BROWN BUTTER

{beurre noisette}

Browning butter is a great kitchen technique to know; it enhances the flavor of the butter in both savory and sweet applications. It’s not difficult to make; all you need is some butter, a skillet, and a watchful eye.

Unsalted butter, cold

Melt the butter in a light-colored, heavy-bottomed skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat. Swirl the butter around with a rubber spatula as it melts and starts to bubble. When it starts bubbling, increase the heat to medium and keep stirring the butter until it boils and begins to foam, 3 to 5 minutes. It will smell nutty and you’ll start to see little brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring, making sure to gently scrape the bottom of the pan with the spatula as you do so. At this point, the butter will begin to quickly change from light brown to dark to burned, so keep a close eye on the pan. I like to take the butter to a dark golden brown for lots of flavor. Once it is golden brown, remove from the heat, and pour the butter and any bits or flecks on the bottom of the pan into a heatproof bowl. The browned butter can be used immediately or cooled to room temperature and stored in the refrigerator for later use (see Brown Butter Buttercream).

NOTES: Butter is made up of milk fat, water, and milk solids. As the butter is heated, the water evaporates, and the milk solids are left behind in the hot pan, along with the milk fat. The solids begin to brown and toast as they continue to heat.

Because the water evaporates when the butter boils, you won’t be left with as much butter as you started with. In some applications this can be an issue. If you are substituting brown butter in a recipe that calls for regular butter, you will want to brown more butter than the recipe calls for, then weigh the butter to get the correct amount for the recipe.

Using a light-colored skillet will help you easily tell when the butter has changed from light to dark brown. A dark skillet often can result in burned brown butter.

The size of skillet or pot to use depends on how much butter you are browning. If you are browning a little butter, use a medium skillet. For a lot of butter, use a large skillet. I use a traditional skillet to brown my butter, but a nonstick skillet will also work.