How to Brown Butter
A step-by-step easy guide for making brown butter. The result is a fantastic deep nutty toasty flavor. Use it for baking and cooking recipes. Yield: depends on the amount of water in the butter you use. I estimate roughly 20-25%. So per pound of regular butter, you get ¾ pound of brown butter.
Servings 12 ounces (aprox.)
Ingredients
- 1 pound unsalted butter
Instructions
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan with tall sides (a few inches or so depending on the amount of butter you're browning) over medium heat.
- It will foam at first and spurt, so be careful! Don't stand too close to the saucepan.
- It will melt and will start to bubble and make a furious noise (this will be louder depending on the amount of water the butter has).
- Then, the bubbles will become smaller and it will gradually stop chirping (really, it's a chirping noise, you'll see) and will foam quite a bit (images below).
- Be careful as it will start browning underneath the foam. You will smell a nutty aroma.
- It's very important that you split the foam with the spoon or spatula you're using and see that it doesn’t burn. You want it to be an amber color. Similar to caramel, it goes from amber to burned in a short moment, so be careful.
- Take it out and put it in a shallow pan so it stops cooking (image below, right).
- The shade goes from light to dark in seconds, just like that (image below). The flavor deepens as it colors, but be aware that, just like it happens with caramel, it goes from wonderfully dark-colored and deep flavored to burned and useless.
- Allow to cool and refrigerate until cold. Read the recipe carefully, because usually butter is used at room t°, so it doesn’t need to solidify completely.
Notes
Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
Yield: depends on the amount of water in the butter you use. I estimate roughly 20-25%. So per pound of regular butter, you get ¾ pound of brown butter.
Color: be very careful during the last stage of the recipe, when the butter stops chirping, and a thick foam gathers on the top. The butter starts to burn quickly at this point, so make sure you separate the foam with a spatula and check that the bottom is not burning. The darker the color, the deeper the flavor. Just make sure you don't get a burned flavor!
Solids: as the butter browns, the solids burn and deposit in the bottom. You can use it with solids or without. Your choice. Sometimes the butter is deep-colored, meaning the solids are almost burned, so it's better to leave them behind.
Bulk browning: I make this recipe 1 pound at a time. Then I refrigerate it until I need it and use it as regular butter. It will have a different consistency, of course. But the results in cakes, muffins, and cookies are exceptional.
Storing: keep refrigerated in a tightly closed container. It lasts for a week, but always check it before using it. Don't use it if it has a rancid smell or a weird texture. It can also be frozen. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Soft brown butter: read the recipe you're going to make carefully because butter is usually used at room temperature, so it doesn’t need to solidify entirely if you're browning it for that recipe.
