On 23 Aug 2006 11:10:33 -0700
"Merry" > wrote:

>
> Frank103 wrote:
> > I have heard that pastry chefs usually prefer unsalted butter rather
> > than salted butter. When it comes to cakes and cookies, can you
> > actually taste the difference between salted and unsalted butter? I
> > guess people who are professionals can but can most others tell the
> > difference? thanks in advance.
> > Frank
> I use unsalted butter- most recipes call for salt anyway, so why ruin
> what you are making with more. If I must use salted, I reduce the
> amount of salt called for in the recipe


I'm not making a judgment call on whether or not to use unsalted -
that's gonna vary by recipe and by audience.

But i am going to point out that factories don't make butter by
churning it in the sense that you and i recognize. They whip it up and
then chill it, and the fat crystallizes and rises to the top. They do
this with whole milk - they don't separate out the cream and then work
on that.

Adding the salt during the crystallization process causes more of the
milk solids to cling to the fat as it solidifies. These solids are
responsible for much of the flavor of butter. Salted butter tastes
better on a fresh biscuit not just because it has a little salt in it,
but because it has more flavor in it.

Depending on the recipe and who you're feeding, subtracting a little
salt from the recipe and using salted butter can work fine. But there's
more to the problem than salt.

The salt is also a preservative, as it retards bacterial growth. The
bacteria in butter produces butyric acid, which is nice in infinitesimal
amounts, but nasty in large amounts. Unsalted butter may thus have less
of the whey flavor and more of the butyric acid flavor.

Personally I keep a pound of unsalted butter in the freezer. If a
recipe calls for it, I thaw it out and use it. It's just not that hard
to keep it around.