Butter Usually Tastes Better At Restaurants. Here's Why

You probably don't think much about the proper way to care for your butter at home, but restaurant chefs do. From optimal storage conditions to careful handling to freshness, restaurants make sure butter arrives at your table in the best shape possible. Considering they have pro chefs, experienced line cooks, and well-trained service staff, this isn't much of a surprise, but it does lead to optimal flavor. Just like with any food or ingredient, better handling and more care keep it in pristine condition. Fortunately, you can easily take better care of your butter at home, too, and get a slight lift in flavor.

There are lots of food storage mistakes you can make with butter, and trained chefs are typically better at avoiding them. For example, did you know you shouldn't store your butter in a transparent butter dish because it makes it spoil faster? Exposing butter to light and heat speeds up its deterioration, so keeping it in an airtight, opaque dish away from heat is crucial. In addition, it is best to keep raw, whipped, and unsalted butter in the fridge unless you are softening it for immediate use. Salted butter resists bacterial growth, while other kinds of butter not so much (via Healthline).

Aside from storage and handling, restaurant butter is almost always fresher than the butter you have at home or even buy from the store. Just like with other foods, the difference between fresh and not so fresh is noticeably different when it comes to taste and texture. Many restaurant suppliers sell fresher butter than you find at the grocery store, which you get to enjoy while you dine. Some restaurants even purchase butter from local vendors, like a dairy, so it is as fresh as possible. To get the freshest butter at home, buy it from a dairy or farmers' market. Some health food grocery stores in your area may even carry butter from a local farm. Or, maybe you'll take this as inspiration to churn your own butter.

Not only is restaurant butter fresher when they get it, but it is pretty much guaranteed that they go through it much faster than you do at home. Even if you have a large family or host a gathering, the chance of you using as much butter as a restaurant does in a single lunch or dinner rush is unlikely. Most restaurants go through butter at an astonishing speed, especially if they make their own baked goods and desserts or serve butter-topped steaks and breakfast items.

Many restaurants serve whipped butter alongside their rolls and other food. While it looks appealing to the eye, it also has a distinct texture and taste. Whipped butter retains air while it is being whipped. The newly aerated, fluffy butter results in a distinguishable flavor and feel in your mouth. The different consistency tastes amazing on some dishes, particularly baked goods like pancakes and dinner rolls. Some chefs may also use whipped butter when creating their recipes, but due to the additional air and volume, it can't be measured like regular butter.

To make whipped butter at home, all you need is butter, a couple spoonfuls of milk or water, and a mixer of some kind. Start by putting softened butter in a mixing bowl, preferably some that has been left at room temperature for at least a couple hours. Then, add a small spoonful of milk or water and start mixing. A whisk works in a pinch, but a hand or stand mixer will make the job much easier and faster. If needed, add another spoonful of milk or water and mix until the butter reaches the ideal fluffy texture.

Salt enhances the flavor of food, so making a recipe without at least a little bit of salt is nearly unheard of. With this in mind, many chefs enrich the flavor of their butter by adding a sprinkle of salt to the top. If you get a ramekin of butter sent to the table along with bread, for example, added salt is not unusual. If you order a steak and it comes with a slab of butter on the top, it is pretty much guaranteed to have a sprinkle of salt.

If you want to sprinkle salt on pats of butter at home, you can use many different types of salt. Kosher salt is a favorite of chefs for things like steak and seafood, but sea salt, smoky salt, and just plain table salt also taste yummy with butter. Don't get hung up on the details, though — use whatever kind you have in your kitchen and see if it reminds you of restaurant butter. If so, experiment with other types of butter (and salt) until you find the perfect flavor for your palate.

You've probably come across a recipe that uses brown butter and asked yourself: Is it really all that different from regular butter? Well, the answer is yes, and restaurant chefs are acutely aware of the difference. Brown butter has a richer, more decadent taste with a toasted flavor profile. It is possible brown butter could blend into recipes and get lost in the mix, but for the most part, the variation in taste is quite noticeable. For example, pasta with a sage and brown butter sauce has a totally different flavor than pasta with plain melted butter and sage.

Making brown butter may seem complicated, but it is quite easy. According to chef Alton Brown, even the color of your pan matters when making brown butter — but as long as you don't leave it unattended, you can easily make brown butter just like a pro chef at home. Simply melt butter in a shallow frying pan on low to medium heat until it starts to turn brown and you are almost done. Some recipes call for the addition of a small amount of stock, but it isn't always necessary. Either way, the key is to keep a close watch and stir it almost continuously to avoid burning. It should be ready in about four to five minutes — when the butter has a brown tone and nutty aroma, you're good to go. 

We've talked about several different kinds of butter – compound and whipped butter, for instance — but they all start with either salted or unsalted butter. Depending on the recipe, one type of butter is generally better. Even so, many people only keep one type on hand at home. You may have even stood in front of the butter cooler at the grocery store and wondered which one to buy or if it even matters, and just picked one at random — however, it truly does make a difference. Unlike novice home cooks, restaurant chefs recognize the difference between salted and unsalted butter and use both kinds to ensure they get the best of both worlds. If you think restaurant butter tastes better, this could be one of the many reasons why.

Unsalted butter is best for baking because it allows you to control the recipe and amount of salt with precision. Salted butter is best for just about everything else. From corn on the cob to pancakes to bread, salted butter enhances flavor and adds a richer flavor than its unsalted counterpart. If you don't think you use enough butter at home to keep both kinds on hand, you can easily turn unsalted butter into the salted variety. Simply mix fine-grained salt, like table salt, into softened unsalted butter, and you're off to the races. Just remember that unsalted butter spoils faster, so it is best to keep it refrigerated.