Soften Butter Faster With An Unexpected Kitchen Tool

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Whether you've decided to bake a last-minute batch of cookies or are trying to butter your morning toast, waiting for your cold butter to soften is a frustrating time suck. If you're used to zapping the butter in the microwave with varied results, try a popular hack instead — one that uses a kitchen item that you usually use to rinse fruits and veggies or drain pasta.

Next time you need softened butter, pull out a mesh food strainer (or get the ​​GoodCook Everyday 6-Inch Mesh Strainer). Grab your refrigerated or frozen butter and rub it back and forth on the mesh. You'll end up with nicely grated butter shavings that are soft and easy to spread or use in recipes. This butter hack is also one of the creative ways to use your cheese grater. 

Grating the butter softens it faster than just leaving a block to sit out because the smaller strands of butter reach room temperature faster than a large chunk. It's also a better method than using the microwave, which risks leaving you with a melted butter puddle. And yes, exactly how soft the butter is does really matter when you're baking. If it's too cold, it will be hard to mix the butter into your recipe. Yet if it's too melted, you risk your baked item ending up flat and dense. Besides, those butter shavings look pretty gourmet if you're serving them in a dish along with bread.

There are nearly as many ways to soften butter quickly in a pinch as there are uses for it. All are valid in their own way, so it's worth experimenting to find your favorite softening method. If you want to stick with leaving your butter out at room temp to soften it, cutting the butter into small cubes will help it melt faster. Keep in mind that If you want to leave the stick out as a whole, it usually takes a minimum of a half hour or so to soften up.

Another trick is to put the butter between pieces of wax paper, then use a rolling pin on the butter to flatten it out. You can also try boiling or heating water, pouring it into a glass, and then dumping the water out. Put the hot glass over the butter. It will create a sort of butter sauna to melt it within 10 minutes or so. 

Finally, though it's typically the worst way to soften butter, you can use the microwave if necessary. But you don't want to just toss the butter in there; it's best to take it slow so it doesn't melt too fast into a puddle. Try cutting the butter into smaller pieces, then transfer them to a bowl. Cover the bowl with a paper towel to avoid splatters. Then microwave in 10-second increments until the butter seems mostly softened, and stir everything together.