# How to measure butter?



## mariah_tan92 (Apr 12, 2010)

Hi! I would like to ask how to measure butter I'm kinda mixed up with it, for example a cookie recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter but I want to melt it, should I still use the 1/2 cup of butter that is NOT melted yet or do I measure it when it is ALREADY melted?  

Pls. help me! Thank you!


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## BigAL (Apr 12, 2010)

I was taught to measure unmelted, solid form.  I can't bake, though, cause ya have to measure and I hate measuring.  I make bread and "eye ball it".  

IMHO, measure the solid form.


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## Selkie (Apr 12, 2010)

Melted or not, the measurement is the same. In my case, I simply use the scale on the side of the wrapper, place that amount in a small ceramic bowl and zap it in a microwave oven for 30-40 seconds. That saves me from having to wash any measuring cup that I might still want to use later.


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## sparrowgrass (Apr 12, 2010)

Unless the recipe says to melt, use butter that is just soft.  Melted butter will change the texture of your cookies.


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## Mimizkitchen (Apr 12, 2010)

Can't say I have ever made cookies with melted butter, but a 1/2 cup is a 1/2 a cup!!!


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## justplainbill (Apr 12, 2010)

1 cup butter = apprx.  250 grams or 1/2  pound Amer.


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## Chopstix (Apr 13, 2010)

A stick of butter is half a cup or 8 tablespoons.  If you need, say 1 Tb, just mark the stick as if you're going to cut it into 8 equal slices and cut off just what you need.


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## vagriller (Apr 13, 2010)

Chopstix said:


> A stick of butter is half a cup or 8 tablespoons.  If you need, say 1 Tb, just mark the stick as if you're going to cut it into 8 equal slices and cut off just what you need.



Is the butter wrapper not marked in other countries? In the US it is marked in 1/8 graduations. Very convenient!


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## Alix (Apr 13, 2010)

Depends on the butter vagriller. Some brands are marked here and others are not. Not sure where our OP is from (Phillipines?) but the answer is no, butter is not always marked on the wrapper.


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## Andy M. (Apr 13, 2010)

Alix said:


> Depends on the butter vagriller. Some brands are marked here and others are not. Not sure where our OP is from (Phillipines?) but the answer is no, butter is not always marked on the wrapper.



And some places butter doesn't come in quarter-pound sticks.  So recipes that call for a stick of butter can be confusing to cooks outside the US.


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## Alix (Apr 13, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> And some places butter doesn't come in quarter-pound sticks.  So recipes that call for a stick of butter can be confusing to cooks outside the US.



HERE HERE! Took me forever to figure out what the heck a "stick" of butter was when I started coming here. We mostly have 1lb blocks.


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## FrankZ (Apr 13, 2010)

And if you make your own butter you either need to mark it yourself or measure it.


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## vagriller (Apr 13, 2010)

Alix said:


> Depends on the butter vagriller. Some brands are marked here and others are not. Not sure where our OP is from (Phillipines?) but the answer is no, butter is not always marked on the wrapper.


 
If that's the case I would take a stick of butter that is marked (and the wrapper was well aligned) and transfer the marks to the edge of a cutting board. Or something else with a straight edge. Then just line it up with the guide and cut as much as needed.


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## GB (Apr 13, 2010)

That would work vagriller, if the size of the stick of butter was always the same, but I do not believe they are. The European butter we have here in our grocery store is a different shape and size than the US butter so the measuring trick would not be accurate.


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## Alix (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm also going to mention metric here. (OMG...please don't start a war.) I convert most of the time when I'm posting here, but really, our butter is 454g.


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## Andy M. (Apr 13, 2010)

Alix said:


> I'm also going to mention metric here. (OMG...please don't start a war.) I convert most of the time when I'm posting here, but really, our butter is 454g.



If you start mentioning metric, you have my support.  Long overdue.


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## Selkie (Apr 13, 2010)

I use a dual U.S./Metric electronic digital kitchen scale. It saves a lot of conversion trouble.


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## GB (Apr 13, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> If you start mentioning metric, you have my support.  Long overdue.


Here here!


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## vagriller (Apr 13, 2010)

GB said:


> That would work vagriller, if the size of the stick of butter was always the same, but I do not believe they are. The European butter we have here in our grocery store is a different shape and size than the US butter so the measuring trick would not be accurate.


 
But is the European butter a consistent size and shape? And do some of them come with graduated markings?


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## Andy M. (Apr 13, 2010)

vagriller said:


> But is the European butter a consistent size and shape? And do some of them come with graduated markings?



No markings on the European butter I've seen.


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## GB (Apr 13, 2010)

vagriller said:


> But is the European butter a consistent size and shape? And do some of them come with graduated markings?


The ones my store carries are all different shapes/sizes then the next. My store carries 3 different kinds and all three have their own shape and size.


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## Andy M. (Apr 13, 2010)

Size and shape only matter if you're measuring by volume.


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## GB (Apr 13, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> Size and shape only matter if you're measuring by volume.


Size and shape would matter for vagriller to do this...



> If that's the case I would take a stick of butter that is marked (and the wrapper was well aligned) and transfer the marks to the edge of a cutting board. Or something else with a straight edge. Then just line it up with the guide and cut as much as needed.


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## Andy M. (Apr 13, 2010)

GB said:


> Size and shape would matter for vagriller to do this...



Yes, because he is measuring by volume.


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## GB (Apr 13, 2010)

Yes, exactly Andy.


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## FrankZ (Apr 13, 2010)

1TBS of butter works out to about 14g or .5oz by weight.  Depending on what I am making I weight it.  Some things just don't matter as much.

Butter converter


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## vagriller (Apr 13, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> Yes, because he is measuring by volume.


 
Yes I do. If I were in Europe I would figure out an easy way to consistently measure butter. Or I would just dump in a bunch!


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## Andy M. (Apr 13, 2010)

vagriller said:


> Yes I do. If I were in Europe I would figure out an easy way to consistently measure butter. Or I would just dump in a bunch!



I think in most cases, you just have to come close.


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## vagriller (Apr 13, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> I think in most cases, you just have to come close.


 
Yes, come close or err on the side of a lot more! Unless you have a medical condition of course.


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## Chopstix (Apr 13, 2010)

Alix said:


> Not sure where our OP is from (Phillipines?) but the answer is no, butter is not always marked on the wrapper.



I travel frequently between Thailand and the Philippines where in both places, butter is normally sold in little blocks of 227g.  In culinary school, we were taught to treat this as 1 cup of volume. I've never actually melted a block to confirm the 1 cup measurement but I've always used this 1-cup guideline to cut up the block into 1/2 C or 1/4 C or 1/8 C or 16 tablespoons.  Has always turned out fine.

Depending on the brand, sometimes  I would see measurement markings on the outside of the butter  wrapper but I've never paid much attention to it because my method  works perfectly for me (and the wrappers are not really aligned to the butter!)

I always thought 'stick of butter' is how butter is normally sold in the U.S.  This would be a lengthwise half of our little 227g block which would make it one-half cup in volume measurement.


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## fnorrisnielson (Apr 13, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about precision measuring of butter or most other ingredients for that matter.  Go ahead and use a measuring spoon or cup and just come close.  Trust me, you won't notice any difference.


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## bigdaddy3k (Apr 13, 2010)

I use a huge balancing scale and I get two big guys, one that weighs 299.75 lbs and one that weighs 300 lbs then I give the smaller man pats of butter until the scales are even. That way I know I have 1/4 lb of butter. Then I chuck the whole thing and buy cookies.


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## Andy M. (Apr 14, 2010)

bigdaddy3k said:


> I use a huge balancing scale and I get two big guys, one that weighs 299.75 lbs and one that weighs 300 lbs then I give the smaller man pats of butter until the scales are even. That way I know I have 1/4 lb of butter. Then I chuck the whole thing and buy cookies.



I do something similar except I use beautiful women and don't use the butter in a recipe.


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## FrankZ (Apr 14, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> I do something similar except I use beautiful women and don't use the butter in a recipe.




And you chuck them and go buy cookies?


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## Andy M. (Apr 14, 2010)

FrankZ said:


> And you chuck them and go buy cookies?



Sure.  THAT'S what I do.  (please note sarcastic tone)


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## bigdaddy3k (Apr 14, 2010)

Beautiful women LOVE cookies.


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## Andy M. (Apr 14, 2010)

bigdaddy3k said:


> Beautiful women LOVE cookies.



That's how I get them onto the scale.


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## fnorrisnielson (Apr 14, 2010)

bigdaddy3k said:


> I use a huge balancing scale and I get two big guys, one that weighs 299.75 lbs and one that weighs 300 lbs then I give the smaller man pats of butter until the scales are even. That way I know I have 1/4 lb of butter. Then I chuck the whole thing and buy cookies.



Man, I envy people with HUGE kitchens.  I have a well appointed kitchen but there isn't much floor space.


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## baking fool (Apr 14, 2010)

how has nobody mentioned one of these? they're great for anything that doesn't pour very well, like maple syrup, butter, shortening, sour cream, honey, etc. some have a squeegee on the inside, some don't but the important thing is that there's a tight seal:
ThinkGeek :: Wonder Plunger Measuring Cup


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## mariah_tan92 (Apr 16, 2010)

Thank you all for helping me! I really appreciate it!


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## mariah_tan92 (Apr 16, 2010)

bigdaddy3k and Andy M. you guys are funny! )


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## mariah_tan92 (Apr 16, 2010)

baking fool said:


> how has nobody mentioned one of these? they're great for anything that doesn't pour very well, like maple syrup, butter, shortening, sour cream, honey, etc. some have a squeegee on the inside, some don't but the important thing is that there's a tight seal:
> ThinkGeek :: Wonder Plunger Measuring Cup



it looks cool!


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## jet (Apr 17, 2010)

You could always use the displacement method.  For example, fill a 2 cup measure with 1 cup of water.  Add butter until it measures 1 1/2 cups, which gives you 1/2 cup of butter.


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## bigdaddy3k (Apr 17, 2010)

jet said:


> You could always use the displacement method. For example, fill a 2 cup measure with 1 cup of water. Add butter until it measures 1 1/2 cups, which gives you 1/2 cup of butter.


 
I used to do that with one of the fat guys!


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## GB (Apr 17, 2010)

How did you get the fat guy in the measuring cup?


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## Andy M. (Apr 17, 2010)

I think he uses a fat separator rather than a measuring cup.


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## bigdaddy3k (Apr 18, 2010)

Nah, its a big freakin cup!


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## CharlieD (Apr 19, 2010)

GB said:


> That would work vagriller, if the size of the stick of butter was always the same, but I do not believe they are. The European butter we have here in our grocery store is a different shape and size than the US butter so the measuring trick would not be accurate.


 

GB forget all the measuring that is going on here, I want to know what kind of butters you have there? I have never seen anything imported here. Once in a kosher store there was Israily butter, it was soooooo yummy.


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## CharlieD (Apr 19, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> If you start mentioning metric, you have my support. Long overdue.


 
You know it. I all for it. Makes so much more sence to use it too. I say Obama should switch to metric, it will give jobs to thousands of people that would be needed to convert everyhtnig into metric. That for sure will save the economy. Yey me!


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## GB (Apr 19, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> GB forget all the measuring that is going on here, I want to know what kind of butters you have there? I have never seen anything imported here. Once in a kosher store there was Israily butter, it was soooooo yummy.


We have a few Irish butters and one from somewhere else, but I do not recall where.


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## bigdaddy3k (Apr 21, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> You know it. I all for it. Makes so much more sence to use it too. I say Obama should switch to metric, it will give jobs to thousands of people that would be needed to convert everyhtnig into metric. That for sure will save the economy. Yey me!


 
Give a guy an inch and he'll take a kilometer.


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## Mimizkitchen (Apr 21, 2010)

OOOOH irish butters are so damn good!!!


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## 2day2eat (Apr 22, 2010)

And if u try to measure weight?

The concept of cups is relative ... LOL


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## CharlieD (Apr 22, 2010)

Of topick.

The best butter i ever had was french.


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