The Melted Butter Battle

Have you ever read The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Suess? 

(from: http://www.teachpeace.com/drseussbutterbattle.htm)

I love it. But my point is not about whether you eat your bread butter side up or not. It is about melting butter in your microwave...

How many times have you tried to melt butter in your microwave only to hear the sizzle and then POP! POP! So, drop what you are doing and dash to pop the microwave door open to prevent more melted butter spatter, all while knowing you are too late... The ceiling of the microwave is covered in liquid butter... Now if you are kitchen god or goddess already, you know how to prevent this or you are ready with a towel to wipe it up while it is still liquid. If you are like me, you just accept it as life and leave it until you are done with what you are doing.

I would like to assume you are like me if you are reading this...

So I googled it. I opened the first 10 hits I got from “how to melt butter in the microwave”. I found some good things, and some crazy things... But before we go into what I found, we first need to establish some definitions:

BUTTER: Is made from cream, from milk, from a cow! Not any of this marigine stuff or what have you. I am talk the REAL cream and milk fat calorie loaded good stuff!

SOFTENED BUTTER: done at room temperature for cookies or other baked goods. Still solid but when you press on it with your finger you leave an impression, and good for spreading on breads.

MELTED BUTTER: liquid butter, for dipping or for drizzling over fresh popped popcorn. If you cool this form (freeze or refrigerate) it never gets back to the creamy texture you had before.

CLARIFIED BUTTER: The process of seperating the milk fat and the water and salt from the butter. This creates a higher burn point or smoke point for the butter (from: Emeril Lagasse at the Food Network.com)

Here is what I learn this last week about melting butter in the microwave:

1. Use short, low temperature heating

2. cut the butter into smaller pieces (why did I not think of that before!)

3. STIR often

4. Leave it in the wax paper wrapper (DO NOT PUT FOIL IN THE MICROWAVE!)

And lastly, people aren’t talking about how to MELT butter in the microwave. 9 of the 10 sites gave me information on how to SOFTEN butter...

PS: If you want to soften butter quickly I suggest 1. Cutting into tablespoon sized pieces can letting sit at room temp until softened. Or 2. Places the amount of butter you need in between two sheets of wax paper and either roll or hit with a rolling pin until softened.

Next Monday, I will have the experiment with results for you!

Links to the 10 Google Results:

http://www.noobcook.com/how-to-melt-butter-using-a-microwave-oven-step-by-step-photos/
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tip_how_to_soften_butter_quickly/
http://www.ehow.com/how_2105059_melt-butter.html
http://www.landolakes.com/TestKitchen/TipsAndTechniques/FAQ/Butter.aspx
http://www.foodista.com/technique/LWS4TC42/melting-butter-in-microwave#
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniques/cooking-uses-for-your-microwave-00000000042304/page2.html
http://bakingbites.com/2011/08/how-to-soften-butter/
http://www.thekitchn.com/quick-n-easy-ways-to-soften-bu-54814
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_soften_butter_in_a_microwave_oven_without_melting_it