and butter?
Just a moment ago, I was making muffins. The recipe calls for 125ml oil.
As a footnote, it says that you can replace the oil with 125g butter.
Can you do so in every recipe (not just muffins or ...
12
votes
1answer
9k views
Why is there a difference between softened and melted butter when baking?
I once tried to make some cookies and assumed that melted butter would be the same as softened butter. It didn't work out...
Why does it make a difference if you use softened or melted butter? ...
11
votes
6answers
8k views
In baking, can yoghurt replace butter?
By baking, I mean cakes / muffins / biscuits.
This is mainly to cut down on fat.
I've tried replacing butter with yoghurt in all of these and the results were OK.
Are there any cases where it's not ...
11
votes
3answers
5k views
How to know when to stop churning ice cream?
I've got a simple Cuisinart home churn, the kind that uses a frozen bowl rather than a compressor. On a couple of occasions, I'm pretty sure I've overchurned the mix, because it seems to leave a ...
11
votes
2answers
10k views
Is it safe to eat butter after it has crossed its expiration date? Does butter ever soil in fridge?
I just came back from a long trip and I was cleaning out my fridge, and I noticed that there is an expiration date on the butter. It expired about two months from when I bought it. The butter doesn't ...
11
votes
5answers
10k views
How much is a knob of butter?
I was reading a question here on Food and Cooking and no one seemed to know how much it is. I tried to Google convert it to cups but no dice.
So how much is it?
11
votes
1answer
26k views
Can I always use butter instead of margarine when baking?
Some recipes says use butter or margarine, some say use butter and some say use margarine. My question is, can I always use butter or does margarine have some property that butter doesn't when baking?
...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
Use Avocado instead of Butter to bake a cake?
This may sound extravagant, but I have tried a very nice chocolate pudding made of avocado, chocolate, and some other ingredients. You could not tell there was avocado in the pudding and the texture ...
10
votes
8answers
134k views
Butter substitute for 1 cup of butter for baking
What can I substitute for 1 cup of butter in baking recipes (e.g. cookies, muffins, cakes, etc.)?
I'm looking for something that has less saturated fat (and also doesn't have trans fat).
Update: ...
10
votes
4answers
811 views
Can clarified butter be used for beurre noir?
The first recipe of "The Nero Wolfe Cook Book" by Rex Stout is for Eggs au beurre noir. For the black butter sauce he gives the following instructions:
"In a skillet melt [...] four
tablespoons ...
8
votes
3answers
146 views
Does milk (fat) change in Winter?
I've noticed that, all of a sudden, my chocolate chip cookies are spreading more than usual.
I was wondering if the (organic) butter that I'm using could be affected by the season.
8
votes
4answers
3k views
converting pure chocolate to “bittersweet” chocolate
A chocolate cookie recipe I'm looking at calls for melting down a cup of bittersweet chocolate chips. However, I happen to have a brick of completely unsweetened cooking chocolate in the fridge. Can I ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
What is room temp Butter
Many of my baking recipes call for room temp butter. In general this just means butter soft enough to be creamed with sugar, but is this a specific temp range? My kitchen stays cold enough in winter ...
8
votes
3answers
906 views
What's the Effect of Browning Butter
From a taste perspective, I love the nutty flavor of browned butter. From a culinary perspective, I'm curious what the process does to the butter.
I used browned and cooled butter in cookies ...
7
votes
3answers
476 views
How to evenly spread butter in each square of a waffle?
We made large Belgian-style waffles tonight and I found it incredibly difficult to evenly spread the butter in each square. In fact, it was so time consuming, by the time I was done, the waffle was ...
7
votes
3answers
3k views
Substituting butter for oil: Does it matter for baked goods?
When a recipe (like for muffins) calls for vegetable oil, does it matter if I substitute the oil for butter because I want that buttery taste in the muffins?
Do I need to compensate for the ...
7
votes
5answers
296 views
Are garlic butter and garlic oil interchangeable?
When eating something like crab, garlic butter seems to be a Western thing while garlic oil is Asian.
Is it just a personal preference thing, or does it matter which one you use?
Note: Garlic butter ...
7
votes
2answers
406 views
How do packet cake mixes get their lightness without creaming butter and sugar?
I don't get it. Do they have some chemical leaveners in them or something?
I just had a slice tonight and upon complementing the chef on its lightness, was told it was a packet mix—just add ...
7
votes
2answers
699 views
What will happen to my cake if I don't cream the butter enough?
I am preparing for a cake decorating party for some 8-year-olds and was testing a simple butter cake recipe.
I made a small-ish batch of batter (just over a stick of butter, just under 1/2 lb of ...
7
votes
1answer
180 views
What's the proper procedure of making ghee?
I'm often making ghee for my cooking. However, I've never seen how it's done, I've only read how to do it, I'm having some doubts about its preparation.
Should heat butter slowly or fast? I saw both ...
7
votes
1answer
294 views
Why didn't my clarified herb butter solidify?
I was making spicy clarified butter but wanted to avoid the flecks of red or black that can throw off the color of a dish. I decided to steep some basil and a few other herbs with an habanero in the ...
7
votes
2answers
588 views
How do I cook shrimp in butter?
I want to cook shrimp in butter. My problem in the past has been that the butter burns if it gets too hot but the shrimp remains fishy if the butter does not get hot enough. Any advice?
6
votes
4answers
9k views
Solutions for when heating chocolate and butter doesn't mix well
Yesterday I tried to make brownies that started out with me having to melt unsweetened chocolate with butter in a frying pan on the stove. This did not work well. The chocolate kindof mixed with the ...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
Difference in cookie texture if we use melted vs softened butter
I would like to know the difference in the final result if we use softened butter or melted butter in an ordinary cookie recipe.
A few days ago i baked chocolate chips cookies i waited for the ...
6
votes
1answer
532 views
Why is butter incorporated into the dough last when making Brioche?
I made Brioche for the first time tonight using the Rich Man's Brioche recipe from Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice.
The recipe basically leaves out the butter until the very end when the dough is ...
6
votes
3answers
491 views
Did I make butter, or something else?
Tonight I tried to make some butter from some raw cows milk. I followed the instructions here, and let the cream I skimmed off a gallon of milk sit for about 24 hours to "culture." It didn't really ...
6
votes
1answer
359 views
Salted butter in toffee
What effects would using salted butter instead of unsalted butter have on a toffee recipe?
I'm using the basic
Equal parts butter and sugar
Heat to soft crack (285 F)
Poor into flat cooking sheet ...
6
votes
2answers
335 views
Why did a receipe call for pouring boiling butter in egg-whites?
I made a sponge cake using a receipe from an old cookbook and at one point it told me to melt and boil butter and pour the boiling butter into beaten egg-whites, let sit for a minute and then mix ...
6
votes
1answer
312 views
Water content of salted butter
It seems to be common knowledge among bakers that salted butter has a higher water content than unsalted*. How much higher?
And if there's a different amount of water, why does this nutritional data ...
5
votes
4answers
227 views
What is the best way to chip your butter when making biscuits?
I love biscuits and have made many. The one thing that gets me is cutting the butter. I have used several different approaches with varying degrees of success. What works for you.
5
votes
2answers
2k views
What quantity of coconut oil should be substituted for butter in a brownie mix?
I want to substitute coconut oil for the butter in a brownie mix but I don't know how much to use. The recipe calls for 3/4 stick of melted butter. How much coconut oil should I use?
5
votes
2answers
265 views
Why was our garlic butter made in France, much nicer than garlic butter in England?
We're stumped so we thought we'd come and ask the experts.
Last weekend we were in Paris, and bought what we think was normal unsalted butter (from a marche franprix) and (again as far as we are ...
5
votes
4answers
526 views
How to make home-made butter?
Has anyone tried it before and how was the result?
What are the steps and what ingredients and kitchen tools do I need?
5
votes
1answer
422 views
What mechanism causes a butter crock to function better than other options?
How does a butter crock work better than a plastic or ceramic butter dish?
I can see how the water and stoneware would slow the butter's response to ambient temperature fluctuations. But after a ...
5
votes
1answer
207 views
How can I tell when my fat is sufficiently creamed?
When creaming butter or shortening with sugar, how can I tell when it's creamed enough?
With the mixer as low as 3 or 4, even a few minutes of mixing seems excessive.
Also, what are symptoms ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the purpose of oil or butter in bread?
Specifically in wheat and potato breads, what is the purpose of adding oil or butter to the dough?
I have always assumed it was just for flavor, but I suspect there is some background chemical ...
