Bake with COLD BUTTER and COLD MILK????? but sometimes with ROOM TEMPERATURE????

Question

butter and milk??

how do i know when to use ice cold butter and when to use room temperature items when i bake stuff??

i am confused... what are the different outcomes in baking these ways???

thanks!!

Answer 1

If you want the item to have a "short" texture, such as shortbread cookies or pie crust, chill the ingredients. You shoudl be able to see flecks of butter in the dough for these items.

Room temp or soft butter is for blending well into batters and doughs. So a drop cookie dough, bread dough, cake batter, or a pressed crumb crust all use room temp ingredients. You may chill before baking, but you work w/ them room temp. You do not want to see hunks of butter in these raw products.

Usually, your recipes should specify if butter is room temp or cold.

Answer 2

When you make pastries it is best to use cold butter as well as ice water instead of room temp. With other types of baking using the cold butter will alter the consistency of the batter which will effect the outcome of the baked product.

Check out the food network for tips especially Alton Brown's show Good Eats, he usually gives the scientific reasons for making food.

Answer 3

First trying to mix cold butter is not easy. It makes the mixture lumpy. so, that is the main reason and also cold milk will make it all cold and thet will intefere with cooking times at the temp. you have it on. So, really just make sure that the butter is soft. a few seconds in the microwave and milk really doesn't have to be heated unless the recipe tells you to. It will be fine unless it's ice cold. That is my experience with the two and baking. Good luck.

Answer 4

It depends on what you are making. Pie crusts, scones, crumb cakes, and pastrys usually call for cold butter. If your butter is going into a batter or dough, then i suggest using room temperature or soft butter. Often it is specified in the recipe. As for milk, I would say use it cold unless the recipe otherwise specifies.

Answer 5

Generally, cold butter is called for when you're trying to make something with layers, or flakes.

The reason for this is because it melts as it bakes, leaving empty spaces in between the smoothly mixed dough.

Pie dough, for example, works best when all of the ingredients, as well as the baking tools, are as cold as possible.

Answer 6

Unsalted butter is preferred because it's "purer" and doesn't need the salt to stay stable. So, it's a better quality. Also, salt is an ingredient in bread, so if you are adding salt AND salted butter, you might want to scale back on the salt separately. Most chefs prefer unsalted, not just because it's better, but also because they want to control the level of seasoning. Bakers too, presumably. If it's just a tablespoon, it probably won't matter much, but if you're tossing in a whole stick or a pound, that's something else.

Answer 7

It depends on what you're making. Pie crust requires cold butter. Most cookies and cakes use room temp butter. The recipe should tell you. If it doesn't specify cold or room temp, assume it's room temp. You use it that way more than cold.

Answer 8

The only use I can recall or have used COLD butter for is Pie Crust...must be very cold (not frozen)....I'd worry more about What you are making and looking at the use of salted or unsalted butter.

Answer 9

cold biutter doesn;t mix well. Use room temp for mixing unless told otherwise.

Milks can be either way, after mixing, it usually warms to the temp of the otehr ingredients. Let sit a bit just to be sure.

Answer 10

always use room temp. its cause the cold could shock the rest of the recipe. like mashed potatos. if you used cold butter and cold milk the potatos would come out stiff and hard. but if you used warm the mashed potatos will come out light and fluffy.