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- I am puzzled by the puff pastry method… the flour is to be just thrown into the boiling water, won’t it clump? What...
- Betty, can you use regular flour when the recipe calls for self rising flour?
- Can you add a beef short rib recipe? —Thomas
- Grandma, Our farmers’ market has such great corn on the cob! Can I use fresh corn in recipes that call for canned? —...
Butter, Salted or Unsalted?
When a recipe calls for butter for a cake or for making a meal, what kind of butter do I use if it does not specify whether its salted or unsalted? Could you please let me know?
--Ann
Hi Ann!
What a good question! For the recipes here on Grandma’s Kitchen, you should use salted butter unless the recipe says otherwise. If you don’t have salted butter on hand, you can use unsalted butter (also called sweet butter) – just add a little bit of salt to the rest of the ingredients.
For other recipes, I would probably do the same and use salted butter. But look at the rest of the recipe first – if it has a more than, say, 1/2 teaspoon salt OR if it uses a lot of processed food (canned soup or sauce, cake mixes, etc.), you might want to use unsalted butter – especially if it’s a recipe that you can taste and add more salt if necessary before serving.
If you’re making a recipe from a cookbook and it doesn’t specify salted or unsalted, you should check the introduction or introductory chapter for guidelines. Many cookbooks include some tips for using the recipes and they may indicate what kind of butter to use if a recipe doesn't specify.

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Grandma,
Our farmers’ market has such great corn on the cob! Can I use fresh corn in recipes that call for canned?
—Stephanie
July 2012 -
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No tip. No question. Just that your recipes and tips remind me of my mother. She must be thinking about me. Thanks,
–LizMay 2013 -
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QuestionI recently bought raw honey to use in cooking or baking. I am at a loss for ideas. Do you have any? --AthenaMarch 2012






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