Can you defrost butter in the microwave without melting it? Whether you are making crispy pie crust or honey butter biscuits, here is the ultimate guide to microwave butter so that every meal you make is finger-licking good.
Butter can be stored in the fridge for a month or freezer for up to 6 months depending on how it is stored and whether it is salted or unsalted.
Freezing butter slows down the rancidity, which happens when the fat starts breaking down and absorbing unpleasant smells and tastes. Frozen butter lasts longer, but this goes against the practice of true butter enthusiasts.
When it comes to thawing frozen butter, you may place at room temperature for an hour or refrigerate overnight. However, using the microwave to defrost butter can help you take a shortcut when you are busy preparing a meal on the fly.
Best way to defrost butter in the microwave is simply select the defrost setting and nuke for 10 second at a time until softened.
The defrost setting automatically uses a low temperature based on type of microwave you have. So, what is this the microwave defrost setting?
What is defrost setting on microwave?
In general, there is a defrosting button on your microwave that determines how long to defrost frozen food by weight. The defrost setting helps to thaw frozen food in the microwave without cooking or overheating.
If the goal is to bring frozen food back to room temperature, then it must be done at lower power to avoid cooking or melting.
Many microwaves come with a defrost setting. This setting automatically sets the microwave power lower between 30 and 50% of full power.
When defrosting butter, the microwave uses low power heatwaves to penetrate the center and thaw the butter with melting.
Thawing food at room temperature may take several hours, which may cause harmful bacteria to grow. Use the microwave defrost setting to bring your frozen meals to room temperature before cooking.
Is it ok to defrost butter in the microwave?
Whether you need butter for cooking, baking or spreading on toast, bringing frozen butter to room temperature quickly saves your time.
Using the microwave to defrost butter is recommended instead of leaving it at room temperature which can take forever.
However, do not leave thawed butter in the microwave. The defrosted butter may start to melt or soften immediately after reaching room temperature temperature.
The microwave defrost feature is best used when the butter will be used immediately or served as a ready-to-eat spread on bread.
How do you defrost a frozen stick of butter?
There are many ways to defrost frozen butter from room temperature method to grating. The defrost setting on the microwave allows two ways to thaw frozen butter and make it ready to use in a jiffy.
- To thaw frozen stick of butter, defrost the butter at a low temperature in the microwave until softened using short 10 second bursts.
- Place 2 cups of water into a microwave-safe cup and microwave it for 2 minute until very hot. Remove the water and put the frozen butter inside the microwave. Close the microwave door to trap the remaining heat to defrost the butter in about 10 minutes.
There is a fine line between defrosted butter, softened butter and melted butter. When using the microwave, you can cross this line very quickly without paying attention.
Start with the lowest power setting and nuke for less than 10 second. Check the butter to verify whether or not it has softened enough.
How to tell when the frozen butter is in room temperature?
Just by looking at the butter, it is difficult to tell if the frozen butter is at room temperature and ready to use for your baking recipe.
In order to tell if frozen butter has reached room temperature, use a thermometer, poke the sides or try the bending trick.
Gently bend the stick of butter and if it doesn’t break that means it is at room temperature and good to use. But if it looses its shape, then it has been warmed too much or needs more defrost time.
Things to know before defrosting butter in the microwave
Whether you need to make spreadable butter for a slice bread or creaming with sugar for cookie dough, it is safe to defrost butter in the microwave for a quick and easy fallback.
If you have been saving a good deal of butter and stock piling in the freezer, here are essentials things to know before defrosting butter in the microwave:
- Use the hot glass plate to place a stick of frozen butter on top of to quickly defrost. The heated dish will trap heat and help to soften the butter almost immediately.
- Cut the stick of butter into smaller pieces to help reach room temperature faster.
- Do not use frozen unsalted butter that is more than 6 months old and salted butter no older than 9 months. Expired frozen butter starts to loose its flavor and will pick up freezer odors that you don’t want to have on your food.
- When microwaving butter on the defrost setting, zap for 10 second and flip continuously to thaw each side of the stick.
- If your microwave doesn’t have defrost setting, adjust the power level to 30% to thaw frozen butter at a low power level.
To defrost frozen butter in the microwave, place the frozen butter stick on a microwave safe plate and nuke for 10 second increments on low or 30% power level. Flip the frozen stick onto a different side after each duration until the butter has completely softened to room temperature.
Depend on which recipe you are making, thawing frozen butter can be a quick fix. Without being careful, you may end up with a greasy melted mess all over the inside of the microwave. Use these tricks to defrost butter in the microwave to help reduce your cooking time in the kitchen.
