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Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter

September 18, 2013 by Joy the Baker 133 Comments

Let’s talk about butter! It’s my go-to. It’s my boo. It’s my sweetheart.

I’m not shy about sharing my affection for butter, but you may have noticed in the recipes here  that I’m very specific about how I like my butter.  Sometimes melted and browned.  Sometimes cold and cubed.  Sometimes beaten with sugar and egg.  Always though… most almost always.. UNSALTED! Yea, I get opinionated about my butter. We should talk about why.

strawberry raspberry crisp

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 buttes are 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 warm baguette, you’ll want to reach for the salted butter.  If you’re baking a cobbler, you’ll most definitely want to reach for the unsalted butter.

Brown Butter Banana Bread with rum and toasted coconut

Here’s why:

Most importantly: unsalted butter ensures that you can control the amount of salt you add to your cakes, cookies and Fig and Almond Breakfast Cake.  Different companies add different amounts of salt to their butter.  How are we to know how salty our butter is, and how we should adjust the salt in the recipe?  It’s too much of a guessing game.  Removing the salt from the butter equation puts us in control of salting. Control is very important when it comes to flavor.

When a recipe calls for unsalted butter, that means that the salt levels in the recipe account for no other salt source.  If all you have salted butter, try cutting the instructed salt amount in half.

Also, 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!  We may not be able to taste or smell if our butter is off because clever clever salt can mask funky taste and odors.  Tricky.

Does butter really go bad? Heck yes it does!  Unsalted butter lasts about 1 month in the refrigerator.  Salted butter lasts for just over 3 months in the refrigerator (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 salted butter in baked goods?

Well… the world will end, and that’s that.

Baking 101: How To Read A Recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bill

    October 13, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    Low-fat *butters are suspicious, at best.

    Reply
  2. Marie Williams

    September 16, 2014 at 8:33 am

    I grew up with fresh and milk butter and feel lucky. When we made butter we added salt to the butter to get more buttermilk (liquid) out of it I believe that the butter I get in the store these days doesn’t have as much flavor as it did then. For that matter neither does the milk. Both are watery tasting to me. Because of the ” Things” the cows are given to produce more milk, they drink lots more water. Milk and butter from that cow will have less flavor. Have you ever looked at the 1% or 2% milk? it’s watery

    Reply
  3. Susan

    February 14, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    I am about to make the world end. All I have is salted butter. Going to use 3/4s of a stick instead of a whole stick. I am sure this means doom to all, but if it goes even remotely well, I’ll report back!

    Reply
  4. Ric

    January 9, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    Ha ha…. “Unsalted butter lasts about 1 month in the refrigerator.” How would you know? Butter never lasts a WEEK at my house, much less a month! :)

    Reply
  5. Emily

    October 28, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    How do you feel about leaving the butter out on the counter instead of refrigerating it? Obviously it would have to be used sooner, but I’ve read that it can be left out for several days.

    Reply
  6. Bere

    October 14, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    I never knew butter could go bad! Well, you learn something new everyday. Thanks for the advice!

    Reply
  7. Meg

    October 7, 2013 at 11:25 am

    I’m really glad you posted this. One question I have…when recipes just say butter as an ingredient….should I always assume they mean salted? What is the default butter type to go if the recipe doesn’t specify? Of course, I now know to use unsalted for baking, so that is cleared up :)

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. Why Do Recipes Always Call For Unsalted Butter | I Make Good Food says:
    November 2, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    […] Joy the Baker – Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter – … most almost always.. UNSALTED! Yea, I get opinionated about my butter. We should talk about why. Butter is my go-to fat in the kitchen … Here’s why: Most importantly: unsalted butter ensures that you can control the amount of salt … FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST INSTAGRAM BLOGLOVIN RECIPES. […]

    Reply
  2. Spice Cake with Apple Curd and Cinnamon Marscapone Frosting » Honey and Birch says:
    November 2, 2014 at 7:51 am

    […] Why We Use Unsalted Butter […]

    Reply
  3. Salted Or Unsalted Butter For Baking | I Make Good Food says:
    September 28, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    […] Joy the Baker Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter – Joy … – I was standing in the butter section for minutes yesterday pulling out my hair over the salted & unsalted butter & which would be best … I picked up butter that didn’t say salted/unsalted so assumed … […] 101: How to Read a Recipe Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter Baking 101: Must … […]

    Reply
  4. Baking 101: My Favorite Vegan Egg Substitutes | Tasty Kitchen Ideas says:
    September 1, 2014 at 8:31 am

    […] •  Why We Use Unsalted Butter […]

    Reply
  5. Paper Droids Maggie Stiefvater's "The Scorpio Races" Recipe: November Cakes - Paper Droids says:
    November 15, 2013 at 8:00 am

    […] need to be room temperature before you start baking. May I suggest unsalted butter? Here’s why via Joy the […]

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  6. Joy the Baker – Baking 101: Natural vs Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder says:
    October 25, 2013 at 9:04 pm

    […] Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter […]

    Reply
  7. My Favourites List For October 2013 | Cook Republic says:
    October 21, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    […] low-fat yoghurt series.     This recipe for 15 minute donut holes.     Why we use unsalted butter? muses Joy The Baker   See what a week’s worth of groceries looks like in […]

    Reply
  8. FRIDAY FOUR! | MargitMae says:
    October 4, 2013 at 12:12 am

    […] the Baker has an awesome Baking 101 series on her blog right now. If you’ve ever wondering why unsalted butter is best for baking, or what the difference is between baking soda and baking powder, this is the series for […]

    Reply

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