How To Know If Butter Is At Room Temperature

Butter is one condiment that makes life worth living (just ask the French); naturally, some butter brands are better than others, but on the whole, just a creamy, yellow pat can transform toast from a dry eat to a sublime eating experience. Butter is also essential to baking, with certain types better suited to cookies, and the unsalted variety best for baking overall. Oftentimes, though, these recipes call for room temperature butter — but what does that mean exactly, and how can you tell if yours is the right softness? Food Republic tapped into the expert knowledge of Blessing Jennifer Anyibama, M.Sc., a food and nutritional scientist. "Room temp butter is baking's misunderstood diva — it's not melted, not cold, but perfectly pliable. Ideally, it's around 65 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit," she told us.

She continued by explaining that the butter should be soft enough that when you press your thumb into it, you can feel it start to give, but it "still holds [its] shape." Anyibama also pressed home the importance of using room temperature butter when a recipe calls for it, saying the texture is critical when creaming it with sugar to help give cakes lift. "Too cold, and it won't mix; too warm, and your cookies go flat," she told us.

If you've ever started to mix ingredients for a cake, only to realize the recipe calls for room temperature butter but you forgot to take it from the refrigerator, you're not alone. And you can easily speed up the process next time. "Slice the butter into small cubes and spread them out — they'll warm up in 10 to 15 minutes," Blessing Jennifer Anyibama suggested.

She also mentioned that you can actually grate the cold butter; use the largest holes on a box grater, and the smaller shreds, with much more area exposed to the warmer kitchen air, will hit room temperature in about 10 minutes. Or, Anyibama told us, you can try placing the cold butter in a bowl; fill a second bowl with hot water to warm it and dump it out, and then put the still-warm bowl over the butter in the first bowl for a few minutes. The residual heat from the second bowl will gradually bring the butter up to room temperature (though you will want to check it before too long to make sure it doesn't get too soft). "Just don't microwave it — unless you enjoy surprise puddles," she advised.