Compound Butter Basics (2024)

FAQs

Should you melt butter for compound butter? ›

Bring your butter to room temperature.

Cold butter won't blend with your mix-ins, and melted butter won't keep its consistency to hold them in place. Room temperature is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: not too cold and not too hot.

A compound butter ("beurre composé" in French) is simply butter mixed with other ingredients that add sweet or savory flavor, like honey, herbs, or garlic.

The typical composition of butter is: 80-82% fat, 16-17.5% water, 1.5% salt, and 1% milk solids (vitamins, minerals, and lactose). While butter is a simple product made from only a couple of ingredients, the physical changes that take place during butter production are more complex.

In cookies, softened butter will result in a cakier and airier cookie than using melted butter. This is due to the fact that softened butter will create air bubbles that expand in the oven during baking. Melted butter will make your cookies delightfully dense on the inside and crisp on the edges.

Compound butter can be kept refrigerated for several days. They can also be frozen for several months by being wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in plastic freezer bags.

Every cooked meat, every protein, benefits from a good compound butter because it allows the fat to baste and add additional flavor. It's typically incorporated with fresh or fragrant aromatic herbs. As it heats up, the oils and fat heat up, releasing the oils and aromatics for an additional depth of flavor.”

Once the compound recipe is complete, you must store butter in the refrigerator as you normally would. In many cases, herb-infused compound butter can last up to two months in the refrigerator. However, storage time really depends on the ingredients you've included in the compound butter recipe.

Many chefs advocate making compound butters and then freezing them, using them when needed, they say the butters just improve over time. Within limits of course.

Compound butter, or finishing butter, is a type of butter that is mixed with herbs, spice blends, and other ingredients that give it a savory or sweet flavor. The term compound butter encompasses countless recipes and flavor profiles.

In the refrigerator, well-wrapped salted butter can last up to five months without spoiling. Salt is a preservative that prevents microbial growth and extends shelf life. Unsalted butter can last up to three months in the fridge. (If the butter is unwrapped, shorten those projections to about two months in the fridge.)

How long should you take the butter out of the fridge before using it? ›

But, don't worry, when you need to soften butter, you can still leave it on the counter without it going rancid. Land O'Lakes says taking your butter out of the fridge for about 30 to 60 minutes before use will perfectly soften it for spreading and baking.

Butter is a dairy product composed of three elements: butterfat, water, and milk solids. It's made by churning milk or cream—typically from cows, though sometimes from other animals like goats, sheep, or buffalo—until the butterfat separates from the buttermilk.

Since the concept of squeeze spread isn't new, we found a way to make LAND O LAKES^® Soft Squeeze^™ butter spread stand out: It contains real butter. And that plays well with our target consumer segment.

Diacetyl is a naturally occurring substance that gives butter its characteristic flavor and aroma, and is often a component of artificial flavoring formulations. Acetoin, a closely related chemical, also occurs naturally and is an ingredient in many flavoring formulations, perfumes and essences.

To properly cream butter and sugar, you want to start with softened butter. Chilled butter is too hard to break down and fully blend with the sugar. Overly soft or melted butter will whip up into frothy air bubbles, which eventually collapse into a greasy, wet batter and bake into a heavy and soggy baked good.

The melting point of butter is somewhere between 82°F and 97°F. This means it can even melt on the counter on a hot day. While you don't want the butter to burn and taste scorched, you can let it cook long enough to brown slightly, which gives it a wonderful nutty flavor.

Always use butter that has come up to room temperature.

Too cold, and you'll end up with a chunky, gritty mixture. Too soft or melted, and you'll end up with a greasy, deflated puddle.

Softened butter is my go-to for most other bread dough types. Melted butter is something I have always avoided because it would need to be added at the beginning of mixing unlike the softened or cold butter.