I’ll share a little secret with you – over the holidays, I hoard butter.
Obviously I don’t eat it all myself, and I know what you are thinking “gosh, I thought she was into healthier foods?”
And I am. Believe it or not, butter is healthy – when eaten in moderation. A little grass-fed butter is actually great for you, just like full fat {raw} milk is amazing for you too.
No really though, I do hoard butter at the holidays – and although we don’t load up every meal with tons of butter, I do find it helpful to always have on hand. I recently sent my 10 year old into the grocery store for me to get me a pack of butter, because the other 4 kids were sleeping in the car… and I never realized that a simple request for her to buy butter would be such an agonizing trip for her.
Thirty minutes later, she came out of the store empty handed, stressed beyond mention over whether she should buy salted or unsalted. Apparently I should have told her the difference before asking her to pop in and get me a pack – because the whole experience was clearly very agonizing for her.
So what do you buy – Salted OR Unsalted?
After working on what seems like hundreds of recipes in my kitchen over the last few years, I know exactly what type to buy, and when. First.. let me tell you why butter at all.
Dairy leaves such a smooth and creamy feeling in recipes – a feeling that nothing else can match. Butters are both made to be used interchangeably, but in some cases you might want to choose one over the other.
Salted Butter: All purpose, great for spreading on veggies, bread, and items that you aren’t as concerned about the amount of salt.
Unsalted Butter: Using unsalted gives you the opportunity to have ultimate control over your recipe – bringing out the pure creamy taste of butter (and also allowing your food’s natural flavor to shine through). If you are using unsalted butter, you have the freedom to add the exact amount of salt you wish to when making your recipe. You are more in control.
Not to mention my baked goods hold up so much better with butter versus oil.
So what’s better?
Unsalted butter will always be fresher, because salt acts as a preservative, so unsalted butter has a longer shelf life. One thing to watch though is natural flavor – which is sometimes added to unsalted butter to help extend it’s shelf life. That natural flavor is usually lactic acid (which affects the pH of the butter).
If you are using unsalted butter, as a general rule, add 1/4 tsp of salt per stick. If your recipe calls for 1 C. of salted butter AND 1/4 tsp salt, and all you have is unsalted butter, then use the unsalted butter and 1 1/4 tsp salt (1/4 tsp per each 1/2 C. in addition to the salt they are already asking for in the recipe).
And since salted butter has salt, and salt usually retains water, salted butter will bring a little extra moisture in your baked goods, too.
Complicated much? I know.. baking is just so hard, right?
I confess.. I always use salted butter, and I usually go light or forego the salt in every recipe. I don’t like my foods overly salty, but I do love salted butter over unsalted.
What do you tend to reach for first?
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