Salted or unsalted butter?

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

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TastyReuben said:
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M&M’s for Halloween - we have to have something to give to the kids who never show up. The Hershey Miniatures we had have somehow disappeared… :whistling:


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Can’t wait to try Aldi’s Christmas beer!


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Oranges mean mulled cider at some point soon.
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I do like the Mezzetta brand, so far as long life stuff goes I think they do a good job.
But unsalted butter? Get ye behind thee 😂
 
karadekoolaid said:
...and the simple reason is that you can't control the amount of salt in ready-salted butter.
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True but brands are extremely consistent in how much salt they add and salt is something I always adjust at the end due to the other ingredients used being variable, so I don’t see any advantage in unsalted.

I know a lot of chefs will insist “I control the amount of salt” when it comes to salted V unsalted butter but you do anyway.
I don’t know anyone worth their salt (boom boom soz couldn’t resist 😂) that doesn’t taste then adjust the final seasoning at least a smidge at the end of the cook.

Of course if you dislike salt like Sat Nav then I can see a point.
 
karadekoolaid said:
...and the simple reason is that you can't control the amount of salt in ready-salted butter.
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SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
True but brands are extremely consistent in how much salt they add and salt is something I always adjust at the end due to the other ingredients used being variable, so I don’t see any advantage in unsalted.

I know a lot of chefs will insist “I control the amount of salt” when it comes to salted V unsalted butter but you do anyway.
I don’t know anyone worth their salt (boom boom soz couldn’t resist 😂) that doesn’t taste then adjust the final seasoning at least a smidge at the end of the cook.

Of course if you dislike salt like Sat Nav then I can see a point.
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If either of you ever visit Sweden, don't buy the "Havssal" butter. It's butter with the added crunch factor of sea salt flakes. Butter is not meant to be crunchy.
 
No, I don't dislike salt. I love it - in fact, there are times (mostly during the hot season) when I just have to have something salty. However, apart from being able to monitor the amount of extra salt I use, I think unsalted butter actually tastes better.
While in the UK/Civilised world in general, the amount of salt added to butter is probably regulated, nothing even remotely like that happens over here - hence my choice.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
If either of you ever visit Sweden, don't buy the "Havssal" butter. It's butter with the added crunch factor of sea salt flakes. Butter is not meant to be crunchy.
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Crunchy salt is now a thing here too.
I like it but it’s a bit of shock when you don’t realise what you’ve bought and suddenly your toast is super salted n crunchy 😂
 
The “control your own salt content” wasn’t that much of a consideration of mine…until some salted butter wrecked a loaf of bread - after that…unsalted only, which wasn’t a big deal, because I prefer the taste of it, anyway.
 
When I was back in the UK a couple of years ago, my mum had Anchor butter in the fridge. That was her favourite ever since I can remember. I actually found it almost overpowering! It was probably the salt, but it might also have been the extra creaminess of the butter. Tropical cows don't seem to produce so much cream.
 
karadekoolaid said:
I actually found it almost overpowering!
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Whenever we eat out and get butter with the meal, it’s almost always salted, and I always give it a little taste first, because brand X butter will be lightly salted, but brand Y will taste more of salt than butter.

Thing is, I love salt, so I can handle quite a lot of it, it’s just that I have to taste it first, so when I’m cooking/baking, I need consistency, and I don’t always buy the same butter.

Plus, I like to coat my toast with about a quarter-inch of it, like I’m frosting a cake, and if it’s a salt-heavier brand, I have to cut back on the butter a bit, which then leaves me a bit disappointed.
 
I've done European (business) travel in company with many many 'never-got-far-from-home' Americans . . .
oh the stories I can tell . . .

when they get to the typical 'continental breakfast' - fresh bread / butter / spreads (including liverwurst!!!)
Aufschnitt aka 'cold cuts' / hard & soft boiled eggs . . .
they almost to exclusion exclaim at the bread&butter - gosh oh wow!!!
they never had unsalted butter - up thru the 70's-80's? unsalted butter was not commonly found in USA.
unsalted butter has a fresh(er) / clean(er) taste, imho. and theirs, on experience . . . apparently.

I buy / stock / use unsalted -run-of-the-market butter -
then . . . I finally got a butter bell. this keeps butter in a water seal, at room temp. - which freaks a lot of people into the outer limits.... the butter bell keeps the butter at 'easy spreading temperature . . .' - a real factor when scarfing down fresh croissants . . .
can't use it in the summer because 'room temp' is too high, the butter softens to the point of 'falling out' into the water seal.

taking it one tasty step further . . . tried a bunch of plugra style aka 'higher fat' - and settled on Kerrygold for da'jummies.
more expensive, but since I'm the only one brave enough to eat room temp butter,,,, not a budget killer.....
 
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