What is the purpose salted and unsalted butter?

1. 61

   Shariceyposted 12 years ago

   What is the purpose salted and unsalted butter?
   
   I know the obvious difference is that one has added salt whereas one does not. I also have noticed baking always calls for unsalted. Are there any additional differences, purposes or uses for the two butters.

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2. 98

   Rochelle Frankposted 12 years ago

   Salt is added to foods to enhance flavor, but it used to be added to more things as a preservative.  Salted butter keeps longer. When people did not have refrigeration, butter was usually salted-- and people got used to the taste of it.
   Salted butter can be used in baking, but if the recipe calls for unsalted-- you might want to cut back on the salt in the recipe by about 1/4 tsp per stick of salted butter.

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   1. 53

      celafoeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      excellent answer I agree

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3. 62

   Handicapped Chefposted 12 years ago

   The difference between salted and unsalted butter are obvious, one contains salt and the other doesn't. Unsalted butter is great for baking because a baker likes to control the amount of salt in their baked goods. Salted butter is great for day to day cooking that usually contains salt because cooks can add the butter and adjust the salt accordingly. I also like using salted butter for cooking in soup and sauces it helps me layer my flavors better so they both serve a purpose but I use unsalted more than salted .

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4. 72

   WhatToCookposted 12 years ago

   To control the salt you add to your food. to help control the taste of food, and also for people who can not have salt.

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5. 68

   Foodstuffposted 12 years ago

   Using unsalted butter gives you control over the amount of salt used in the recipe. I personally prefer unsalted butter even for eating - the flavour of the butter shines through. The standard salted butter tends to be too heavily salted (in my opinion). You can get butter with reduced salt.

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