The Fastest Way to Soften Butter Without a Microwave
Countless recipes, including my own, call for “soft butter.” I even have a couple of recipes where I recommend keeping the butter “smooth, like mayonnaise.” The problem is that while it’s easy for butter to harden in the refrigerator or liquefy completely in the microwave, it’s difficult to achieve a pliable temperature in between. If the usual methods don’t work for you, try the hot glass trick.
Risks of other methods
Yes, you can plan ahead and leave the butter on the counter overnight. This takes the most time, but requires the most effort. Unfortunately, many bakers forget to do this. Then on baking day you’ll have to eat a pound of cold (or worse, frozen) butter. You can cut it into pieces and microwave it using the required amount of butter until it reaches the consistency you want. This is the fastest method, but it requires a lot of attention, stirring and mashing. And if you’re not careful, your butter will melt.
How to soften butter with a hot glass
But here’s a third method that balances the two extremes: you can soften the butter using a glass and a little hot water. It’s pretty simple: Boil water and pour it into a tall glass large enough to hold a stick of butter (or whatever part of the butter you need to soften). Place a stick of butter on a plate so that it stands on one end. Carefully pour the hot water out of the glass, shake off any drops of water and invert the glass over a stick of butter. Leave it like this for five to ten minutes. When you remove the glass, the oil will become pliable.
While this trick isn’t any faster than microwaving (which is how I usually soften refrigerator-cold butter), it’s gentler and absolutely works. The glass creates a tiny indoor sauna for your oil as the air trapped inside is heated by the heat of the glass. The warm environment softens cold butter from the refrigerator, but what I love most about this method is that it also quickly takes the cold out of frozen butter. Frozen butter is difficult to cut even to put in the microwave. Five minutes in a hot glass gives it a refrigerator-like consistency.
If your butter is frozen or you want the butter to become even softer, turn the stick over so it stands on the other end and repeat the process, waiting another five minutes. Check this and repeat if necessary. This method is also effective if you place a few pieces of butter under a large glass bowl. Just remember to turn the sticks every time you heat the bowl to ensure even softening. It may take five to 20 minutes of heating water in a kettle and flipping sticks of butter, but it’s definitely better than waiting all night (or risking your recipe on a puddle of melted microwaved butter).