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.

Compound butter adds richness and pungency to simple grilled meats, fish, vegetables, beans, pasta, breads and eggs. A few ways to use it: Spread it on baked goods such as bread, rolls and biscuits, …

a flavorful butter sauce made by mixing cold, softened butter with flavoring ingredients such as fresh herbs, vegetable purees, dried fruits, preserves or wine reductions.

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.

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.

Butter is a staple in most kitchens, and typically, you can find it in the refrigerator. However, some butters, like the compound butters from Better Butter, are completely safe to store outside of the fridge.

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. For example, swapping dried herbs for fresh ones can cause compound butter to spoil at a faster rate.

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.”

Cooking with compound butter

It can also be used to finish a dish—like our Black Truffle Flavored Butter on top of a steak—which is why the term 'finishing butter' is commonly used to describe compound butter, too.

What is the difference between compound butter and regular butter? ›

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.

You'll love using this recipe to make easy, homemade and budget friendly compound butter (ghee). This compound butter is rich in flavor while also being easy to make, and endlessly customizable.

Compound butters are a lazy cook's secret weapon. They're a way to add intense flavor to preparations without a whole lot of extra effort. They also freeze really well, earning them bonus points as far as I'm concerned. Thaw, stir, and you've got a powerful flavor accent at your disposal.

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.

It contains a number of compounds that are physically combined and are now in a uniform state which is solid. A sample of that butter will always have the same abundance of the compounds that comprise it. Therefore, butter, though a colloid, is a type of mixture and to be more specific, a hom*ogenous mixture.

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.

No, melted butter won't make a fluffy frosting that spreads easily. To make a nice, soft buttercream frosting that is stiff enough to hold peaks, and soft enough to spread on a soft cake, use room temperature butter, and cream the sugar into the butter.