If you need to figure out how to quickly thaw or soften frozen butter, then you are definitely in the right place.
Today, we are going to look at 6 methods that are pretty effective at defrosting and softening frozen butter.
So, let’s jump right into it.
How to Soften Butter Quickly: The 6 Best Options
If you have frozen butter, there are a couple different ways you can go about thawing it. The method you use will depend on how quickly you need it defrosted.
The best options available are:
- Grating
- Small Cubes
- Overnight in the Refrigerator
- Water Bath
- Pounding
- Microwave
1. Grating
The quickest way to thaw/soften frozen butter is to grate it.
Using the large holes of a box grater, you will end up with very thin pieces of frozen butter, that will quickly thaw in a couple of minutes.
These ease of use with this method means you can grate the butter directly into your mixing bowl, onto a plate or directly on your bread.
2. Cut into Small Cubes
Instead of waiting for the whole stick of frozen butter to defrost and soften, you could always cut it into smaller cubes.
Once the butter has been cut into small cubes or chunks, you should let them sit out on a plate at room temperature to thaw.
You can expect the butter to be fully defrosted, in about 30 minutes or less.
If you are in an absolute rush, you can place the plate of cubed/chunk butter, by a warm stove to speed up the process.
3. Overnight in the Refrigerator
Taking frozen butter out of the freezer and letting it sit overnight in the refrigerator is another good option to consider when thawing.
This is a slow process and expect it to take about 8-12 hours (depending on your refrigerator’s temperature) to defrost.
If you will not be using the butter immediately or you are someone who likes to prep ahead time, this is a great thawing option to use.
4. A Water Bath
Using a water bath is another quick method that can be used to defrost frozen butter.
There are actually 2 water bath methods that you can use, cold or warm.
Cold Water Bath
for the cold water bath method, you are going to place the frozen stick of butter in a plastic sealable bag.
You will fill a container room temperature water and place the plastic bag with the butter inside the container.
Warm Water Bath
The warm water bath method requires you to pour almost boiling water into a double boiler or a saucepan (you will rest a metal bowl inside of it).
You will now take the stick of frozen butter and place it in the boiler or the metal bowl. It will start to soften and be ready for use in a couple of minutes.
Constantly check to ensure that your butter thaws, not melts.
5. Pound or Roll
A fun way to soften frozen butter is to flatten it, by whacking it a couple times with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer.
Place the frozen stick of butter in a Ziploc/sealable plastic bag and take your rolling pin (or anything else that can be used to pound) and give the butter a couple whacks, till it is flattened.
Once you have flattened the butter, leave it at room temperature till it is soft.
This method works best on butter that has been slightly thawed.
6. Microwave
While the microwave is a great tool for reheating food, and even thawing, it is generally advised that it should be used to defrost frozen butter.
The reason for this is that you could possibly end up melting the butter instead of thawing it and this could be problematic, especially if your recipe calls for the use of softened butter as opposed to melted butter.
While we strongly recommend against using the microwave, there are people who use it to soften their butter, by using it in short bursts.
While this may work, there is a possible downside as the butter may not thaw evenly. You might find that the outside of the butter might be soft, while the inner part is rock solid due to the uneven thawing nature of the microwave.
A Cool Little Microwave Hack
If you still want to use the microwave, the folks over at Sally’s Baking Addiction introduced us to a microwave hack that will get the butter defrosted quickly, without fear of it melting.
How It’s Done:
- Fill a microwave-safe cup/Pyrex jar with water.
- Microwave till it is almost boiling (you will start to see the bubbles to start to form at the side of the container/cup)
- Quickly remove the now hot cup of water from the microwave and place the frozen butter inside the microwave.
- The radiant heat trapped inside the microwave will quickly thaw the frozen butter in about 10 minutes.
- You should check at about the 5-minute mark, to ensure that the butter is thawing and has not melted.
Wrapping it up
There you have it!
You now know the six different ways that can be used to defrost and soften frozen butter.
Now, I want to hear from you.
Do you have any additional questions or did we miss anything in this guide? Also, which defrosting option from our list is going to be your go-to method from now on?
Let me know in the comments below.
