[0 - 2] - As a kid, I had a reputation at restaurants
[2 - 4] for grabbing one of those foil-wrapped butter packets,
[4 - 5] opening it like a present,
[5 - 7] and eating it straight in two bites.
[7 - 9] My parents did not love this behavior,
[10 - 12] I mean, what's better than butter?
[12 - 13] If you agree with me,
[13 - 14] perhaps you've partaken
[14 - 16] in a butter packet or two in your day,
[16 - 17] well, this one is for you
[17 - 19] because today, we're gonna talk about one of the greatest
[19 - 21] and least-known butter preparations.
[21 - 23] This one might just change your life.
[23 - 25] (gentle rhythmic music) (line scratching)
[25 - 28] If it feels like butter sits in its own special category
[28 - 31] outside of other fats like olive oil and lard,
[31 - 33] that's because it does, at least structurally.
[33 - 36] Unlike those pure fats, butter is a creamy emulsion,
[36 - 38] but where an emulsion like heavy cream
[38 - 39] is composed of water
[39 - 41] interspersed with droplets of milk fat,
[41 - 43] butter flips the equation.
[43 - 44] It's mostly milk fat,
[44 - 45] interspersed with a little bit of water.
[45 - 47] Milk fat is savory and sweet,
[48 - 49] and its unique composition
[49 - 52] gives butter spreadability over a wide temperature range
[52 - 54] and an unmatched silky melt on the tongue.
[54 - 57] Butter can play a starring role on a slice of crusty bread
[57 - 60] or effortlessly slip into the background of a dish or sauce,
[60 - 62] and add a rich backbone.
[62 - 64] Butter is amazing, but melted butter,
[64 - 66] it's a little bit less amazing.
[66 - 67] Now, before you launch
[67 - 69] a half-eaten packet of butter at the screen,
[69 - 70] please allow me to explain.
[70 - 72] When you melt butter, you break the emulsion,
[72 - 74] and you separate liquid milk fat
[74 - 76] from water and some milk solids.
[76 - 79] Once liquified, the milk fat has the oily texture,
[79 - 81] of well, pretty much all liquid oils,
[81 - 83] instead of being creamy, it's slick.
[83 - 85] I'm not saying all melted butter is bad, mind you,
[85 - 87] if you're melting butter to then brown it,
[87 - 89] by all means melt away.
[89 - 90] And if you're melting butter
[90 - 91] so that you can clarify it
[91 - 93] and use it for sauteing and searing,
[93 - 94] please don't let me stop you.
[94 - 96] But if you're melting it
[96 - 98] because you want to dip things like lobster or artichoke,
[98 - 100] or other lovely spring vegetables in it,
[100 - 102] or drizzle it on grilled meats and veggies,
[102 - 104] or just use it as a versatile sauce,
[104 - 106] there is a much better way,
[106 - 108] and that way is Beurre Monté.
[108 - 110] Now, if you are French or you've studied French food
[110 - 112] or worked in a French restaurant, you are familiar.
[112 - 114] If not, chances are,
[114 - 116] you've never heard about this fundamental sauce preparation.
[116 - 118] It's a little more than cold butter
[118 - 120] whisked into a small amount of simmering water,
[120 - 123] but that small act produces something special.
[123 - 125] It breaks butter's emulsion,
[125 - 128] but at the same moment, rebuilds it as a new emulsion.
[128 - 129] We'll get into the nitty-gritty
[129 - 130] of how to make it in a second,
[130 - 131] it's not that gritty,
[131 - 132] but first I wanna talk about
[132 - 134] how it's possible in the first place.
[134 - 136] And for that, we need to look at what I call
[136 - 138] the lifecycle of milk fat.
[138 - 139] We start out with milk,
[139 - 142] which is an emulsion of milk fat and water.
[142 - 144] It contains about 4% milk fat.
[144 - 146] That fat can be homogenized into the milk
[146 - 148] to create the whole milk you buy at the store,
[148 - 151] or it can be removed along with some water as cream.
[151 - 152] In the old days,
[152 - 153] that was done through weighting,
[153 - 155] the lower-density fat
[155 - 157] would naturally rise to the surface of the milk
[157 - 158] where it could be removed.
[158 - 160] But nowadays, it is done much more quickly
[160 - 161] with the help of centrifuges.
[161 - 163] Cream is also an emulsion,
[163 - 164] though a much richer one,
[164 - 167] clocking in at around 38% fat.
[167 - 168] If we take chilled cream
[168 - 169] in which the fat is solid
[169 - 170] and beat it long enough,
[171 - 172] the milk fat globules
[172 - 174] are slammed against one another until they stick.
[174 - 177] They form butter, yet another emulsion.
[177 - 179] Loads of water is removed during churning
[179 - 180] in the form of buttermilk,
[180 - 183] and that's why butter ends up at about 80% fat.
[183 - 186] Now from here, let's explore two very different timelines.
[186 - 187] In one timeline,
[187 - 188] you simply melt the butter
[188 - 190] and break the emulsion, like this,
[190 - 191] you can see the pure milk fat
[191 - 193] separated from the small amount of water and milk solids.
[193 - 196] In this timeline, you are left pretty sad.
[196 - 198] In the other timeline, you make Beurre Monté,
[198 - 199] and you are happy.
[199 - 201] Let's go to the kitchen and be happy.
[201 - 203] We are working with the magic ratio
[203 - 206] of 3 tablespoons of water and 8 tablespoons of butter.
[206 - 207] That would be 45 grams of water
[207 - 209] and 113 grams of butter.
[209 - 212] I'll bring the water to a simmer in a small saucepan
[212 - 213] over medium-high heat,
[213 - 215] and then reduce it down to a gentle simmer.
[215 - 216] I add one piece of butter
[216 - 219] and whisk constantly until it is incorporated,
[219 - 220] which takes about 30 seconds.
[220 - 223] As the butter melts, the emulsion is inverting,
[223 - 225] with liquid fat droplets being broken up
[225 - 226] and distributed throughout the water.
[226 - 228] Adding the butter slowly
[228 - 231] allows our whisk to effectively break up the fat droplets.
[231 - 233] Then I just repeat with the rest of the butter,
[233 - 235] one piece at a time, until fully incorporated,
[235 - 236] and the sauce is velvety.
[236 - 238] In total, it takes about three to four minutes.
[238 - 240] You can then season it with salt to taste
[240 - 241] or a whole host of other flavors
[241 - 243] as I'll show you in a minute.
[243 - 247] Look at this glossy, dare I say sexy pot of gold.
[247 - 249] Why is Beurre Monté so much better than melted butter?
[249 - 250] Check out this experiment.
[250 - 252] I have two chunks of lobster meat
[252 - 253] and I'll dip one in melted butter
[253 - 256] and the other in our magic butter sauce.
[256 - 257] Just look at the difference in cling.
[257 - 260] The melted butter forms a thin, shiny, greasy coating
[260 - 261] that drips off,
[261 - 264] whereas the Beurre Monté clings and holds on.
[264 - 266] Okay, so lobster and butter
[266 - 267] is gonna be great no matter what,
[267 - 270] but the Mont sample feels elevated and balanced,
[270 - 272] and honestly, so much better.
[272 - 273] I grew up in New England,
[273 - 274] and I'll be honest, I messed up,
[274 - 275] I should have been dipping it
[275 - 277] in this magic butter sauce the whole time.
[277 - 280] If we look back at the milk/fat lifecycle,
[280 - 282] we see that we've accomplished something really interesting.
[282 - 285] Our cream was a fat-in-water emulsion,
[285 - 287] tiny droplets of fat swimming in a body of water.
[287 - 289] Our butter, was just the opposite,
[289 - 291] of water in fat emulsion
[291 - 293] with droplets of water surrounded by fat,
[293 - 294] And our Beurre Monté,
[294 - 296] it's back to being a fat-in-water emulsion,
[296 - 298] but it's not exactly cream,
[298 - 302] in fact, comes in around 58 to 60% fat,
[302 - 304] halfway between cream and butter.
[304 - 305] It clings better than cream,
[305 - 307] but adds rich flavor like butter.
[307 - 308] You know what?
[308 - 309] I've got just the analogy.
[309 - 310] High school reunion.
[310 - 312] No, no, no, seriously, stick with me.
[312 - 315] Let's say that you went to high school with heavy cream.
[315 - 317] Heavy cream was the life of the party,
[317 - 318] making everything a little more fun,
[318 - 320] indulgent, and special.
[320 - 323] You are best buds and you promise to never lose touch,
[323 - 324] but you go to college,
[324 - 326] you make new friends, you drift apart,
[326 - 327] it happens to all of us, right?
[327 - 329] Next thing you know, 10 years have passed
[329 - 331] and it's time for your reunion.
[331 - 332] You're looking forward to seeing cream again,
[332 - 334] you know, reconnecting.
[334 - 335] You head to the open bar
[335 - 337] and look who it is, it's cream,
[337 - 338] but it's somehow different,
[338 - 340] he's not exactly like how you remember.
[340 - 343] For one thing, he's now fluent in French, that's impressive.
[343 - 345] He prefers that you call him by his French name,
[345 - 347] that's a little weird, but you don't judge
[347 - 349] because it's clear he's been through some stuff.
[349 - 351] You know, big life changes,
[351 - 352] like maybe falling in love,
[352 - 353] losing the house, or I don't know,
[353 - 355] getting violently turned into butter.
[355 - 357] But when you look past the stuff different,
[357 - 359] you can see that he's got the same DNA,
[359 - 360] he's still the same guy.
[360 - 363] He's still a creamy milk fat and water emulsion,
[363 - 366] still adds so much to whatever he gets involved in,
[366 - 368] still the life of the party,
[368 - 370] but because of everything he's been through,
[370 - 372] he's actually even better than the old cream,
[372 - 375] rich, buttery flavor, really clingy,
[375 - 376] but like in a good way,
[376 - 378] and with the ability to morph into countless sauces,
[378 - 380] both sweet and savory.
[380 - 381] Here's what I'm talking about.
[381 - 382] We can stay in the Frenchy realm
[382 - 385] and simply stir in some stone ground mustard
[385 - 387] for a sauce that balances rich buttery flavor
[387 - 388] with some sharp pungency.
[388 - 391] This is literally a four-ingredient sauce,
[391 - 392] and I'm counting water and salt,
[392 - 394] and yet it adds intense complexity.
[394 - 398] I love this one on some pan-roasted asparagus, mm.
[398 - 400] For something completely different,
[400 - 402] after we make our Beurre Monté,
[402 - 405] I simply whisk in gochujang, lime juice, and sugar,
[405 - 406] and seasoned with salt to taste.
[406 - 408] This sauce, which combines heat, umami,
[408 - 410] and bright acidity is made for pork.
[410 - 413] I like to pan-sear a leaner cut, like say pork tenderloin,
[413 - 415] and then gild it with this incredible sauce.
[415 - 418] For seafood, like some gorgeous seared scallops,
[418 - 421] I'm all about this version with orange zest and juice,
[421 - 422] and a little oyster sauce.
[422 - 423] And finally, don't forget
[423 - 425] that butter is great on sweet things too,
[425 - 427] make plain Beurre Monté
[427 - 429] and serve alongside a bottle of maple syrup with pancakes,
[429 - 431] that is how you win brunch,
[431 - 433] or seasoned up with apricot preserves, peach schnapps,
[433 - 434] and lemon juice,
[434 - 437] and then drizzle it all over a messy pile of crêpes.
[437 - 439] This sauce really is magic,
[439 - 440] but the best part of all,
[440 - 442] make and serve any one of these sauces,
[442 - 444] and you get to indulge in butter
[444 - 445] and impress your guests
[445 - 447] without a single person yelling at you
[447 - 448] for eating all the butter packets,
[448 - 450] and you can't put a price on that.
[450 - 452] And that's why this is, without hesitation,
[452 - 459] how to eat magic butter sauce. (symphonic music)
[459 - 461] A huge thanks to my esteemed colleague, Lan Lam,
[461 - 463] for these inventive and tasty recipes,
[463 - 465] and to butter science whiz, Paul Adams,
[465 - 466] for his insight and humor.
[466 - 468] Grab all these recipes at the link below
[468 - 471] or at Cooksillustrated.com/WhatsEatingDan,
[471 - 472] there you'll find every recipe
[472 - 474] from every episode of the show.
[474 - 477] Hit like, subscribe, and then please head to the comments.
[477 - 478] Tell me about your butter eating,
[478 - 481] Who else ate slash still eats those butter packets?
[481 - 483] Anyone eating a whole stick?
[483 - 485] I want the weird stories, folks.
[485 - 487] Alright, thanks a lot, I'll see you next time.