To melt or soften a stick of butter, you’re thinking about throwing it into the microwave. Can you?
The answer is YES. Butter is safe to microwave if you want to melt or soften it.
Some people warn against microwaving butter due to the fact that it can burn while being microwaved. Specifically, the whey protein in butter can burn, often leaving you with a half-melted stick of butter that’s also burnt in some places.
Weird, right? Luckily, you can avoid burnt butter in the microwave by following a few simple guidelines.
Microwaving Butter: Best Practices
To Soften:
Softening butter in the microwave requires almost no time at all. Even if you want to soften an entire stick of butter that’s been sitting in the fridge all day long, you should start with just a couple of seconds.
For those with powerful microwaves, a couple of seconds will be all you need to make the butter soft and spreadable for toast or bagels
For those with less-powerful microwaves, continue adding a couple of seconds at a time until your butter is perfectly soft.
To Melt:
Place your butter on a microwave-safe plate, or cover with paper towel. Cover the dish if this is your first time microwaving butter. If the butter explodes all over the inside of the microwave, that’s a mess you don’t want to have to deal with.
Microwave the butter in small increments of 5 to 15 seconds. Even if you are microwaving a lot of butter, resist the urge to put 30 seconds to a minute on the timer. The butter may burn.
Once the butter is completely melted, be careful handling the dish that the butter is in. It will be very hot!
Now add that melted butter to some tasty microwave popcorn for a quick and satisfying treat!
See? Simple. You can use the microwave to melt or soften butter, and with our guidelines, you remove the chance of the butter accidentally burning.
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