Can I always use butter instead of margarine when baking?

Question

Some recipes says use butter or margarine, some say use butter and some say use margarine. My question is, can I always use butter or does margarine have some property that butter doesn't when baking?

Asked by johnny

Answer

Margarine has less fat than butter, but it doesn't give quite the same flavor as butter does. You also have to be careful what KIND of margarine you are using. Tub margarine has a higher water content and can ruin your baked goods and the stick margarine can have a lot of trans fats in it. If you really want to get detailed into the differences, check out this site:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/fats.htm

I agree with everything stated on that site in the fact that butter, in my opinion is far superior in flavor and texture than margarine. I have yet to meet a dish that butter didn't improve the taste over margarine. But there is the thing, it really is a lot about taste. A good quote from the site about margarine:

"Not great for baking: does not allow foods to become flaky, rather more cakelike; does not spread as well as lard or shortening; adds a greasy taste. However, some bake with it all the time and have great success; it's a matter of taste."

Answered by FoodTasted

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Why is butter incorporated into the dough last when making Brioche?

Question

I made Brioche for the first time tonight using the Rich Man's Brioche recipe from Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice.

The recipe basically leaves out the butter until the very end when the dough is fully mixed and hydrated. Only then does the recipe require the butter to be slowly added into the dough tablespoons at a time using a wooden spoon.

I am usually used to creaming the butter at the very beginning or using melted butter in the wet ingredients and then mixing it with the dry ingredients. Incorporating the butter into the dough at the end using a wooden spoon took quite a while and was a pretty good workout for my arms.

I took a look at other Brioche recipes on the internet and pretty much all of them add the butter into the dough at the very end.

So my question is why is the butter incorporated only after the dough is fully formed?

What would happen if I were to cream the butter with the sugar(small amount of it) and egg at the beginning before adding it to the sponge and dry ingredients?

Asked by Jay

Answer

The reason is that butter can inhibit gluten formation. It 'coats' the proteins that would form gluten. You knead the dough first to get gluten, and then add the butter afterward around the already formed gluten.

You can add it earlier, you just end up with less gluten and a more tender dough.

Creaming isn't usually done with bread, as its purpose is air bubble formation.

Answered by rfusca

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What can I substitute for vegetable oil in a recipe?

Question

Is there something that I can use as a substitute for vegetable oil in a recipe? I'm actually making cornbread (I think it matters), and normally the recipe calls for 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Unfortunately I just realized that I'm out. Can I use butter or shortening instead? If so, roughly how much would I try?

Asked by Andrew Dunaway

Answer

On first blush, you will probably want a fat or oil with similar qualities as the "vegetable" oil you're replacing, such as olive oil. Butter has a much lower a smoke point, however, cornbread recipes exist that use butter or lard. I'd be willing to experiment, particularly if you're used to cooking with butter. (Just be careful with heat.) As far as quantity, I'd use a bit less than 1/3 of a cup, but that's me being defensive as I don't know the recipe you're using.

Answered by staticsan

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Did I make butter, or something else?

Question

Tonight I tried to make some butter from some raw cows milk. I followed the instructions here, and let the cream I skimmed off a gallon of milk sit for about 24 hours to "culture." It didn't really smell "slightly sour" yet, but as I had already gone twice the prescribed time, I decided to move on anyway. I divided the cream between two quart jars, and shook them for about 20 minutes each, as described, and although solid clumps formed in each jar, there was no yellow tint.

So I transferred the contents of each jar into a mixing bowl, and used an electric mixer, per the instructions here, but it made no real difference, except to move the stuff around, so I finished off the batch by straining the butter milk from the solids, rinsing the butter under cool water, and adding a little salt.

The final result looks like this:

In the silver bowl is the finished "butter", in the bowl to the right, the strained off buttermilk, and I'm holding a stick of store-bought butter (Ingredients: Cream, Natural Colors) for color comparison.

This "butter" tastes okay, but doesn't have much of a buttery flavor. It is is also the whitest "butter" I have ever seen. But is it really butter, or did I make something else? To get "normal" yellow butter that tastes butterier, what should I do differently?

Asked by Flimzy

Answer

It's not hard: First milk cow :-), then let the milk settle in the fridge for a day or two. Skim the cream off the top

Use a food processor, or hand shake in a cocktail mixer or similar sized jar (only about a 100 ml at a time)

First you get whipped cream (2 to 5 minutes), then another minute of shaking and suddenly butter appears

It should separate very cleanly, with watery whey (save for soft cheese making), and lots of rough yellowish fat globules. If it still looks smooth it needs more shaking

If you want to keep the butter for any length of time you will need to wash it a few times with clean water, and squeeze the water out of it after each wash

The colour you get depends on what your cows have been eating. It can be quite white

There is no need for heating, or any other additives

Answered by TFD

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How do I butter popcorn without making it soggy?

Question

I've tried buttering my popcorn in the past, and it always turns out inconsistent. A few pieces will be soaked with butter, and others have no butter on them at all.

Perhaps there is a way to get the butter flavoring without drizzling butter on after popping the kernels?

Answer

Another option is to make your popcorn in a pot using butter as the oil for the bottom. I find that if you toast the unpopped popcorn kernels in the butter, it gives a bit of a butter flavor to the entire pot -- less than if you were to put butter on the top, but plenty for me.

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How important is the creaming process while making a cake?

Question

A few of the chocolate cake recipes I read always start with the step - mix butter and sugar until creamy. I've tried a couple of times but failed to create anything near to creamy. But a few recipes completely eliminate the creaming process, wherein the wet ingredients are added directly to the dry mix. I'm looking for a cake which has a light and moist texture. What should I do? All my previous cakes were either too airy or grainy! On a side note, no matter how much time I mix, I'm not getting the sugar to completely dissolve in the butter. Should I be adding more butter?

Answer

The purpose mixing the butter and sugar until creamy is to distribute air through the batter that will help leaven the cake in the oven. Skipping this step can create a denser cake. You want to add the air into the batter before adding the flour in order to prevent over mixing, which creates gluten; causing a tougher texture.

Beating the eggs until foamy and folding them into the batter or adding the eggs to the butter/sugar and beating until fluffy will also create a lighter texture.

The sugar does not need to dissolve in the butter, but it should be evenly distributed. This site gives a good visual on how creamed butter & sugar should look.

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When using melted butter, is rendering (clarifying) always preferable?

Question

I was looking at this question:

How do I butter popcorn without making it soggy?

And it got me wondering: is there any instance, either using melted butter for popcorn or in some other application, where simply melted but not clarified/rendered butter should be used?

Answer

Essentially clarified butter is butter that has all it's water and milk solids removed. All that is left is butterfat.

Pros and Cons of Clarified/Rendered butter:

Pros:

• It can be stored longer than regular butter
• It has a higher smoke point so can be heated higher without burning
• Does contain negligible lactose for those lactose-intolerant

Cons:

• Effort. It requires so time to melt the butter, boil off the water, filter out the milk fat, and resolidify the butter again.
• Taste. Because the milk solids are filtered out, it has a milder "butter" taste than unclarified butter. Of course it will still be much more rich and buttery compared to regular vegetable oil.

With this information in mind, I will leave it to yourself to decide when you should and should not use clarified butter.

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Cooking an egg without oil or butter

Question

I like scrambled and fried eggs but the butter or oil probably add unnecessary calories. How can I fry an egg with no butter? I tried in a Teflon pan but it was a mess.

Answer

Well, frying means to cook in oil, so technically you can't. Fat also is delicious, so you'll lose something in the process besides just calories.

If you are using teflon, ceramic, or some other non-stick, don't bring the heat up too much. Scrambling your eggs with milk will make them more fluffy, and I bet less likely to stick. Use (sigh) PAM or another aerosolized cooking spray. Or just 'wipe' the pan with an oiled paper towel. It would impart minimal calories.

It's sad, but microwaving eggs will cook them without adding calories (or anything else). You can also make absolutely delicious eggs by soft-boiling them, which adds nothing at all.

My more general advice is to learn to love a little fat and to consume a variety of fresh, unprocessed foods which taste great. It's much healthier in the long run than just cutting away at a number. Better to go for some walks/runs/lifts then sacrifice flavor. And fat leads to fullness, which leads to less wasted calories on junk later in the day.

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What is the purpose of oil or butter in bread?

Question

Specifically in wheat and potato breads, what is the purpose of adding oil or butter to the dough?

I have always assumed it was just for flavor, but I suspect there is some background chemical reasons for adding it.

Answer

Breads get their structure from glutens--a type of starch molecule formed by the combination of glutenin with gliaten. Kneading and resting the dough helps the formation of glutens--I assume by shifting glutenin and gliatin molecules around, this increases the odds of bindings occurring.

Oils can bind to glutenin and gliatin and inhibit these reactions, so fats--oils and butter--definitely play a role in the texture control.

It prevents the dough from getting too elastic, which controls texture. This elasticity change would also change the maximum air bubble size. Altering resting times and yeast quantity also change these, but trading off for a different flavor. Oil may play other roles, but these are what I recall reading about off the top of my head. Yes, it does contribute to flavor as well.

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Solutions for when heating chocolate and butter doesn't mix well

Question

Yesterday I tried to make brownies that started out with me having to melt unsweetened chocolate with butter in a frying pan on the stove. This did not work well. The chocolate kindof mixed with the melted butter, but parts of it remained solid. I then had to let it cool before adding the rest of the ingredients; the butter and chocolate separated, and the chocolate formed small to medium solid globs in the butter.

What did I do wrong? If this were to happen again how would I go about fixing it? Should I add something to counteract this and if so what and how much?

NOTE:

• I didn't have unsweetened chocolate so I used Hershey's pure chocolate chipits.
• I also used margarine instead of butter but have never had a problem with this substitution before.

Answer

I can think of at least three things that will cause chocolate to seize - which refers to when melted or melting chocolate suddenly becomes hard again:

• Using too high a heat. Double-boiler is the safest, but you can use a saucepan on very low heat.

• Sugar bloom and other impurities. You shouldn't get this with baker's chocolate, but if you use any lower-quality chocolate, this can seep into the melting chocolate and cause it to seize.

• Contact with moisture! Even a tiny amount will cause it to immediately seize, and it's difficult to recover at that point.

Sounds like you fell into traps #2 and #3 and possibly #1. I would not melt chocolate in margarine; I'd even be wary of melting it in butter, and find it strange that a recipe would call for that, because both butter and margarine contain water!

Melting chocolate in a liquid can actually help prevent seizing, but you have to use a lot of liquid and the liquid has to be completely melted before you start trying to melt the chocolate. It's better to use something like a vegetable oil which has no water content if this is what you're trying to do.

So, in summary:

• Definitely stay away from the margarine. Even if you need to use butter, make sure it's completely melted first and try to use only the fat (clarify it).

• If you can, melt the chocolate and clarify the butter separately and then whisk them together gradually afterward; not only will this help to prevent seizing, but if commenter @roux is correct and the problem isn't one of seizing, this will still help to guarantee that the chocolate melts evenly.

• Use the best quality chocolate you can find. Chipits are generally OK to melt on their own, but if they've been sweetened then this may contribute to seizing if other factors are present.

• Melt in a double-boiler or on very low heat.

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In baking, can yoghurt replace butter?

Question

By baking, I mean cakes / muffins / biscuits.

This is mainly to cut down on fat.

I've tried replacing butter with yoghurt in all of these and the results were OK.

Are there any cases where it's not a good idea?

I generally replace with equal ratios e.g 100 ml butter = 100 ml yoghurt.

Is this the best ratio?

Answer

I guess it depends on what the substitution is for.

Certainly if the butter is just for flavour, it's a reasonable substitute (I think I'd use slightly more yogurt). But 9 times out of 10, fat is the main reason the recipe is calling for butter! Yogurt cannot substitute for a fat (butter) because it has very little fat.

If you lower the fat content of a baked good then you'll generally end up with a product much denser and less flakey. So if you feel you must do this for some reason, then I would increase the sugar in the recipe to compensate (sugar inhibits gluten formation and will help to make the result less chewy).

The other thing you'd better keep in mind is that yogurt is naturally sour and will become even sourer when baked at a high temperature. The longer you bake, the more sour it will become, so you might need to amp up the sugar significantly to maintain the proper flavour.

So for the most part, no, yogurt is really not a substitute for butter or any other fat. Obviously this is partly a matter of personal taste, and if you're happy with the result, then continue doing what you're doing - but I think I'd definitely hesitate to eat a cake that was baked with yogurt instead of butter.

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How to prepare butter for baking when time is limited?

Question

From my experience, the best way to use butter when baking is to let it soften to room temperature. However, sometimes one is short on time and must use the microwave to soften the butter. I always felt that cookies are better when the butter is a little firmer. Why is that? Is there a better way? Should I simply defrost the butter in the microwave carefully? Perhaps put it in a closed bag and run it under warm water?

Answer

To get your butter up to room temperature faster, you can slice it into very small pieces or grate it with a cheese grater and then leave it out in a single layer. It will get where you want it in around 10 minutes that way.

You cookies taste better with room temperature butter because they have more air in them. When you mix the butter, sugar and eggs in your cookie recipe you're creating an emulsion of oil, proteins and air. Those little air pockets in the cookie dough then help the cookie puff up when it bakes. When the butter is melted all the way before you mix it in, this emulsion has much less air in it than it should, so your cookies' texture isn't as good.

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How to Rescue Too-Soft Cookie Dough Made with Butter Substitute?

Question

The other day I made a batch of sugar cookies intending to roll them out and cut into shapes. I used the standard Martha Stewart's recipe, but didn't have butter, so I used Smart Balance Lite Margarine. Needless to say the dough didn't get stiff enough to cut or roll, even though its been refrigerated for more than 24 hours. Is there anyway to either use this dough as is OR to add ingredients to the dough to make it more stiff?

Answer

I don't believe you will be satisfied with any cookies you roll out and cut from this dough. That said, there are three options that may allow the dough to find a tasty future.

1. Make a 'Mega Cookie': roll the dough out and fit it onto a pizza tin and bake. This can be decorated as one large cookie/pizza.

2. Make 'Brownies': work the dough into an 8"x8" or 9"x13" pan and bake.

3. 'Cupcakes': scoop a spoonful of dough into each compartment of muffin tin and bake.

Of course you will have to watch to get them done enough as the standard bake time probably won't apply.

If your recipe doesn't include eggs (or you are not concerned with the risk that raw eggs may pose) adding it to homemade ice cream would be a fourth option.

Good luck.

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what is the difference between butter spread and pure butter?

Question

first of all, basically what is the difference?

what are their uses and is there a big difference? for example is there a case where I should use pure butter for some things but never a spread or vice versa? When the recipe says butter which one should I use?

Answer

Generally speaking, butter spreads have a water component to them. That's what the emulsifier is for, as it keeps the fat and water from separating.

The problem is that you can't fry/cook with it. If you place it in a pan it will separate, and sizzle in a very unpleasant manner. If I remember correctly, it actaully smells quite awful in the process.

As for baking, I think it'll be fine anywhere there needs to be fat as fat. Wherever you need fat as something to hold the structure, you had probably best not use it. Caveat emptor, as I don't bake very much at all.

Let it be aid, however, that margarine as opposed to butter spread, can be used anywhere that butter is used. It isn't as tasty, and has trans-fats. On the other hand, it has less cholesterol.

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Buttermilk + Butter =?

Question

Watching an episode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" (episode: House of the Rising Bun) and AB is demonstrating a recipe for cinnamon rolls. In the "wet" mix he includes both buttermilk and butter.

Now, since buttermilk is milk after the butter has been churned out, why would a recipe call for both?

Obviously, proportion would be an issue, but whole milk + (less) butter should equal buttermilk + (full amount) butter, shouldn't it?

Answer

Hah, I get to cite my new copy of McGee's "On Food and Cooking" for the first time! There are several things going on here (all of which can be found in the 2004 edition of McGee, most on page 50).

Firstly, as Nathan indicates in his answer, most of the liquid that is sold as buttermilk these days is in fact not "real" buttermilk, but so-called "cultured buttermilk", made from ordinary skim milk and fermented until acid and thick.

Secondly, even traditional buttermilk was somewhat sour, though less than cultured buttermilk. To find out why, let's examine the processes that were involved in making it. If you want to make butter, you start by separating milk into cream and whey. Since the 19th century, we typically do that with a centrifuge and it goes quite quickly, but before then, we would leave it to gravity. That would take a while, and the milk would start to ferment while it happened - especially in warmer environments. This fermenting is essentially lactic acid bacteria converting lactose into lactic acid, which sours the milk a little.

So in either case, you would have more lactic acid in butter + buttermilk than in butter + whole milk.

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Greasing a pan with butter vs. with shortening

Question

Is there any reason one should prefer one over the other?

I've always used shortening (probably because that's what my mom always did), but my fiancee has always used butter.

There's no significant difference I can think of (for this application), but I thought I'd ask.

Answer

Both will do the job of greasing a pan but there are some differences. One of the big differences is that butter will add a very desirable flavor to whatever you are cooking—which especially complements sweet baked goods.

Shortening is pure fat whereas butter is only about 80% fat by weight. Butter may bring additional flavor to your recipe (even by greasing the pan) but it also adds some water which may not be wanted.

One final difference is that butter burns/browns more easily than shortening.

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How do I cook shrimp in butter?

Question

I want to cook shrimp in butter. My problem in the past has been that the butter burns if it gets too hot but the shrimp remains fishy if the butter does not get hot enough. Any advice?

Answer

Use clarified butter. It will handle considerably higher temperatures without burning/smoking.

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Salted butter in toffee

Question

What effects would using salted butter instead of unsalted butter have on a toffee recipe?

I'm using the basic

• Equal parts butter and sugar
• Heat to soft crack (285 F)
• Poor into flat cooking sheet or something similar to cool

Answer

Besides the obvious - your toffee will have more salt in it? Salted butter also contains more water than unsalted butter, and varies more on both salt and moisture content on a brand-by-brand basis than unsalted butter. A higher percent of water means less fat, so after the water cooks out, your ratio of fat to sugar will be off somewhat.

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Butter alternative for making breads

Question

I'm interested in making dairy-free Banana nut bread. What can I use as an alternative to butter? I'm aware that there is soy and coconut milk as alternatives to cow's milk, but I'm not immediately sure that using those will work as a substitute, as cow's milk is to soy milk as (regular) butter is to soy butter (which is not the same concept, as I understand?). Basically I'm wondering what products exist which would provide the chemical properties of butter without being dairy.

Thanks!

Answer

Butter flavored shortening and a touch of water (because butter has water in it too). The key thing here is that you have a have a solid fat because you're beating air bubbles into the butter during the creaming process. These bubbles are needed for the bread to properly rise during baking.

The browning process may be an issue though - shortening has no protein. You're after an umami flavor from the Malliard reaction ... it may be difficult to add that because of the lack of protein. A pinch of MSG maybe, for the umami?

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Replacing butter with olive oil

Question

This is more of a food preparation/health question since it's after the food has been cooked. Recently I've been substituting butter with olive oil. For example, baked potatoes, instead of butter and sour cream, I use olive oil. I've also added olive oil to noodles and in place of gravy in a few meals and also in place of teriyaki sauce in rice bowls.

In most cases the flavor is enhanced. With the potatoes, you taste a bit much of the olive oil but it's still good.

Is it ok to continue doing this? I'm assuming that it's going to be better than butter and other "dressings" such as gravy.

If this is a safe practice, I would like to get my family more into it, but I doubt they will enjoy the natural flavor of olive oil. I've been adding different flavors of Ms Dash seasonings (no salt) which give it nice hints of this and that depending on the type. What else can I do to enhance the flavor so they will enjoy it?

Answer

It's certainly safe. Butter, Oil, whatever, it's more about taste than anything else. Some people even push lard and butter as the "safe" options, because they require less processing than oil, and much less than margarine.

One thing which you should be aware of in regards to butter vs oil: butter has a significant amount of water in it, so you shouldn't substitute 1-to-1, or you will have a stronger flavour (and more fat) than perhaps you want.

If you're accustomed to salted butter, adding some salt will help ease the transition. If the flavour of olive oil is off-putting, there are plenty of more neutral flavoured oils that have a similar fat composition, or you can simply avoid extra virgin olive oil*.

*extra virgin olive oil in the U.S is largely a scam. In most of the world (countries that adhere to the IOC standard) this signifies "First Cold Press" olive oil. In the US it signifies "lamp grade olive oil with green food coloring". There are no restrictions on the use of terms like "extra virgin" in the US, so you can't guarantee that's what you're really getting just because it's on the label.

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