5 Types of Butter to Keep in Your Kitchen

What’s more country than butter? Whether you slathering it on your favorite pancake recipe or stirring into pasta, this rich, flavorful fat really goes with everything.



Charlyne Mattox

6/1/2020

© Mizina Learn about the different types of butter, including clarified butter, cultured butter, and ghee. and all the right dishes for certain butters.

In the Country Living test kitchen, we call exclusively for unsalted butter in recipes (more on why below). You can substitute salted for unsalted butter in recipes, but know that you will need to reduce the amount of added salt in baking recipes.

Below is a quick breakdown of a few different types of butter and where you may want to use them.

Unsalted Butter vs. Salted Butter

The name says it all: Unsalted butter is simply butter that does not have any added salt. With salted butter, during the churning process, once the salt and buttermilk have separated, salt is added, and the butter is churned until the salt dissolves and is evenly distributed.

The amount of salt added will vary by brand. This is one reason that we call for unsalted butter in the Country Living recipes. For example, Kerry Gold salted butter has about half the amount of salt as Land O’Lakes salted offering. If you added equal amounts of Kerry Gold versus Land O’Lakes to a baking recipe, you run the risk of it being too salty. Calling for unsalted and the exact amount of kosher salt guarantees consistent results.

Additionally, because of the lack of salt—which acts as a preservative—unsalted butter has a shorter shelf life, so it tends to be fresher. Unsalted butter will last about one month in the fridge while salted will last around two.

© Westend61 - Getty Images types of butter

Cultured Butter

Originally made from cream that had been allowed to sour, modern (a.k.a. commercially made) cultured butter (sometimes labeled "European-style butter") is created by adding live bacterial cultures to pasteurized cream before churning. The cream is then allowed to rest and thicken slightly before churning.

Cultured butter has a higher fat content (82%-86% vs. 80% for uncultured) and a slightly tangy flavor that has hints of hazelnut. The higher fat content makes the butter smoother and gives it a richer taste, making it perfect for spreading on a piece of bread straight from the oven.

© marekuliasz - Getty Images types of butter

Clarified Butter

Clarifying butter is the process of removing the water and milk solids from butter, leaving you with almost 100% butterfat. Clarified butter has a much higher smoke point than common stick butter, so it’s great for searing meats or vegetables. Because the milk solids have been removed it also has a much longer shelf life, lasting between three to six months in the fridge. To make clarified butter, start by melting a stick, or sticks, of unsalted butter in a saucepan. The butter will start to foam and sputter. Once the sputtering stops, and no more foam is rising to the top, remove it from the heat and skim off the white milk solids (save those milk solids to drizzle over popcorn). Next, strain the butter through a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter or several layers of cheese cloth to remove any straggler solids.

Ghee

This is a similar product to clarified butter, but rather than stopping cooking when the butter is no longer sputtering, it is cooked until milk solids start to brown and fall to the bottom of the pan. The mixture is then strained, as with clarified butter, removing the milk solids. Because of the additional cooking time, ghee is shelf stable and can last months in the pantry in an airtight container. A common ingredient in Indian cooking, try it when you whip up your next batch of curry or saag paneer.

https://www.msn.com/en-my/foodanddrink/foodnews/5-types-of-butter-to-keep-in-your-kitchen/ar-BBYG8La