By Suprita Mitter
January 13, 2025
Cooking with butter adds richness, flavour, and a silky texture to dishes. It enhances the taste of both savoury and sweet recipes, from sautéing vegetables to baking pastries. Its versatility makes it a key ingredient in various culinary traditions worldwide but it's essential to handle it properly to achieve the best results.
Use unsalted butter for cooking and baking to have better control over the salt content. Salted butter is better suited for spreading on bread and finishing dishes.
Butter can burn quickly due to its milk solids. Cook over medium to low heat and keep an eye on it.
To increase butter's smoke point and reduce the risk of burning, mix it with a little oil.
Clarified butter has a higher smoke point and longer shelf life, making it ideal for high-heat cooking.
Room-temperature butter is often required for creaming with sugar, while cold butter is used for making flaky pastries like pie crusts.
Keep butter wrapped and stored in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before use. Don’t leave it out for long.
While butter adds great flavour, it is high in saturated fats. Use it in sparingly as part of a balanced diet.