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Butter-scoop

A method of preserving butter by layering it in a jar and covering it with a sugar‑saltpetre solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Butter-scoop

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pack the butter in layers in an earthenware jar, sprinkling a little salt on each layer.

  2. For preservation, dissolve 2 ounces of loaf sugar and 1 ounce of saltpetre in 1 quart of boiling water.

  3. Let the mixture cool completely.

Pickle and store

  1. Pour the cooled pickle over the butter in the jar, ensuring it is well covered.

  2. Store the jar in a cool place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Forms the main body of the preserve, carrying the flavour and setting the texture once packed.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the butter, helping it keep when packed in layers.
Saltpetre
Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the butter against spoilage.
Loaf sugar
Adds a little sweetness to the pickle and balances the salt.

The step that matters

Covering the butter with cooled pickle. The pickle must be fully cooled before it is poured, since hot liquid would soften the butter and melt its surface. The butter must also stay completely submerged, because exposed areas are more open to spoilage.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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