Always unsalted everywhere. Salted butter tastes like it was mixed with brackish water. Unsalted gives you the freedom to use your preferred salt, and it has a cleaner flavor.
Kate's Butter is awesome! But I disagree with the unsalted butter. I am a baker and believe that the butter that's already salted offers something you can't otherwise get. It's like not salting your pasta water, then just putting salt on top. Salted butter brings a level of seasoning you can't get by adding it later. And for the most part, each stick of butter has 1/4 tsp of salt. Just take it out of the rest of the salt you're adding.
Every video recipe say to use unsalted butter, then they all add salt. Please…..don't waste my time with this. Strain at the gnat and swallow the camel I say. Who cares? It is a non-issue. I see TV chefs almost vibrate into a fit because someone used self-rising flour or cornmeal. I never use all purpose. I don't bake but I coat and like my parents, we use self-rising. I do make cornbread using both self-rising flour and cornmeal. What does it matter after you Yankees put a half cup of sugar in your cornbread and it tastes like yellow cake. Finally, we can all cut up an onion. I do it 5 different ways depending on what i am after. My Mother and Grandmother's cut their onions in their bare hands. They had no cutting boards. All vegetables including the bushels they canned for winter only passed through those wonderful soft hands. No chef knife, just butcher knife or a pairing knife. Salted butter everytime.
This is one of the biggest cooking myths. Do the calculations. The amount of salt in butter in a recipe is insignificant unless you are using a whole pound.
There is another important reason for using unsalted butter, particularly for baking – water content. Incredible they didn't feel the need to include that point. From ATK's own website:
"We advise against cooking with salted butter for a couple reasons. The amount of salt in salted butter varies from brand to brandāit can range from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent of the total weight, making it impossible to offer conversion amounts that will work with all brands. Also, salted butter almost always contains more water than unsalted butter. The water in butter ranges from 10 to 18 percent. In baking, butter with a low water content is preferred, since excess water can interfere with the development of gluten. In fact, when we used the same brand of both salted and unsalted butter to make brownies and drop biscuits, tasters noticed that samples made with salted butter were a little mushy and pasty; they preferred the texture of baked goods made with unsalted butter."
Yeah Idk if that really answers the question? I think in a pinch you can absolutely use salted butter just know your butter. Try it and make sure you know how salty your butter is. She isnāt kidding when says it varies. They did a test on salinity for salted butter a stick can have as little as an 1/8 a teaspoon to as much as a teaspoon. And it doesnāt just vary brand to brand but batch to batch so you can have two sticks from the same pack taste completely different. Taste your butter.
Oh so tiresome. Let home cooks with experience be home cooks and let the fastidious bunch who know(or feel they know) the difference micro-manage their recipes. Who cares. I buy both types for different uses. But itās not like it ruins the dish. Get a grip.
All of you who say you dont care probably have just intuitively learned the salt levels of YOUR favourite brand of butter, which is great for you but ATK needs to take into account that butters vary wildly in salt.
Always use salted lol It's never been an issue. Unsalted tastes like nothing and like hell, if i'm going to buy two separate butters.. If the recipe calls for unsalted, then I just back off the salt id normally put in
I only buy slated butter because i'm not made of money, my fridge isn't big enough for two kinds, and if i'm having it on toast there'd better be salt in the butter or daddy is not gonna be happy at all. Party on with your "unsalted butter" recipes, I only see butter and use accordingly.
Always unsalted everywhere. Salted butter tastes like it was mixed with brackish water. Unsalted gives you the freedom to use your preferred salt, and it has a cleaner flavor.
"salted butter is better I've always used it" That's because you've never tried some unsalted butter on some good toast with a pinch of flaky salt…..
Kate's Butter is awesome! But I disagree with the unsalted butter. I am a baker and believe that the butter that's already salted offers something you can't otherwise get. It's like not salting your pasta water, then just putting salt on top. Salted butter brings a level of seasoning you can't get by adding it later. And for the most part, each stick of butter has 1/4 tsp of salt. Just take it out of the rest of the salt you're adding.
I used salted butter. Never once in my life have I thought "Man I wish this butter had less salt."
I have yet to find a salted butter that has a large amount of salt. Like less than a tsp in the whole lb.
That's what I do.
Every video recipe say to use unsalted butter, then they all add salt. Please…..don't waste my time with this. Strain at the gnat and swallow the camel I say. Who cares? It is a non-issue. I see TV chefs almost vibrate into a fit because someone used self-rising flour or cornmeal. I never use all purpose. I don't bake but I coat and like my parents, we use self-rising.
I do make cornbread using both self-rising flour and cornmeal. What does it matter after you Yankees put a half cup of sugar in your cornbread and it tastes like yellow cake.
Finally, we can all cut up an onion. I do it 5 different ways depending on what i am after. My Mother and Grandmother's cut their onions in their bare hands. They had no cutting boards. All vegetables including the bushels they canned for winter only passed through those wonderful soft hands. No chef knife, just butcher knife or a pairing knife. Salted butter everytime.
I mistakenly used salted butter for a chocolate cake and it makes the cake so much better
This is one of the biggest cooking myths. Do the calculations. The amount of salt in butter in a recipe is insignificant unless you are using a whole pound.
I've used salted butter for more than 60 years and have never had an issue with it affecting anything I've put it in or on. š
There is another important reason for using unsalted butter, particularly for baking – water content. Incredible they didn't feel the need to include that point. From ATK's own website:
"We advise against cooking with salted butter for a couple reasons. The amount of salt in salted butter varies from brand to brandāit can range from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent of the total weight, making it impossible to offer conversion amounts that will work with all brands. Also, salted butter almost always contains more water than unsalted butter. The water in butter ranges from 10 to 18 percent. In baking, butter with a low water content is preferred, since excess water can interfere with the development of gluten. In fact, when we used the same brand of both salted and unsalted butter to make brownies and drop biscuits, tasters noticed that samples made with salted butter were a little mushy and pasty; they preferred the texture of baked goods made with unsalted butter."
Yeah Idk if that really answers the question? I think in a pinch you can absolutely use salted butter just know your butter. Try it and make sure you know how salty your butter is. She isnāt kidding when says it varies. They did a test on salinity for salted butter a stick can have as little as an 1/8 a teaspoon to as much as a teaspoon. And it doesnāt just vary brand to brand but batch to batch so you can have two sticks from the same pack taste completely different. Taste your butter.
Iām a first time mom, Iāve been using unsalted for everything, even on bread. But being a mom to a toddler is my excuse š
It matters because salted butter lasts longer so thereās less waste. Otherwise not
Oh so tiresome. Let home cooks with experience be home cooks and let the fastidious bunch who know(or feel they know) the difference micro-manage their recipes. Who cares. I buy both types for different uses. But itās not like it ruins the dish. Get a grip.
All of you who say you dont care probably have just intuitively learned the salt levels of YOUR favourite brand of butter, which is great for you but ATK needs to take into account that butters vary wildly in salt.
I prefer unsalted even as a condiment, so i can use crunchy maldon salt on top š
Iāll just keep using salted, I like it better
Always use salted lol It's never been an issue. Unsalted tastes like nothing and like hell, if i'm going to buy two separate butters.. If the recipe calls for unsalted, then I just back off the salt id normally put in
Of course it does. Never never never cook with salted butter. And never use salted butter ever. You have salt. Which is not butter. You can add salt.
Yes it matters
I donāt buy both so salted it is. For now anyway.
I only buy slated butter because i'm not made of money, my fridge isn't big enough for two kinds, and if i'm having it on toast there'd better be salt in the butter or daddy is not gonna be happy at all. Party on with your "unsalted butter" recipes, I only see butter and use accordingly.