Butter Calculator - How Much is a Stick of Butter?
Table of contents
What is butter?Using the butter calculatorHow much is a stick of butter?Stick of butter in cups, tablespoons or gramsHow to make butter?Bunch of butter rules"Honest bread is very well - it's the butter that makes the temptation" - we're sure that Douglas Jerrold would be delighted with our butter calculator! For all those who identify with the author, we've got some good news for you - you will never wonder how much is a stick of butter again. In the following article you can also find out what is butter (besides one of your favorite bread spreads, of course) and how to convert between butter measures. The real icing on the cake (or spread on the bread) is a method of how to make butter at home — no special equipment needed.
Let's get started!
What is butter?
Butter is a dairy product, one of the most concentrated form of milk, made from churning milk or cream. During the process of churning, the liquid part (buttermilk) separates, leaving a solid part - mostly made fat and proteins. You can see this process with your own eyes by following the instructions in the How to make butter? section.
Butter is most commonly made from cow's milk, although you may also find butter from goat's, sheep's, buffalo's, or even yak's milk.
Surely you appreciate butter's phenomenal ability to add taste to everything it touches. You have almost 120 chemical compounds to thank for that! There are five crucial ones: fatty acids, lactones, methyl ketones, diacetyl, and dimethyl sulphide. Long live chemistry!
Using the butter calculator
Feel free to use the butter calculator every time you need. If you either have to convert tablespoons to grams or ounces to teaspoons, or if you want to express stick of butter in cups.
The instructions are the simplest possible. Just put the number of measures you want to convert in the right field, and the calculator will automatically count the remaining ones. You have all the measures ready right away!
You probably need the butter calculator to cook something delicious. We've got a helping hand to anyone keen on cooking - cooking measurement converter, where you can convert the amounts of, e.g., flour, milk or Nutella. ❤️
How much is a stick of butter?
In the USA, butter is mainly sold in 1 lb or 0.5 lb packages (227-454g), which are split evenly into sticks. Every stick weighs 110-113 g, and is wrapped separately.
If you live in the United States, you may be wondering - who the hell needs a butter calculator? Well, a 'stick of butter' is only a valid measurement in the United States and Canada, and therefore confuses chefs and bakers around the rest of the world. On the other hand, if you're passionate about baking, you probably reach for some recipes from abroad from time to time, and you may want to do the reverse operation, and convert from grams or milliliters to sticks. In any case - we've got you covered! You'll never be worried about 'how much is a stick of butter' again.
Stick of butter in cups, tablespoons or grams
One stick of butter is half of a cup, so one cup is two sticks. Better not confuse those two while cooking!
The stick of butter is also equal to eight tablespoons. Since one tablespoon is three teaspoons, one stick of butter is 24 teaspoons, which is 113 grams.
1 stick = 0.5 of a cup = 8 tablespoons = 24 teaspoons = 113 grams
Tidbit: to easily cut the butter into tablespoons, check the cube wrapper, and look for the lines. They mark the tablespoons.
How to make butter?
You may think that making butter is a time-consuming, labourious process, only done nowadays in small, forgotten villages. But there is actually a simple method of making butter on your own at home!
- You will need around 300 ml of cream, containing at least 30% fat, and a resealable jar big enough to comfortably hold all the cream.
- First, put the cream into the fridge, so it's chilled.
- Put the cream into the jar. You can also add some spices if you want - salt, herbs, pepper. Screw on the lid firmly.
- Start shaking! Shake the jar energetically, changing directions from time to time. Making butter can take anywhere from a few minutes to 10-12 minutes.
- You will notice the tiny butter lumps forming, and a whitish liquid separating (the buttermilk). Keep shaking until a bigger, solid lump forms.
- Pour out the buttermilk and place the butter lump on a gauze or a strainer. Knead the butter a bit to get rid of the rest of the buttermilk. Put back into the fridge.
- From 300 ml of cream you will get around 150g of pure butter. This is around 1.32 of a stick, so it looks that you can bake a cake now!
Bunch of butter rules
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While baking shortbread - e.g. a basic tart crust- remember to use well-cooled butter. This is essential - warm butter won't form a proper crust, and the mass will flow when placed in the oven. Just use your stick of butter taken directly from the fridge to avoid any nasty surprises.
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American butter has to be at least 80% fat, while its European counterpart has to be at least 82%. The more fat butter contains, the more yellowish it is, and the flakier pastries are. Higher fat content also gives a more full-bodied flavour.
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If you want to fry using butter, the best choice is clarified butter. To clarify butter is to get rid of most of the water and protein particles, leaving only the pure fat. Clarified butter has a higher smoke point (burning point) - 252 °C or 486 °F - when compared to regular butter (150°C or 302°F), so will not burn that easily.
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If you feel like replacing vegetable oil with butter when baking, check out the oil to butter calculator.
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If you want, for some reason, to replace butter with margarine, make sure it states that it is 'Suitable for baking'. Otherwise, you risk a cake fiasco.
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When you need to cream your butter for a recipe, keep the mixer at a relatively low speed. High speed will overheat the butter, and it can cause it to lose its emulsion.
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A stick of butter contains around 823 calories. Use it wisely so you don't become too fluffy٭!
٭ If you do and you still don't want to get rid of this heavenly fat, why not give a keto diet a go.