butter - add fat, flavor, and the impression that someone cares

butter [--brown | --cold | --clarified | --softened] [AMOUNT] DISH

Butter is roughly 80 percent fat, 15 to 18 percent water, and a little milk protein and sugar. The water is why it sputters. The milk solids are why it browns, and why it burns at a lower temperature than oil.

Salted and unsalted butter are interchangeable in cooking if you adjust the salt. Baking recipes usually mean unsalted, so you control the salt yourself.

--brown

Melt over medium heat, swirling. It foams, the foam settles, and the milk solids on the bottom turn golden brown and smell like toasted nuts. Pour it into a bowl right away. The hot pan keeps cooking it, and the gap between brown and burnt is about 30 seconds.

--cold

Swirl cold cubes into a pan sauce off the heat. The sauce turns glossy and slightly thick. Boil it afterward and it splits into a greasy puddle.

--clarified

Melt slowly and remove the milk solids. What remains takes much higher heat without burning. Ghee is clarified butter cooked until the solids brown, then strained.

--softened

For creaming in baking. It should dent when pressed but still hold its shape, around 18°C / 65°F. Butter that went liquid in the middle of the microwave is not softened. It is a different state.

deglaze(1), salt(1), maillard(7)

Softening butter on top of a warm oven works until it does not.

Unwrapped butter absorbs the smell of whatever is next to it in the fridge. Keep it wrapped.