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Articles | Butter 101

Posted on September 13, 2011

I received a few questions about the different types of butter that I use in recipes so I thought I would do a brief write up to help clarify. All of the butter that I use is organic.

Butter

Butter is made from churning cream or milk. It consists of butterfat, water, and milk proteins. It's used as a condiment, in baking, in cooking, and to finish sauces.

Salted Butter

Salted butter is butter with salt added. I wouldn't use this unless the recipe specifically calls for salted butter.

Unsalted Butter

Unsalted butter is recommended for all of the recipes on this website unless salted butter is called for specifically. The reason is that you want to control the amount of salt in your dish.

Clarified Butter

Clarified butter or ghee is butter with the milk solids rendered off and only the butterfat remains. It has a higher smoke point than butter. This type of butter is used in sautéing. Ghee is another name for clarified butter. Clarified butter/ghee has a longer shelf life than butter because it is primarily the milk proteins in the butter that cause it to spoil.

Ghee