Julia Child's Genius Tip To Keep Butter From Burning Too Quickly
Julia Child is known as one of the first ever celebrity chefs, according to Today. She brought French cooking down to earth for the masses, but what Julia Child did before her fame might surprise you. The famed chef actually worked for the United States government in the intelligence division during World War II, and didn't become prolific in the kitchen until much later in life, when she lived in France.
She hosted a number of television shows and published several books during her career, per Britannica, but one thing she's most known for is her liberal use of butter. In fact, Eat This, Not That! reveals that Child used more than 700 pounds of butter while filming her PBS show "Baking with Julia."
The enthusiastic use of butter led Child to one piece of insight that could change the way you cook with this kitchen staple. She first shared it in a segment from her series "The Way To Cook," in 1985 (via YouTube).
Add oil to butter to slow down burning
Julia Child was a huge proponent of cooking with butter, according to Eat This, Not That!. The original celebrity chef used hundreds of pounds of butter over the course of her career and developed one handy trick that will help you never burn your butter again.
In a segment from her 1985 show "The Way To Cook," Child began sautéing chicken by placing butter in a pan. She then added in one tablespoon of either peanut oil or olive oil. "The reason for the oil is it fortifies the butter so it doesn't burn so quickly," she explained.
Butter's natural smoke point is around 350 degrees F, per the Food Network. Oil can typically tolerate a higher level of heat than butter, which means this technique will slow the burning process and allow your food more time to cook in the butter. This works very well when it comes to sautéing and frying, however it will not work in recipes that have a high fat content, like baked goods.