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Butter, to Preserve

A method for preserving butter using salt, sugar, and saltpetre.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and butter 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, to Preserve

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pound the salt, sugar, and saltpetre together in a mortar.

  2. Work 1 oz. of this mixture into every 16 oz. of butter.

  3. Ensure the butter is free from buttermilk.

Pack and store

  1. Pack the butter in glazed earthen pots or jars, pressing it down to exclude air.

  2. Store the butter for at least one month before use.

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. Sugar + buttertop 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

Common salt
Draws out moisture and slows microbial growth, preserving the butter and seasoning it.
Loaf sugar
Balances the sharpness of the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the flavour.
Saltpetre
Acts as a curing agent that inhibits bacteria and helps keep the butter's colour stable.
Butter
The fat being preserved; removing buttermilk and air reduces the conditions that cause spoilage.

The step that matters

Packing the butter free of air and buttermilk. Residual milk solids and oxygen encourage spoilage and rancidity. Pressing the butter firmly into the pots excludes air, and the cure only distributes evenly when it is thoroughly worked into fat free of buttermilk.

“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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