1. Salted butter can be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 month, while unsalted butter should only be kept for about 2 weeks. You should keep the butter as close to the coldest spot in the refrigerator as possible. If stored in the freezer, both types of butter can be kept for up to 6 months.
2. Butter easily absorbs the smell of other types of food, so you should wrap it tightly before storing it – preferably in aluminum foil or a sealed plastic bag.
3. In cooking, unsalted butter is preferred because it does not affect the taste of the dish. It is also commonly used as a non-stick agent for pans or baking molds. You should never use salted butter as a non-stick agent for baking molds, as it can have the opposite effect.
4. To easily cut cold butter, you can wrap the knife in plastic wrap and then cut it; or another method is to heat the knife in hot water, quickly dry it, and use it to cut the butter immediately.
5. To quickly soften cold butter, you can put the butter in a microwave with 1/2 power, for about 30 seconds. Another slightly more time-consuming method is to use a grater to grate the butter thinly and leave it at room temperature for about 10 minutes, the butter will cool down and become significantly softer.
6. When using butter in a pan for frying or sautéing, remember to heat the pan with butter over low heat. The melting temperature of butter is between 27ºC – 35ºC, if you use medium to high heat to melt the butter, it will easily burn, deteriorate, and lose its flavor.
7. If you need to use butter as a cooking oil at high temperatures, it is best to use clarified butter. Clarified butter is not easy to find in the market, but there is a simple way to make it yourself. First, melt a stick of unsalted butter until completely melted, stirring gently and evenly; there will be a layer of foam on top, you remove all this foam and continue to cook, stir and remove until there is no more foam, then the remaining part is clarified butter. The foam you remove is the milk solids. With this method, you always need to remember to cook on very low heat!
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