We somehow ended up with two copies of Joy of Cooking. The one we use most is the 1991 copy, which specifies unsalted in every baking recipe I’ve looked at–but you’re right, when I found butter in a non-baking recipe (buffalo wings), it didn’t specify.
My other copy is 1975–although it also says, “First Scribner Edition 1995.” Recipes don’t specify, but in the “Know your ingredients” section on page 539, it says, “Most of the recipes in this book call for sweet butter–first-grade butter made from sweet cream with no added salt.” It goes on to say, “Salt butter may be purchased or made at home from sweet or soured cream and keeps longer than sweet butter.”
Interesting. I’m away for a week, so I can’t check my edition, but I would assume it probably has a similar note. Odd that they specify sweet butter in the puff pastry recipe, but not in the other ones I checked. I also would have assumed that most Americans, when asked for butter without qualification, would most likely use salted butter. Burying the info deep in the book on a single page is a poor editorial choice. Or perhaps I am wrong about salted butter being the default? That’s just my experience in other people’s kitchens and from restaurants. I still remember when my parents first buying sweet cream butter and just how weird it tasted to me.
Norwegian recipes for baking rarely specify “unsalted butter”. Exceptions are translated recipes, recipes written by people who don’t realize how little salt you add through using salted butter*, and recipes where you genuinely want very little or no salt at all.
I did some highly scientific research and googled ‘butter + sugar’ and ‘“unsalted butter” + sugar’ in Norwegian and got:
In Germany butter is unsalted by default, including plated butter for table service. If somebody wants it salty they spread the butter first, then sprinkle salt on top. It’s possible to find salted butter but you have to seek it out.
Why is it “simply wrong”? If a recipe calls for table salt, is that also wrong, as there is no use at all for using table salt?
In any case, Kosher salt does not have iodine added to it, as most table salts do. That does have a distinctive metallic flavor that can be tasted in certain dishes. If you use iodized salt in cream soups, for instance, that would be simply wrong.
And what is wrong with using Kosher salt? It’s not like it would really save you any money to use table salt instead.
Since much of cooking does get done with Kosher salt, and it is what you are more likely to have on hand near the stove, and the difference in grain size/shape means that kosher is much less packed than table salt, means that if you use the measurements given for Kosher, but use table, then you will have added much too much salt.
Finally, Kosher salt is better in a little bowl than table salt is to pick up a pinch to add to a dish. Table salt doesn’t have the same properties that make it as easy to use.
So, I wouldn’t say that a recipe that calls for kosher salt “simply wrong”, as it is in fact, quite right. I would agree that it is not absolute necessary, and substituting table salt for Kosher will rarely have much if any of a negative effect.
Again, in my quarter century of baking, I have never noticed a textural difference in a product based on the use of salted butter instead of unsalted butter. Have you? Have you found any example of a professional baker attesting to such a difference?
While goodhousekeeping found no visible difference in cupcakes baked with salted and unsalted butter. Link.
I’m always skeptical of these “We did a few bakes and compared them!” experiments as I’m dubious that the small sample size really lets us determine anything meaningful.
For me, I started using unsalted butter when an erstwhile roommate had some health issues and I’ve never switched back as I find I rather enjoy the ‘truer’ butter flavor. And I can always add salt on my own anyway. The important thing is to be in the kitchen making tasty things! If using unsalted butter is what it takes, then use unsalted butter!
According to Bob’s Red Barn Blog, in addition to differences in salt content and preservation -
I’m guessing it would have to be a difference in gluten reaction before any liquid is added to the dough, otherwise you could just vary the amount of liquid added. I don’t know about croissants, but for pie crusts you cut the butter or shortening into the flour first. Maybe the butter is supposed to block moisture from parts of the dough and it won’t do that as effectively if there’s more water in it.
I thought salt is used to control yeast growth in bread. Too much salt means the yeast won’t work as well. So in recipes where the salt is critical for chemical reactions, it’s probably best to use unsalted butter.
Yeah, I’m very careful about measuring everything else when I bake, but I’ve never seen salted vs unsalted butter make a real difference. I suppose there could be a slight difference in taste, but I’ve never noticed it.
**araminty **, salted butter also comes in sticks for easy measuring.
I don’t think we have ever had salted butter in the house. We buy it in sticks and freeze it till we need it. There will always be some in the butter dish. One of the delights at passover is buttered matzah with salt added. Using salted butter just doesn’t give the right taste.
This is true, but there’s another reason to clarify whether the to be salt used is Kosher or not: the irregularly shaped crystals of Kosher salt stack with much more air per unit volume than the smaller, more regular crystals of most table salts. As recipes typically measure salt in units of volume rather than mass or weight, identifying the type of salt allows more accurate specification of the actual amount to be used.
The reason most cooks recommend kosher salt is that if you’re using salt as a seasoning, kosher salt’s bigger grains are easier to grab from a salt bowl and drop in without accidentally grabbing too much. It gives you a little more control over how much you’re adding. It’s not a matter of taste or texture, just practicality. I’ve tried using table salt and it’s definitely easier to just add too much because of how fine the grains are.
It’s similar if you’re, say, dry brining or salting meat before cooking it, the larger grains prevent you from overcoating it as easily.
In non-baking recipes when they say “1/4 teaspoon” or whatever it’s usually just a ballpark figure of how much the recipe writer usually ends up adding. It’s shorthand for “salt and pepper to taste but I find this much approximately appropriate”.