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.
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.
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.
Reader Interactions
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Carolyn Landry
I am dairy free so I cannot use butter. Thus I have to use margarine or other oil. All margarines I have found have salt in them. When a recipe calls for unsalted butter, I am up the creek without a paddle. If I want to make the recipe, I use margarine.
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Hi Carolyn! I totally hear you on that margarine. If you’re using margarine, consider reducing reducing the amount of salt in a recipe by half.
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Most people look at me blankly when I tell them about salted vs. unsalted. I always bake with unsalted and I think it makes a big difference in the quality of my baked goods. I didn’t know about the freshness angle, though – you’ve taught me something today
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Stellar
I use salted butter exclusively. No one has complained about anything I have made. In the past I tried unsalted butter several times. Couldn’t discern any difference so I stopped using it. I did know about the freshness angle.
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Julie
It’s 4 am and I am laughing out loud because the world will end if I use salted butter!
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Kathleen Marks
Preservative? Ha ha ha ha ha…butter doesn’t sit in my house long enough to care!
We have been eating unsalted butter for so long, that we don’t really like the taste of salted, so I only buy unsalted. If a recipe calls for salted, I add a little salt with the butter.Reply
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Georgia
Just yesterday I baked a batch of my Cinnamon Shortbread cookies to kick of the Christmas Season. Those of us that had tasted them before were a tad disappointed and I was confused as I pretty much know this recipe from heart and I know I didn’t miss anything. Lo and behold when I checked the bricks of butter my son had bought for me they were Unsalted. I always cook and bake with salted butter and the difference was quite significant. I found this post because I had to find out how much salt I need to add to compensate for what was missing. I don’t ever adjust a recipe even if it calls for unsalted butter…I use the salted butter and add the recommended amount of salt in the recipe. I’m told by whomever tastes my creations that I’m a very accomplished baker and cook and I think I have to give credit to my love of salted butter.
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Jillian
I do exactly the same and no one complains. I am caterer and am no exploring baking my own breads, desserts, etc…the world, it seems, is still intact. Funny tho!
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Julie E Murken
We in Wisconsin thank you. Salted, unsalted . . . it’s butter, therefore it’s good. (Though from now on I’ll know to buy unsalted butter for baking! I mean, I’m just not ready for the apocalypse.)
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Greg
I grew up with unsalted butter. We just did not have salted one at a time. Long story. When I crossed Atlantic and landed in North America I was shocked first then repulsed with salted butter. I suppose it was a case of (non)acquired taste. I stuck with unsalted one even though it is hard to come by sometimes (!!!) I suppose salted variety was introduced only because of salt preservative capabilities and way back in a day there was no refrigeration. Now, with ubiquitous refrigeration reason for salted butter disappeared but I suppose forces of inertia in acquired taste for salted variety rule the market. My take is use unsalted everywhere, even on toasted bagel :), you feel taste of bread and butter better, salt suppresses/overpowers and generally sodium is not good for you. When I need salt as part of recipe seasoning I’d rather add my own so that way I can control salt volume. I find salted butter salt content being to high for me even in recipes that call for salt.
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Joy, it is a true pleasure to read your posts. As a young, aspiring baker I feel so lucky to have you and your wisdom as a resource! Questions about butter, flour, measuring cups, etc. Thank you so much!
You are REALLY good at what you do, so keep up the excellent work! And thanks for being fun and funny along the way :).
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Linea Elken
I’ve bought nothing but unsalted butter for decades, simply because I like to eat less salt. I also prefer to salt my food to taste after it’s finished cooking. I use butter almost exclusively for fats because I love the flavor. I don’t buy very much at a time & I tend to use it up long before it can go bad. I bought some salted butter one time, because it was from a local farm. I hated it & I gave it all away. So I guess that it’s what one is used to using.
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Butter goes bad?!! How did I not know this! My world has crumbled a little bit. I think basically all my butter must be bad then; I get the pack of four boxes from Costco and it takes a long time to go through all that. :( I guess now I will know to buy only one box at a time.
Also, yay butter love! Butter is my friend.
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Karen lane
The reason I NEVER buy unsalted butter is there is natural flavor added and I am MSG sensitive and get headaches from Natural flavor.
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You can’t beat butter. But I would use unsalted butter only if the recipe didn’t call for salt. I’ve never had any problems baking with salted butter. That is, I have never landed up with my cakes/cookies (whatever) tasting too salty. Now I’m off to put unsalted butter on my shopping list (as long as it costs no more than salted butter; that’s an important issue) so I can judge for myself. Coconut oil is great too, though it’s far too expensive for me to use. It’s a bit like cooking with gold! I also like dripping—but only for cooking chips, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding; it’s foul for baking.
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In Ireland unsalted butter is pretty uncommon. I really only ever use salted butter, and it works perfectly fine… although I do understand we have a luxury on our hands very accessible and affordable.
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PEG
THIS IS ABOUT THE 4TH REVIEW I’VE RED ON SALT. I ALWAYS TOLD HUBBY TO BUY SALTED AND THEN I PICKED UP UNSALTED BY MISTAKE. HAVEN’T USED YET. I’M A GOOD BAKER, HOPE THIS WILL MAKE ME A SUPER ONE. I HAVE A RECIPE FOR GREEN TOMATO CHOCOLATE CAKE. IT’S TO DIE FOR.
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woodNfish
The only reason I put butter in the fridge is to keep it firm until I am ready to use it. When I put on a butter dish it stays in the dish on the table or counter. It NEVER goes back into the fridge. My wife learned this from her cousins who are farmers and ranchers on the eastern Colorado plains. I tossed all my soft spread margarine after I began to do this. Butter is so much better and better for you.
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bill brunett
The author of this article honestly makes me wonder if they realize that sodium content is specified on every food label. There is no guessing game, you can read on the side of the package the amount of salt each company decides to add to their salted butter!
Also the idea that unsalted butter will be ‘fresher’ than unsalted butter is frankly asinine. Unsalted butter does not keep as long so will tend to be less fresh than the salted variety.
The fact that the author does not seem to know that sodium content is listed on food labels coupled with apparent misunderstanding that unsalted butter does not stay fresh longer than salted butter causes me to doubt the veracity of the entire article.
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Marie Williams
I have a place in my freezer to keep my butter, salted or not.
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Janelle Dalstra
Well first of all I want to thank you for all your efforts, you have a cute sence of humor. My question is, what happens if you accidentally dumped the egg whites in the cake batter that should have been beaten to a soft peak then a quarter cup of sugar added slowly, then because you realized it was a big part of the recipe turning out in the cake beat 3 more with the sugar and folded them in. So now I have 3 egg whites extra in the batter. What will happen to the cake? Should have just used a cake mix.
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JC
I’ve always wondered about this question (in the blog post title) wile watching baking and cooking videos by the award-winning Stephanie Jaworski of Joy of Baking. She always says, “you can use salted or unsalted, but I use unsalted because I like the flavor better,” implying that it is a personal preference and that it has no impact on the recipe. Your blog post explains the reasons well.
With this said, I still prefer to use salted butter. I like the flavor better when used for my baguette or toasts (just eating it as is); I had tried unsalted long time ago, and I found it tasteless, henceforth have never bothered with it again.
As for baking with salted butter, I happen to enjoy the slight saltiness in my sweets like the pastries I get from the Chinese bakeries. I especially love the mild salt flavor in the cream and icing parts of the cakes and always figure that they probably throw in some salt in the preparation. Now I imagine another possibility . . . they probably use salted butter! ;)
In the U.S., the prices for salted and unsalted butter are the same. I find it illogical and not making sense that unsalted butter is charged more like some commenters revealed.
As for the freshness of the butter, there is always an expiry date in all dairy products, butters included. I simply use my butter before this expiry date, salted and unsalted. The tip on spotting two different colours on bad butter is a good one for me as I did not know this . . . it is time to toss out this Breakstone Spreadable Butter With Canola Oil in my fridge (this is another product I decided to try out but will not buy it again just because I did not like its flavor even while it was fresh.)
BTW, my love and pickiness of butter only permits me to eat/use Kerry Gold and Breakstone whipped butter (second choice for easier spreading), and sometimes Plugra European-Style Butter. :)
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Paul
hah, never used unsalted butter in my house… only once, way back in the 90’s when I was covering someone on leave in a small business making Russian Fudge. Used unsalted butter and then added salt. While recollection is a little hazy, it wasn’t all that much salt that was added in to the fudge mixture… and I’d hazard a guess at between 1.5-2%
So, what was the point… especially where I live (New Zealand) unsalted butter is quite a bit more expensive?
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Christine
I think the salted vs. unsalted must make a difference with cookies vs. cakes or cupcakes.
I have a recipie for espresso cookies. They always go flatter than pancakes when I use salted butter. They only turn out properly (with the right texture and puffiness) when I use unsalted butter. How can I modify the ingredients when I only have salted butter (that my hubby buys) on hand? No added salt in recipie; just espresso, cocoa, flour, icing sugar, vanilla and butter.Reply
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Rebecca
What about for a recipe that doesn’t call for salt at all? I have a sugar cookie recipe that calls for butter, unspecified, and no salt. Should I use salted butter in that case? I feel like it might need some salt to combine ingredients. Sorry, I don’t usually bake, but I’m trying!
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Jackie
Fabulous post! I’m a little behind, but find myself with salted butter and a recipe that calls for unsalted. Your blog has helped a lot!
I laughed out loud when I read your comment about the world ending if one bakes with salted butter! Thanks for the giggle!Reply
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Low-fat *butters are suspicious, at best.
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Marie Williams
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
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Susan
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!
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Ric
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! :)
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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.
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I never knew butter could go bad! Well, you learn something new everyday. Thanks for the advice!
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Meg
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 :)
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Monica
Maybe I’m crazy, but I use way too much butter to worry about it going bad in 1 month vs 3. My butter rarely lasts through the week!
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oooh, I didn’t realize butter went bad… My mom always kept it forever! Of course if she had a lot she would put some in the freezer… but the stuff in the fridge sat there more than three months. In fact, I have some in my fridge that has been there more than three months… Good bye butter…
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Learning so much right now. Thank you!! xo
ps Butter fo life!Reply
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Great tips. I love to bake, but I’m no pro. I still have to learn a lot. Good to have information like this which aren’t so common.
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There are so many people that swear by unsalted butter I always feel a bit lonely when I realize I’m the only one I know using salted butter. But it gives me so much better tasting/looking results! And I use it for all the same reasons you mentioned! It’s really nice to see someone’s bringing it to attention again! :)
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I love unsalted butter on a fresh baguette! sprinkled with a bit of coarse salt, even. Love sweet butter. But I always use salted butter and call for it in recipes – after all, you always need salt in baked goods to keep it from tasting flat. And since that’s what’s most commonly found in home kitchens, and it’s more inexpensive, I don’t want to send people out specifically to buy unsalted butter. (And because it doesn’t keep as well, it’s more often rancid when you buy it!) But I can totally see and appreciate both ways!
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aww yeah. unsalted butter is my boo, too. frigging love it. always have blocks of it in my fridge. i ‘d like to experiment and compare/contrast with some of those european cultured butters – what’s their deal, joy? xo
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fusilliamy
Ohhh Joy….I cackled so hard at the last sentence because it is my life. My mom and I fight about salted vs unsalted butter in baking. She doesn’t want to listen to reason!!!! When we bake together we both bring our butters and then argue until someone gives in. Just thinking about this with the holidays coming up is giving me agita.
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Susan W.
I always use unsalted butter whether eating a baguette or baking. I just think it taste fresher. I just add my own salt.
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Joy, you are fabulous! I have used two of your recipes recently and they have both been perfect. Thank you!
xx-Katharine
livingsaseasyas312.blogspot.com
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I have to confess :( I actually love to use salted butter when baking plain butter cakes. it really gives a nice salty taste and balances out the normally very sweet butter cakes.
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I bought salted butter yesterday. As I put it in my cart, I thought of you and winced, knowing you would disapprove. I bought it anyway, but I appreciate the refresher. Now I wish I hadn’t!
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oh no! I guess I’ll just have to be a good world citizen and pick up some unsalted butter for my baking!
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nancy k
This was an interesting read. I always opt for unsalted butter in baked goods. I have found that the brand of butter I use also makes a huge difference in baked good…most especially cookies. A Home Ec teacher friend of mine attributes this to the water content. in various brands. I find that generic brands give me a much less consistent product…cookies spread more and the texture changes to the negative. I now just stick with Land O lakes and have found I get a consistent, expected product every time.
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my husband was all, “why did you buy unsalted butter?” just this week! i had to explain to him all of the above. to which he said, “well what about my toast?” sigh, he last had toast like eight months ago. men!
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butter is one of the only reasons i fail at being a vegan!
thanks for the info :D!
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he..he…don’t want he world to end, do we!? Great post – didn’t know about he average shelf life.
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muy buen post!!!para mi también la mantequilla es imprescindible!!! un beso desde España. ;*
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ET
I worked as a professional sweet baker for 3 years – always used salted butter, never a problem.
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June G.
” Low-fat buttes are suspicious, at best.” I know this is a typo but it still made me giggle.
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Caryn
Love this…my husband and I used to debate over buying salted or unsalted, I fought for un, with the argument that if he wanted, he could always sprinkle salt on his buttered toast.
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Emily
I love the end of this post so much. Yes, the world will end!
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GREAT!
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Thanks for the tips- I think people underestimate the power of salt in not just cooking but baking too!
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ha ha, i’m loving these lessons, joy. unsalted butter it is! always and forever.
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Thanks so much for this post! I always wonder which butter to use, I grew up using margarine, but may start using butter now. :)
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I almost always use salted butter because that’s what I have in the fridge. I usually adjust for it in the salt I add, but I like everything a bit salty :) Thanks for sharing, I’ll get some unsalted butter next time I’m at the store to test the difference.
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This was interesting to read! I actually prefer salted butter mainly because I’ve found the unsalted kinds to contain “natural flavorings.” I try to avoid those (as much as possible) and so I opt for salted and just always take care to decrease the salt called for in the recipe. Good to know tips, though, about butter color and shelf life!
FashionEdibleReply
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Joy, let’s talk…
I agree with you on almost everything. And, I’ve never made a Joy the Baker recipe that wasn’t worth every calorie, but I’ve always been a devoted “salted butter” user. I’ve tried to break the habit, I’ve tried to overcome. The fact is, I just like recipes made with salted butter… better. And, I hate to say it, but most of the lovely things I find at better bakeries also lack the salt needed to give it that perfect flavor.
To control the salt content, I almost always use the same brand or two of butter and, truth be told, I’ve never found a difference in saltiness.
So, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one!
All the best,
Jake
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Rodney jones
Jake, I am with you on salted butter. The only time I will buy unsalted butter is when the recipe calls for less salt than salted butter contains, but to be perfectly honest I only found one cookie recipe that called for less salt and that is about it.
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Kristin
I wish someone would do a side-by-side comparison. I too have noticed that my cookies are not as good with unsalted butter. Not that I am above being a food snob, in fact I would love to have the edge with perfect butter knowledge! I have a favorite salt (Alessi), and even if it is previously salted, I find that it just doesn’t taste as good until I add some of “my” salt. Another thing I noticed recently, is that brand matters: I had two sticks of butter melted and be darned if the other brand wasn’t noticeably more watery than the Land O Lakes. But because I haven’t had the “unsalted improves my recipe moment”, in fact the opposite, I am sticking to my known salted brand. Btw, butter has no chance to go bad around here and I hate the idea of preservatives. Pretty sure I will be taking this project on soon…
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Awesome, awesome advice. I never really thought it was a big deal which one I used, now I definitely know better!
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My wife is definitely all about her butter, and beat this lesson into my head many years ago. It really does make all the difference!
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Haha love it. I’ve always used unsalted butter but never really knew why past being able to control the salt content.
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Last time a browned salted butter cause I went out of the unsalted one and was too tired to go buy some (bad, bad me). And I swear it foamed a hell lot more than unsalted butter does. I guess the butter was having a foam party cause it finally got to play in the baking game…
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Typo… “Last time I browned” ;) Maybe it’s time for me to go to bed. Or to have a cookie.
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Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate
I’m going to go against the grain and admit that I almost always use salted butter in baking. I was taught not to in culinary school but I have never been able to tell the difference! Sometimes I might take out some of the salt in the recipe if it sounds like a lot but I have never had any issues with things being too salty.
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Annie
I disagree – unsalted butter on my baguette/croissant etc every time! But salted butter on my jacket potato. I’m a little obsessive about my butter (well cooking fats in general), my parents-in-law still comment on what they perceive to be ridiculous amounts of different types of butter in my fridge, they just don’t understand the obsession…!! Great post as always.
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I always always buy unsalted for this exact reason – so I can control how much salt I add to things. Thanks for the tips!!
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Laura
I’m loving these Baking 101 posts. Sometimes you want to know the reason for why you’re supposed to do things. So now when I fuss at my husband for buying salted butter instead of unsalted butter, I can give him the reason why. Saying “Because Joy the Baker said so.” wasn’t a good enough reason for him.
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I never knew why until now, thanks! I always get unsalted anyways because I’m trying to reduce the amount of salt we have, especially the salt already in packaged foods that we don’t realize we are eating!
https://liveitnerantly.comReply
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Amen! Hidden salt! Butter is my chosen fat, too! In theory is seems healthier than the heavily processed vegetable fat and definitely healthier than animal fats.
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Sandra Gillespie
Your butter blog is a good one and, happily, I knew what you wrote about. That being said, what about putting unsalted butter in the freezer? How long a shelf life does the butter have then?
Thank you!
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Brilliant. I love this series. Keep ’em coming! You’re making me a much better recipe developer and writer.
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I buy salted butter because I use my butter more often on baguettes than I do in baking and I’m not fancy enough to buy two different types of butter in one grocery trip. And I’ve never baked anything and thought, “this is too salty!” Ever.
That being said, this is the only thing that I may have ever disagreed with you about. :P Not enough to start anything, obvs.Reply
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Different amounts of salt and different qualities of salt. Best to choose your own!
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dixya| food, pleasure, and health
i didnt even think about the shelf life – thanks Joy
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My mom taught me to always bake with unsalted butter, and mom always knows best! It’s usually all I ever have on hand, I really should keep same salted stuff around too though.
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I’ve had that insidious two-toned ring problem before. Yuck and double yuck. Unsalted butter for the baking win!
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OMGOODNESS! it’s like you were reading my mind. how did you know i have been questioning this forEVER?!?!? THANK YOU.
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I knew about the control, but not about the freshness difference. Thanks for this, I’ll definitely be reaching for the unsalted next time I go to the grocery store!
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Hooray! I used to live in France – the land of perfect baked goods, Now I live n Seattle, where people try to act happy about vegan gluten free birthday cakes! Coconut oil etc are all nice, but I am so happy you pointed out they are another thing entirely!
Of course butter oxidizes and goes bad- so does fancy face cream!Reply
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Chloe
About butter going bad..great note about telltale signs. But did y’all know you can freeze butter? Stock up when the good stuff is on sale and you’ll always have plenty ready for your baking projects.
I never buy salted butter, because chances are I’ll be needing some for baking. I just sprinkle a little salt over my buttered baguette and I’m good to go.
Great post, Joy!
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Thanks for warning us about butter going bad… For some reason, I never thought of that! Loving these tips and lessons series!
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Great post! I always wondered what the deal was with unsalted butter. Thanks for all this baking knowledge! :)
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Sarah J.
Huh! I had no idea about that two-tone, bad-butter thing. Thanks for the tip!
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It’s like the baking gods read my mind & asked you to write this post. I was standing in the butter section for minutes yesterday pulling out my hair over the salted & unsalted butter & which would be best for my cake experiment. Something told me you would be shaking your head at the salted option so I went for the other. So glad I did & I’m so glad you posted this. Thank you.
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Rodney jones
Generally there is a little over 1/4 teaspoon of salt in one stick of butter. In one pound of butter there is 1 1/4 teaspoons,(this is Land O Lakes butter) or 1.26 teaspoons in a pound for those of you who want to get that extreme. I buy salted butter because it last I buy 4 to 5 pounds at a time and I just adjust my salt for my recipes and it works very well. The only time I will buy unsalted butter is when my recipe calls for a lesser amount of salt that is in salted butter.
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Chef Bob
EXACTLY RIGHT. The old argument that unsalted butter is usually “fresher” is a non-starter. The unsalted butter in the grocer’s fridge may be *newer*, but the salted butter will almost ALWAYS be fresher — that is, closer to just-made taste, lower in bacteria, and longer to go before it goes bad — all because of the preservative quality of the salt. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with using *fresh* unsalted butter and taking total control of the salt in the recipe, but many people do not cook or bake enough to use the entire package of unsalted butter before it DOES begin to go bad. A pound of butter can make a lot of recipes, depending on one’s co*king/baking habits. So, what’s fresher after a couple of months in the home fridge — salted or unsalted? As you said, adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly — or leave it out until the end where it’s possible to adjust to taste. The difference in levels of salt between brands is small; find one you like and try to stick with it. I’ve cooked for over 55 years (and have had recipe input as cook, manager or owner of several restaurants) and have rarely felt the need to use unsalted butter. In MOST cases, **> as long as you have to add an equivalent amount of salt to the recipe, anyway <** there is no discernible difference in the finished product, whether you take advantage of salted butter's convenience or add the salt separately. Now… what I really want to know is, what came first: the cow (with her milk) or the calf?
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Patrick
Nicely said Sir! ?
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Dina F
The cow with her milk and a calf inside ;)
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Alexandrina
This is a cultural thing though too as in some countries and therefore their traditional recipes salted butter is the answer! Take France for example, most particularly Brittany and Normandy, they would always use salted butter. I for one always use salted butter!
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Jasmine
My mom is from France (grew up in Le Mans) and none of my french family use salted butter in their baking. I grew up with the firm belief that unsalted butter is the only acceptable butter to use in baking from my french mother. The standard butter in France is beurre doux (unsalted) and salted butter comes in two types – sel or demi-sel. French butter also has a higher fat content (82% fat compared to our 80% fat) which makes their butter better for pastries.
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Abhijit
If i clarify salted butter, will it remove the salt from it??
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It will retain some of the saltiness!
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Yes! Great reminder that not all butter is created equal :)
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Paul
… and all equal is not butter either… lqtm
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Love this! Most people look at me blankly when I tell them about salted vs. unsalted. I always bake with unsalted and I think it makes a big difference in the quality of my baked goods. I didn’t know about the freshness angle, though – you’ve taught me something today!
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And I thought I loved butter. Clearly, you are on another level lol love it :) I never knew salted butter lasts so long, I’m a big fan of unsalted butter so I don’t really use anything else.
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I am confused by the second to last sentence. Should it say “salted” instead of “unsalted”?
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Peter Klatt
She’s saying that if you violate her article and use “salted” instead of unsalted the world will come to an end, but do what YOU may! It’s a light-hearted jab at violators
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I totally got caught out by this! I picked up butter that didn’t say salted/unsalted so assumed it was unsalted…until I tasted my biscuit dough and it was like drinking seawater.
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I don’t use butter enough, but I always agree with unsalted! I like that little bit of control in my cooking/baking :)
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Yes! The salt often hides poor quality butter. To keep mine fresh I keep in a air tight dark box in the back of fridge, it helps the smells and light getting to it. Yay for a butter post!
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Kim
Thank you for speaking out loud your butterlove! It’s the best, really <3
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Gosh I love this series :) I actually found some salted butter that mentioned the amount of salt in it (1.7%), which came in handy when I was just a tad short on my unsalted butter while in the midst of baking! But I agree that unsalted butter is definitely better for baking! Curious to see what you’ll write about next…
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Britt
Butter really is the best! There’s NO substitute for it when making a pie crust. That’s when you bust out the fancy French/Irish butter.
In a world of vegan substitutes (and believe me I thoroughly appreciate vegan food) it’s refreshing to hear one of my favorite Cooks give a shout out to butter!! :)
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I 100% only ever buy unsalted butter. I don’t think I’ve ever bought salted butter in my entire life for all the reasons you mentioned. Here’s to controlling salt levels and to fresher butter!
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[…] butter– softened to room temp. It’sbest to use unsalted butter as you can then control the amount of salt you add to the cake, however, you can use salted butter if you prefer (and just omit the extra […]
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[…] butter– it’sbest to use unsalted butter as you can then control the amount of salt you add to the cake. However, you can use salted butter if you prefer (just omit the extra […]
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[…] Finally! Someone explains why we use salted butter. Thanks Joy the […]
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[…] Why We Use Unsalted Butter: If there’s anyone you should be taking butter advice from, it’s Joy the Baker. Before I read this I was one of those “use salted butter and just omit the salt” fools. That’s still an ok trick when you’re in a pinch, but it shouldn’t be your game plan from the start…and Joy will tell you why! […]
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[…] Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter – Joy the Baker – It’s like the baking gods read my mind & asked you to write this post. I was standing in the butter section for minutes yesterday pulling out my hair over the …… […]
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[…] Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter – Joy the Baker – It’s like the baking gods read my mind & asked you to write this post. I was standing in the butter section for minutes yesterday pulling out my hair over the …… […]
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[…] Joy the Baker – Baking 101: Why We Use Unsalted Butter – Love this! Most people look at me blankly when I tell them about salted vs. unsalted. I always bake with unsalted and I think it makes a big difference in the quality …… […]
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[…] 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. […]
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[…] 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 … […]
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[…] • Why We Use Unsalted Butter […]
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[…] 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 […]
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