Unsalted butter vs. salted butter in recipes

Does it really matter? if so, why?

In baking, it matters for the overall salt level in the recipe. A typical stick of salted butter has about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. So if your recipe calls for two sticks (ie a cup) of unsalted butter and one teaspoon of salt, you can use salted butter and reduce the salt to 1/2 a teaspoon. A lot of serious bakers recommend only using unsalted butter so you control exactly how much salt you’re adding.

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Direct from the mouth of my French brother-in-law: “Why does unsalted butter even exist?” :smiley:

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I don’t see the point of it at all, other than to use on toast with a diner breakfast. Under what circumstances would I prefer someone other than me to salt my food?

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Don’t you rely on the chef to salt your food any time you eat at a restaurant or in someone’s home?

I thought it was obvious that I was referring to food I prepare myself, what with the whole “in recipes” title of the thread, but I guess not. So please mentally add that phrase to my previous post.

Different dairies put different amounts of salt in salted butter. Straus, the brand I normally buy, has 45 mg per tablespoon, which works out to .36 gram per four-ounce stick, which is more like 1/8 teaspoon.

People originally salted butter to preserve it before the era of refrigeration. If you don’t go through a pound in a month or two, you might freeze part of it.

So you can have the texture of Maldon salt on your buttered baguette.

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People who get serious about cooking need to control their salt addition tightly… I ballpark everything so I don’t care

Unsalted vs. salted butter doesn’t make a significant difference when you’re seasoning to taste.

Which is generally not the case when you’re baking.