I tend to be kind of impulsive in the sense that I don’t think ahead as much as I ought to. That sometimes gets me in a pickle, such as when a recipe I intend to make calls for room temperature butter. More than once, I’ve started to gather ingredients and tools, only to read the recipe more carefully and see that I need to get the butter out and wait. And wait. And wait.
I’ve seen various tips and tricks to warm butter in a relative hurry. The one that stands out the most is to pour hot tap water into a heavy drinking glass, pour it out, and invert the glass over the stick of butter, where the warmth of the glass will slowly bring the butter to room temperature. Today, though, I was wondering: why not just put the stick of butter in a bowl of room temperature water? It seems to me that it should work pretty well, and could hardly be easier. It’s not like the butter will soak up any water, right?Anybody tried it?
I have not, but — while this won’t be helpful today -— I always have a stick or half stick of butter in a butter jar next to the stove. Unless you live in the desert or have no a/c, that might be an option going forward
Sally’s Baking Addiction has a microwave suggestion:
Instructions
1. Pour 2 cups of water into a microwave-safe cup or bowl. I always use a liquid measuring cup. 2. Microwave it for 2 minutes until very hot. Meanwhile, place pieces of butter into a heatproof bowl or on a plate. 3. Very carefully remove water from microwave. Place butter in the microwave. Immediately close the microwave door to trap hot air inside. 4. The radiant heat will soften the butter in about 10 minutes.
I posted the question as I was congratulating myself for remembering to bring the butter and eggs to room temperature for a cake I planned to bake. Only after they were sufficiently warmed and I started to get the rest of the ingredients together did I notice I also needed the Greek yogurt to be room temp. D’oh!
I do this, but with the butter inside of a ziploc bag, using warmer-than-room temp water (like body temp, a little under 100 degrees). I find that the fridge-cold butter cools the water off pretty quickly and I rarely have any melting unless I overshoot the water start temp. The ziploc bag is just insurance against any melting.
To soften and get butter to room temp I smash it between wax paper, let it sit for a bit. The friction from smashing warms it up, increases surface area, disperses the cold and the smashing softens it.
