Melted Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter
Dust a little flour over the butter.
Put the butter into a saucepan with the water.
Stir constantly in one direction until melted and just boiling.
For melting with cream, use the same amount of cream instead of water and do not add flour.
Stir constantly and heat thoroughly without boiling.
Oil the butter
To oil butter, cut the butter into slices and place in a small jar.
Put the jar in a pan of boiling water until oiled.
Pour off the clear oil from the sediment.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat and rich flavour, and melts to form the base of the sauce.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the melted butter slightly, giving it body and helping it hold together.
- Water
- Adds moisture and helps the butter melt evenly without scorching.
The step that matters
Stir constantly in one direction until melted and just boiling. Constant stirring keeps the butter and water emulsified and prevents scorching or lumps. Stopping to stir may let milk solids settle and burn on the pan bottom.
“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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