Can I melt butter to make compound butter, and subsequently refrigerate?
I want to make compound butter using my powerful blender. I am having trouble doing this with solid or soft butter because the blender cannot create a vortex and mix as well compared to blending with liquids. I was thinking of melting the butter and adding ingredients (e.g., shallots) and blending it into a beautiful liquid, and then refrigerating it. What would this do?
Best Answer
No need to go power tool.
Just use soft butter, a spatula and your herbs and/or spices; mix them all up in a regular bowl.
If you melt butter it will separate the fat from the milk solid and will never solidify after that.
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Quick Answer about "Can I melt butter to make compound butter, and subsequently refrigerate?"
Compound butters are mixtures of butter and other ingredients that enhance the flavor of many dishes, including meats. They deliver rich flavor and good-quality fat at the same time. Very easy to prepare, they can also cut down on meal prep time if made enough in advance and refrigerated.Can you make compound butter with melted butter?
Don't "melt" the butter before mixing. If your butter is too cold to mix with the other ingredients, you can put it in the microwave but do so sparingly. I put it in for 5-10 seconds and check it in between microwaving times. You do not want melted butter, you want soft butter.Can you melt butter then refrigerate it?
To retain its color, texture and hardness you must keep it in the fridge or in a very cool room. If you have leftover melted butter from a cooking or baking project you can put it back in the fridge and it will harden, but it will also remain broken.Can butter be melted and cooled again?
Butter may look totally amorphous, but there's actually a fair amount of structure in the fat, in particular fat crystals that make it firmer. Melting it disrupts all that structure, and it can't regain it just by resolidifying, so the structure of previously melted butter really is different.Can you blend melted butter?
One compromise might be to blend with as small an amount of melted butter as necessary to get your blender to work well, and leave the rest of the butter soft and unmelted to mix into. Of course, blenders just aren't that well-suited for this task.How to Make Compound Butter | Food Network
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Answer 2
You can do this, but it won't have the same texture when it resolidifies. It'll likely be softer and more translucent. See this answer for a bit about why this happens.
I make lazy garlic butter sometimes by melting and gently heating the garlic in it (not enough to fully cook it, just to soften the garlic and mellow and release the flavor). It definitely works, in terms of producing something that tastes like butter and garlic.
I don't know if you necessarily need the blender for this. Mincing is plenty to make the flavors release well, and soft pieces of minced garlic don't bother me. I believe it'd work if you blend while melted if you want. I'd probably try not to overdo it, though, because you're likely going to be breaking the remaining fat globules and disrupting the texture even more.
One compromise might be to blend with as small an amount of melted butter as necessary to get your blender to work well, and leave the rest of the butter soft and unmelted to mix into.
Of course, blenders just aren't that well-suited for this task. A mini food processor is a much, much better way to chop small amounts of solid things, so if you don't mind another smallish purchase, that'd be my first choice.
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