Why We Use Unsalted Butter
If you’ve been hanging around these parts for any length of time, one thing is evident: I’m a huge fan of butter.
Ok, wait… Paula Deen could probably out fan me when it comes to butter love, but that’s neither here nor there. (Do you have Paula Deen’s voice in your head now? I do…)(ugh…)
Let’s take a few minutes to discuss butter. There’s a lesson here, and it’s an important one.
Why do we use unsalted butter in baking? Is it really that important? YES. Yes, it is.
Butter is my go-to fat in the kitchen. Olive oil is nice. Coconut oil is lovely. Butter gets the job done!
Butter is typically made from cow’s milk and consists of mostly butterfats. Low fat butter is suspicious, at best. Butter is generally about 80% fat, with the remaining 20% consisting of water and milk solids.
You have a choice when you go to the grocery: salted or unsalted butter. If you’re thinking about slathering your butter on a baguette, perhaps you’ll reach for the salted butter. If you’re baking a cobbler, perhaps you’ll reach for the unsalted butter. If you’re bargain shopping, perhaps you’ll reach for the cheapest butter on the shelves.
Buy unsalted butter always!
Here’s why:
- Unsalted butter ensures that you can control the amount of salt you add to your cakes, cookies and Strawberry Cream Puffs. Different companies add different amounts of salt to their butter. How are you to know how salty your butter is, and how you should adjust the salt in your recipe? It’s too much of a guessing game. Removing the salt from the butter equation puts you in charge of your cookie salting.
- Salt is a preservative. Salted butter has a longer shelf life than unsalted butter. That means that unsalted butter is typically fresher.
- Salt can mask flavors! You may not be able to taste or smell if your butter is off because clever clever salt can mask funky taste and odors. Tricky.
Does butter reeeaaallllyyy go bad?
Heck yes it does! Unsalted butter lasts about 3 months (although I really don’t like to let it sit around the house this long). Salted butter lasts for just over 5 months (that’s so long, right?). If you think your butter might be off, give it a good sniff. The nose always knows. Also, slice your butter. Is the inside the same color as the outside… or is the outside a darker casing around the butter? Bad butter is two different colors.
What happens if I use bad butter?
The world will end.
But we really loooovvveee salted butter!
I know! Of course you do! I do too! That’s why we can make our own! And we can toss fresh herbs in the mix, and call it Super Herb Butter.
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I couldn’t agree more! I mistakenly used SALTED butter to make BraveTart’s German buttercream and had to figure out a way to compensate for the saltiness.
Salted Caramel buttercream it would become… and it was delicious! But I’m kicking myself for making that salted vs unsalted mistake.
http://thefarmgirlcooks.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/lets-get-into-the-spring-of-things/
thanks for the tips,I had no idea that unsalted goes off quicker than regular salted, but if recipe has salt in, can I use salted butter instead?
Can you tell me which recipe is used in the picture of the rolls above? I searched through the archive, but couldn’t seem to find. Thanks.
They look like profiteroles, such as for cream puffs.
But salted butter is really good in chocolate cake recipes! PS The butter in belgium is great and my favorite one is butter with sea salt :) xx
Thanks for good advice! Now your voice will be in the back of my head, next time I reach for the salted butter.
This is my first comment on your blog, though I’ve be following for a bit now – So THANK you, for charring with us :)
/Jenna from Denmark
I’d like to add that there is a world of difference with organic butter from grass fed cows. It is a lot more expensive but tastes SO much better. Humboldt Creamery butter is my absolute favorite.
We are now getting butter right from a farm in Maine.
It is so wonderful. I have 3 choices from there..salted, sea salt and no salt. If I do use salted butter , I do not add additional salt when baking.
By the way this butter is from jersey cows so its extra rich and sweet !
This post reminded me of a quote from the (very forgettable) movie Last Holiday: “You and I, we know the secret to life… It’s butter.” -Chef Didier.
Us French people mostly use unsalted butter in general and it wouldn’t come to my mind to bake with the salted version – I prefer saving it for a nice slice of fresh baguette.
oh man, that’s just emberassing… I had no idea that if the butter has two colors that it means it’s gone bad. whoopsies. But I haven’t noticed it tasting like it’s gone bad? Apparently my taste buds are no good. Learn something every day! Thanks Joy!
Don’t feel too badly, I just thought it was extra pretty!
I use the “bad” butter all the time. I don’t find it makes much of a difference in baking (ok, for something like shortbread or butter cookies maybe use the fresh butter). I can tell it’s a little off, though, if I spread it on toast or use it anywhere that you can taste the butter individually. Honestly, though, I don’t know how to keep butter from going off. It seems like I buy a box and within a week it’s “bad”. :(
are you keeping it in the coldest part of your fridge?
here in switzerland salted butter isn’t the norm and not easy to find – i remember childhood holidays abroad and how much i loved breakfast at hotels, because they would have those little portions of salted butter, i loved the combination of salted butter and jam… does butter really have a shelf life of 3 months? then again, like someone else said, butter never lasts that long in my house..
as for the salt, i may be wrong but american recipes (especially for sweet pastry, biscuits and cakes) tend to use more salt (and often more sugar) than the european recipes i know. cultural taste difference maybe?!
thank you for your recipes :)
xx barbara
I am not a salty person. I am a sweets person. So when cooking/baking, I definitely don’t want extra salt! And always buy unsalted. I am always unsure why they even make salted butter…you can always add salt. You can’t take it away.
The more I read about how vegetable oils are made the more I’m convinced that butter is the way to go (of, course, in moderation!)
I cut into a fresh stick of Clover butter tonight for baked potatoes and it. was. divine.
Thanks a lot for the information. But when I went to the market 2 days ago, the unsalted butter was sold out so sadly, I have got to buy the salted one. I love the unsalted one better because I think it tastes fresher than the salted one like you said above. Because I use salted butter less than the unsalted one it’s pretty hard to adjust the amount of salt should I put in to my dishes, like you said also^^
Oh, that herb butter is amazing. Thanks again :D
Love you Joy!!
French unsalted butter is my favourite, I learned never to mistake unsalted and salted butter after making a REALLY salty apple crumble. Thanks for addressing this Joy!
Phew, thanks to internet memes I understand the Paula Deen reference :) Don’t have her voice in my head but based on the ‘ugh’ I’m guessing that’s a good thing!
We always had unsalted butter growing up and so that was just what I started buying naturally. Every now and then the hubby picked up a salted block early on but he’s learned! I can’t stand it, even on bread you can taste the salt so strongly when you’re not used to it.
Super Herb Butter though I can see as being a fantastic alternative store bought garlic bread … will be adding that to my ‘must try’ list for sure!