Lena B Katz wrote:

> On Mon, 12 Jan 2004, Bob Pastorio wrote:
>
>>JimLane wrote:
>>
>>>Charles Gifford wrote:
>>>
>>>>"Fred" > wrote in message
d.net...
>>>><snip>
>>>
>>>snip
>>>
>>>>>Why use unsalted butter? For the same reason one
>>>>>should always use unsalted butter and that is because it allows the cook
>>>>>to control the salt level, not the ingredients.
>>>
>>>>Nonsense. Most recipes using salted butter also call for added salt. The
>>>>added salt can be adjusted.
>>>
>>>Most of my cookbooks recommend in the front matter that unsalted butter
>>>be used. You might want to check that section once in awhile.
>>
>>This is one of the perennial discussions amongst foodies. The fact is
>>that there's a bit over two teaspoons of salt in a whole pound of
>>American commercial butter. I don't know a recipe where the salt
>>content is so critical as to demand unsalted.
>>
>>>>>Salt is added to butter to make it last longer.
>>
>>No. It isn't. It was before refrigeration, but not any more.
>>
>>>>Not always the reason. Many people prefer the taste of salted butter.
>>>
>>>However, the original reason salt was added was as a preservative. You
>>>have no position there.
>>
>>That was then, this is now.
>>
>>>That people became used to it and then salted
>>>became the standard is another matter.
>>
>>To be sure. But the amount of salt in butter today will make not a
>>whit of difference in just about any recipe I've ever seen. A whole
>>stick of butter has a tad over a half-teaspoon of salt.
>
> Thank you for the info! It's useful in baking, and other places where
> salt flavoring is rather... inappropriate.

Well, I was mistaken in the figures that I quoted. I inadvertently
doubled the figure for the amount of salt in a pound of butter. Here's
the real info from an older post of mine where I did all the
calculations after weighing and measuring volumes of salt:

"...the amount of salt in butter is rather trivial for most recipes.
Roughly 90 mgs sodium in a tablespoon of butter. 32 tablespoons of
butter in a whole pound or 2880 mgs of sodium (2.88 grams). That's
about 7200 mgs or 7.2 grams of salt. A tablespoon of table salt weighs
right at 0.6 ounces or 16.8 grams. A tablespoon is 3 teaspoons of salt
which weigh 5.6 grams each. A whole pound of butter will have about a
teaspoon and a quarter of salt in it."

Most cake recipes include some salt. Look at German Chocolate cake or
spice cakes or pound cakes or even simple white cakes. At least 1/4
teaspoon salt (most start at 1/2) and on up to a teaspoon.

There's so little salt in butter that I've never been able to taste
the difference in finished product, even tasting side by side. I made
hot milk sponge cakes for the holidays and used salted butter. My
daughter read the recipe and it called for unsalted. She asked what
the difference was and I said, "None." She asked why they'd specify
unsalted and I gave her a cynical answer. She said let's test it. We
did a test and made 4 cakes. Two with salted and two with unsalted.
Couldn't taste any difference. Nobody could who tried them - 12
people. The "testing" went on for two days until there were no cakes
left. (Filled them with a creme patissiere with Grand Marnier and
white creme de cacao, and topped with a dark chocolate ganache with
peach schnapps and brown creme de cacao - sorta an uptown Boston Cream
Pie.)

The cakes each took 2 tablespoons butter, 5 eggs, 3/4 cup of flour,
1/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup sugar, teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon
salt, teaspoon lemon extract. The butter (if I had measured it
exactly) contained 0.45 grams of salt (28 grams are an ounce), 1/62nd
of an ounce or 0.08 teaspoons of butter. Eight hundredths of a
teaspoon. Less than 1/10th of a teaspoon. That's a Scroogy pinch for a
whole cake intended to serve 8. Combining 1/8 teaspoon salt the recipe
calls for with the 1/12th teaspoon from the butter makes the amount of
salt leap from 3/24 of a teaspoon to 5/24 of a teaspoon. All the way
up to just under 1/5 of a teaspoon in a 9-inch cake.

Meaningless.

Pastorio