On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 09:57:55 -0400, "Bob (this one)" > wrote:

>Harold McGee has written about it in the revised and updated
>edition of "On Food and Cooking." He says, generalizing,
>that butters made in the U.S. have between 1% and 2% salt,
>rounded figures. That would, at the extreme ends of that
>range, be between one and two teaspoons per pound. That is
>between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon per stick of butter. 1/32 of a
>teaspoon or 1/64 of a teaspoon of salt per tablespoon
>butter. The "highly variable" range is 1/32 of a teaspoon of
>salt.

Bob,

I'm not a baker, but I do cook a lot. For the things that I prepare, such as
sauces, I'm more likely to be concerned about the results of using a stick of
butter (0.25 lb.) or more than those that use a pat. For those cases, yes, I
would think that 1/4 to 1/2 tsp is "highly variable."

For recipes using a pat or two, I'd agree with you that it's negligible.

BTW, thanks for all the posted information.

-- Larry