The Only Way To Brown Butter Without Burning It

It feels like just about every restaurant and bakery nowadays advertises their prized brown butter dish… and people love it. But this old French technique, beurre noisette, is not as much of a novelty as the trend makes it out to be. Nevertheless, with the technique at a high in popularity it’s a natural desire for home cooks, and even novices, to try and replicate the delicious results.  

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But what is the best way to brown butter anyways? The technique can be simple, but each component is important. And butter is all too easy to burn.

The Equipment You’ll Need 

Let’s talk pans. Ideally, it’s best to brown butter in a heavy-bottomed stainless-steel pan. Not only is the quality going to be best for even browning―with less risk of hot spots―but the color allows you to better monitor the level of caramelization the milk solids have achieved.  

When butter is melted, milk solids sink to the bottom of the container since they are denser than butterfat. When they have direct contact with the bottom of the pan, they caramelize at an even rate― given that your pan is not warped. In other words, butter browns faster and more evenly when your pan is wider and has more surface area for the milk solids to caramelize.  

The Number One Rule To Follow 

When browning butter, there’s not much for you to do other than stir and wait. Generally, it’s best to brown butter over medium-low heat to avoid burning. The most important thing to remember? Patience.

Butter contains water―aside from butterfat and milk solids―that must evaporate completely from the pan before the solids can start browning. You’ll also be able to hear this happening―it will sound like the sputtering you would expect from water in hot fat.  

When the sputtering subsides, it means the water is evaporated and the milk solids are going to start to caramelize. This is when it is important to stir regularly. The milk solids are in direct contact with the bottom of the pan and they will brown quite quickly when stagnant. The more you stir, the longer it will take to brown, but it will also make it cook more evenly. Stirring also kicks up the milk solids, allowing you to see how caramelized they have become. If you can’t help but check your work, scooping up a small spoonful will allow you to take a closer look.  

Remember, if the butter is in a hot pan it will continue to brown, even if the pan is off the heat. So, decanting the butter into a heat-safe container as soon as it gets to the stage in browning that you want is incredibly important.  

The Fear Of Burned Butter 

If in doubt, go blond. In the end, it’s always going to be better to have slightly less depth of flavor by not browning butter to its fullest potential than for you to burn all that butter and make it unusable. Until burnt, butter is going to be delicious at any stage and for the most trepidatious of us, a slightly lighter toast on the milk solids to get you more comfortable with the process isn’t the end of the world. After all, it’s just butter.