How To Turn One Stick Of Butter Into Two

[clavo]

Not sure where to post this, I thought I'd share. I haven't tried it yet, but am letting a stick of butter come to room temp right now. Will see how it works...

During the World War II food shortages, people were forced to make the most of what they had. With today’s escalating grocery prices, one hint from that time still makes a lot of sense (and cents!)… how to turn one stick of butter into two. This extended butter has the same taste and texture as regular butter. It’s frugal… half the cost… but it’s also healthier… because it has half the fat and half the calories of regular butter. You can use extended butter almost anywhere you would normally use butter, but remember that it contains only half the amount of fat, so you cannot use it in any dish that depends on a certain fat content. This is why you cannot use it for baking.

Extended butter is easy to make. Just beat one half cup of lukewarm water into one softened stick (one half cup) of butter. If you use a mixer, start slowly to prevent splattering. Add small amounts of water at a time and keep beating until the water is thoroughly incorporated into the butter. The mixture will be smooth and fluffy, and you will end up with one cup of soft butter. After this soft butter is refrigerated, it will become as firm as regular butter. I make up only one stick at a time and usually store the butter covered in a stainless steel measuring cup that lost its handle some time back. If your preferences run to something fancier, try shaping it or putting it in a pretty dish. This butter will also pick up detail nicely from a mold.

[justmama]

That is interesting! I might try this. Thanks for sharing.

[faithbridges]

Is that with real butter only? I just wondered about margerine.

[YummyGoodness]

This is very interesting. How does it taste...? Do you lose any flavor....?

(I keep thinking of the term, "watered-down", but that would be a pun! LOL)

[oceanwatcher28]

Could you use the throw small butter tubs for this process?

[arubagirl]

great idea I am going to try this!!

[rosefall]

Interesting. I generally only use butter for baking, but if we go on a buttered bread craze, I'll have to remember this.

[Aluminum Cloud]

I am a bread and butter lover, and so are my girls. I will definitely try this! Thanks for the tip!

[JSW]

I am definitely trying this! I refuse to eat margarine, but I'll give some watered-down butter a try. :)

[KeeKee]

I'll have to try that on the bear, he usually can tell when I try anything out of the ordinary, esp when it comes to his butter.

[clavo]

I couldn't tell the difference. I don't do a lot of butter, but used the concoction to make garlic bread and neither I nor anyone else could tell that I had doctored their butter.

haha, BOGO butter with two coupons AND halving it, lol

[janetsjoy]

What a great idea. I've never heard of adding water.

I do something similar. I soften 1 stick of butter and blend it with 1/2 cup of canola oil. It's great on bread. And you cut the amount of sat. fat per serving and add some MUFAs in the process. :)

Janet

[NC-GGirl]

I wonder what happens if you leave it out of the fridge? We go through so much butter that we don't have to worry about spoilage, so I keep it out. My family hates it when the butter gets hard.
I used to have one of those crocks for keeping it fresh, out of the fridge, but it broke. Now that we leave it out, I haven't noticed any difference.
Do you think it would break down, or turn yucky?
I'll give it a try - sure will be a good thing if it works!

[whiteiris717]

What a great idea. I've never heard of adding water.

I do something similar. I soften 1 stick of butter and blend it with 1/2 cup of canola oil. It's great on bread. And you cut the amount of sat. fat per serving and add some MUFAs in the process. :)

Janet

My grandma does the same thing but uses cold pressed safflower oil. Cutting an "unhealthy" fat with a "healthy" one makes a big difference. She keeps hers in the fridge, and it's spreadable right away. She also uses hers for baking, which is something you can't do with the water.

[janetsjoy]

My grandma does the same thing but uses cold pressed safflower oil. Cutting an "unhealthy" fat with a "healthy" one makes a big difference. She keeps hers in the fridge, and it's spreadable right away. She also uses hers for baking, which is something you can't do with the water.


I've not tried baking with it yet, but will have to give it a try. I've mostly just used it as a spread. I love that it's spreadable right out of the fridge. :)

Janet

[DivineNature]

I tried this a couple weeks ago. It went together really well. I put it in two glass dishes in the fridge. It was too hard and crumbly to use cold. I left one on the counter and the water started separating back out. Every time I went at it with a knife more water would leach out. :( I tried to pour off the water and the whole thing plopped into the sink. LOL
I really wanted this to work since we only use organic butter. I don't think I'll be doing it again.

[whiteiris717]

I tried this a couple weeks ago. It went together really well. I put it in two glass dishes in the fridge. It was too hard and crumbly to use cold. I left one on the counter and the water started separating back out. Every time I went at it with a knife more water would leach out. :( I tried to pour off the water and the whole thing plopped into the sink. LOL
I really wanted this to work since we only use organic butter. I don't think I'll be doing it again.

Try the oil. You can use it right out of the fridge. I've heard you can do it with olive oil too...

[comarge]

The oil works best if you want to keep it in the fridge. It wont leach out like water. Use an organic healthy oil for better butter.

[NC-GGirl]

I did it and it worked great! Like Divinenature, I thought it was too hard and crumbly in the fridge, so I left it out and now a day or 2 later is is still fluffy. No water seeping out, or anything.
I don't know what the difference is. We keep our ac at 76 if the temp has anything to do with it.

[JSW]

Would olive oil work or would it change the flavor too much do you think? That's the only kind I have right now, and I don't want to go out and buy more. :D

[kelly35]

What a good idea. I would like to decrease our use of butter and margarine in general - we go through the tubs very quickly. I look at the empty tubs and think about all that stuff we've ingested. My mil suggested Butter Buds, but I'm wondering what types of food you use with it - I can't imagine putting it on toast or waffles. : )

Kelly

[Admin Jorelanu]

Just use less butter!

I definately don't have time for this! LOL I like the butter rock hard, I scrape a thin curl off with a very sharp knife and my girls think they are getting a lot of butter.

In reality, it's such a small amnt that if I run out of butter I tell them it just melted on their veggies and they cannot tell the difference.

Jore

[JMac]

If only my hubby would fall for this! He is a butter lover, I think he'd laugh me under the table if I tried something like this!

[Nate&NatsMommy]

I just saw the title for this thread, and wanted to suggest...cutting the stick in half. Voila, two sticks ;)

[Aluminum Cloud]

I tried it with the water and it's great. The girls even helped me pour the water in.

I'm going to try it with the canola or safflower oil next time.

It was fun! :)

[maltomeel]

Oh, it's diving me nuts.....I had a wonderful cookbook by the great Madeline Kamman many years ago that used lecithin along with olive oil & water to "stretch" sticks of butter. It was phenomenal. It lightened it, added that great fruity olive oil flavor and was great stirred into pan sauces without making it too heavy. She encouraged adding some chopped fresh herbs as well for compound butters. I made chive and parsley, as I recall, as well as a tarragon-dijon that we served on steamed fish at my family's cafe.

What great recipes come from women dealing with a meager pantry and feeding their families!

I'll do my best to hunt down the recipe!~