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 ↓
To Preserve Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Thoroughly cleanse the butter from buttermilk.
Mix the salt, sugar, and saltpetre together well.
Add 1 ounce of the mixture to the butter and work it in.
Pack and store
Pack the butter into a pot when it becomes firm and cold.
Store the pot in a cool place, away from air, for at least one month before using.
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.
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Provides the fatty base that carries the cure and sets firm when chilled.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and inhibits bacterial growth, which preserves the butter.
- Loaf sugar
- Softens the sharpness of the salt and adds mild sweetness.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the butter and keep its colour.
The step that matters
Thoroughly cleanse the butter from buttermilk. Leftover buttermilk contains milk solids and water that can spoil during storage. Removing them well helps the butter keep and lets the salt cure work evenly.
“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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