# Smoked Butter - WOW!



## strawman (Feb 5, 2012)

Hey everyone, I just wanted to say that if you haven't tried smoked butter, it is awesome!  Yesterday I was cold smoking some cheese and I just threw a stick in there for half an hour.  I used it this morning on a bagel and it was unbelievable.  I am doing some more today but I am leaving one stick in for awhile, haven't decided how long yet but at least an hour. 

I was using perfect mix pellets in my AMNPS.  I light both ends.


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## sprky (Feb 5, 2012)

Butter is 1 thing I have not tried to smoke nor have I herd of it before. Interesting idea, keep us updated on your results


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## rbranstner (Feb 5, 2012)

Very interesting. I just happen to be cold smoking some bacon so I just ran out to the smoker and threw a stick on.  I can't wait to try it.


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## navyjeremy (Feb 5, 2012)

Smoked butter is Awesome as well as smoked cream cheese.  Come to think of it I am going to have to add some to the smoker when I do my BBB.


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## strawman (Feb 5, 2012)

Well, as I said, the other sticks I only threw in there for half an hour. I decided to keep one other stick in there for two hours.  I went out to check on it.  And well, LOL! got too warm.  So I will have to try later beyond the half hour mark when it is a little colder or drop the sticks in the freezer for a bit before going in.


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## rbranstner (Feb 5, 2012)

Its  only around 30 some degrees in my smoker so mine shouldn't melt. I think I am going to let it go for a few hours. So what have you tried the butter on? I just mentioned to my wife that I  was smoking butter and she gave me that look. She says "What are you going to put it on?


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## strawman (Feb 5, 2012)

i based the half hour on some other sites i read saying an hour was too long, so I just did the half hour thing.  I do think the butter with all the fat would absorb a lot of smoke.  Be sure to let me know if the three hours is too strong.  I tried in on a bagel this morning and it was good enough I wanted to make some more today!


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## BGKYSmoker (Feb 5, 2012)

Thats cool

I gotta try it.


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## scarbelly (Feb 5, 2012)

Squirrel did that about a year ago and got me doing it - I have to do it a night so it does not melt


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## flareside92 (Feb 5, 2012)

I smoked some butter last year along with some shrimp and some perch fillets.

Everyone asked what I was smoking when I thought of putting butter in there and not many liked it.

I don't normally use butter except on veggies and baked potato but the whole reason for trying it was to see what it would be like on brussel sprouts and it was  great.

Now I just smoke the brussel sprouts lol.


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## bluto (Mar 1, 2012)

I have been thinking of doing this myself, it would be perfect for a compound butter to top a steak with.  Guess I need to go get some butter and just give it a go.


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## capntrip (Mar 1, 2012)

Great Idea will have to try next time I smoke cheese


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## ahakohda (Mar 10, 2012)

What is next? Ice cream anyone?


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## s2k9k (Mar 10, 2012)

AHAKOHDA said:


> What is next? Ice cream anyone?


I did see where someone did a piece of chocolate cake.

I don't think butter would work down here. Would probably always come out looking like Strawman's Qview.


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## the joe (Sep 11, 2012)

I think I might try that out next time I grill something up...  Steak butter?  BBQ Butter?  

If anyone is familiar with churning (shaking up a batch of) your own butter, what about smoking the whipping cream and _then_ making your butter?

I don't know...  Insight?

Does anyone know if the same process work for smoking salts?


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## smokinhusker (Sep 11, 2012)

I cold smoke sea salt all the time. I've poured it into a paper plate and stir it during the smoke or onto a grease splatter screen. Good stuff! Haven't tried butter YET.


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## strawman (Sep 29, 2012)

Now that it is getting cooler outside, I want to do another batch.  I'm going to try the mailbox mod for MES that I have seen other members do.  I figure the temp shouldn't rise at all and I can smoke the butter for a longer time.

I think I am going to throw some salt in there too.


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## hmcm (Sep 29, 2012)

Interesting idea!  Will need to try that next time I  break out the AMNPS!


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## dward51 (Sep 29, 2012)

Is there any reason you could not put the butter in a tray or small mini-loaf pan or whatever with individual compartments to contain it if it starts to melt?  Seeing Strawman's photo of the melted butter got me wondering why would this not work?  It would re-solidify when put back in the fridge before de-panning.  I would think a silicone pan something like the one below would be perfect as you could easily pop the solid butter back out.  Even freeze them in a bag for long term storage.

Or am I totally missing something about when the butter starts to melt and the way it would absorb smoke or taste after re-solidifying?

This baking pan is silicone, made by Wilton (it's a mini-brownie pan) and the compartments are 1.5"x1.5"x3/4" deep.  It would make 24 individual "fat" pats of smoked buttery-liciousness?  Of course silicone pans come in many shapes and sizes, and a mini-loaf pan would be great for a 1 pound (or so) large hunk shape.  I just like the idea of the small individual portions.  I would think they would absorb the smoke flavor faster due to more surface area being exposed vs the total mass of each compartment. You would probably need to soften or even melt the butter to put it in the compartments of this pan.  That's why I first thought of a mini-loaf pan.  Here is the link to the mini-loaf pan, says each loaf is about a cup capacity (could not get the photo only for posting):  
Here is the brownie pan for individual "fat pats".














2105-4923_m.jpg



__ dward51
__ Sep 29, 2012






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Edit to add another thought....

Why not just take a pound or two of butter and soften or melt it into a flat baking pan/sheet. Use enough butter to get the thickness you want.  Then cold smoke it (cold being relative to the ambient temp of course, but even soft room temp butter spread out into a sheet should work I would think).  Then pop it in the fridge or freezer to reset and cut it into pats or whatever size you need , lift out and store.  That would give even more surface area to absorb smoke flavor and likely speed up the process. In warmer weather you could nestle the butter pan in another pan filed with ice to help keep it more like room temp soft butter and not a melted slab.  Best part of this idea is, we all should already have two pans this would work with.


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## strawman (Sep 29, 2012)

The way I see it is that butter is made up of three things: milk proteins, water, and butterfat.  Once the butter melts, these three things start to separate some.  It could ruin the consistency of the finished product if it were too melt too much.  At least that is my experience from making clarified butter. 

But, dward, please give it a go and let us know how it turns out.  I do like your idea of putting the pan in an ice pan.  If you wanted to even out the smoke on the butter stick, one could just roll it once about halfway through the smoke.

Thanks!


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## baconator (Dec 9, 2012)

I just smoked a block of butter after I seen this post........   2 hours cold smoked with my maze n apple pellets...... 

I made kraft dinner using the butter. I can now die a happy man :)


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## pipesdaddy (Dec 12, 2012)

Very unique idea, i will try this.


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## shannon127 (Dec 16, 2012)

Excellent idea,  the result is even better than I had hoped for.  You are my new idol.


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## mike johnson (Dec 16, 2012)

i currently have 3 sticks in the smoker 6 hours of hickory pellets on the first day and 2 rows of plum dust today. I cant wait to try it after a 2 week rest.


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## lea marie (Jan 26, 2013)

Very common in France


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## lea marie (Jan 26, 2013)

very common in France


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## roller (Jan 26, 2013)

Guess I will have to give this one a try....


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## tamarockstar88 (Feb 15, 2013)

Bluto said:


> I have been thinking of doing this myself, it would be perfect for a compound butter to top a steak with.  Guess I need to go get some butter and just give it a go.


Just what I was thinking! A nice compound butter. I've been smoking salt and garlic and onion for powders and they're terrific. I use them for rubs and it adds great smokey flavor, I also do mashed potatoes with smoke roasted garlic, the butter im sure would just add to that. Compound butters will stay well in a freezer for a good amount of time too. All of these things are great to add nice bbq flavor to any meal without having to fire up the smoker, going to throw some butter on right now!


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## tamarockstar88 (Feb 15, 2013)

Even if it melts like this you can still mix it with a regular room temp stick to make a compound butter, never waste butter!!! lol


Strawman said:


> Well, as I said, the other sticks I only threw in there for half an hour. I decided to keep one other stick in there for two hours.  I went out to check on it.  And well, LOL! got too warm.  So I will have to try later beyond the half hour mark when it is a little colder or drop the sticks in the freezer for a bit before going in.


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## link (Mar 27, 2013)

I did the smoked butter last weeked (and cream cheese) and smoked butter on popcorn is incredible! Also the smoked cream cheese is awesome and will need to be made often as well.


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## jaybone (Mar 29, 2013)

Sounds great as a steak topper and I bet it's fantastic in the Kraft Mac n Cheese.  Good idea!


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## dcarch (Mar 29, 2013)

I will be able to smoke butter year round because my smoker can go all the way down to 32F in the summertime.

Smoking cheese and cold smoked salmon are also part of the plan.

dcarch


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## hllywd (May 14, 2013)

A buddy of mine mentioned the butter idea the other night when I was getting ready to smoke some salmon fillets. I had some extra room and did 3 sticks of a pound. I smoked mine for a full 12" Amaze n Tube... about 6 hours or so. The ambient temp was in the  30° range, probably my last cold smoking night of the year. It took on a little color where it was exposed, but I had left it on the opened wrapper so it wasn't completely exposed. Wrapped it back up in the morning and stuck it in the fridge, figure I'll give it time to mellow for a few days and give it a shot! Maybe my potted shrimp recipe


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## hllywd (May 31, 2013)

My wife and I just got home from a couple weeks in Ca. and I tried the butter today, initially out of the smoker it was awful, like licking an ashtray (not that I really know what licking an ashtray would taste like, but you get the idea... yuck.), today it's great, the flavor has mellowed out a lot. Its very distinctly smokey and I'm sure a little will go a long way.

The outside temp was in the lower 30°s and the only heat was from the smoker tube. I've done quite a bit of cheese this way and never had any melting issues. I left the sticks on the folded open wrappers and placed them directly on the top grate in the smoker. The tube smokes for about 6 hours fully loaded. In the morning I carefully refolded the wrappers, and put everything in a ziplock in the fridge.

For dinner tonight I'm going to cedar plank grill some salmon and top it with a preserved lemon, and dill, smoked compound butter.


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## shoneyboy (May 31, 2013)




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## frankieboy (Aug 19, 2014)

Hello.

Just like to add that I find butter doesn't need more than about 2 hours in the cold smoker.

Yes, it's pretty nasty on toast or in a sandwich, but is is totally awesome when coating baby new potatoes, smeared onto corn on the cob, or mixed with garlic and herb and used on top of a steak.

I mean REALLY amazing!


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## mushand (Oct 16, 2015)

About 3 lbs of Smoked Butter!  Amazin smoker kept the temp to about 45-55 with an air temp of about 40













image.jpeg



__ mushand
__ Oct 16, 2015


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## sigmo (Sep 28, 2016)

I made my first batch a few weeks ago. It has been fantastic.

I love it on Brussels Sprouts along with a bit of Parmesian cheese, salt, and pepper.  It just givea it that extra zing!

A pat of it on a steak is also fantastic. Broccoli or cauliflower  should benefit from it as well.  It would have to be good on a baked potato.

I cut each stick into four smaller chunks to give it more surface area to collect the smoke, then put it all in the fridge to re-chill it after the smoke.  Then I pressed the sticks back together and vacuum sealed them individually.

I froze some and kept some in the fridge.  I just take a stick in its vacuum bag out and let it come up to room temp.  Then I knead it thoroughly in the bag to blend the flavor.  Then I just clip off a corner of the bag and squeeze it out into a small bowl. 

It's really been good on a lot of things.



Tabbed in.


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## joe delasko (Nov 24, 2016)

I make smoked, clarified butter by starting off with frozen butter, so that it melts more slowly and absorbs more smoke.  I've never tried cold smoking butter, but it seems to me that the best way would be to cut up the butter into small cubes, and spread them around to absorb more smoke.  For my own use, I prefer clarified butter, which is easy in a smoker, because it separates.  After smoking in a stainless steel bowl, I let the butter cool down completely, then put it in the refrigerator to solidify.  Once it solidifies, it's easy to pop out of the SST bowl.  All of the solids will have settled to the bottom. A quick rinse with cold water leaves a nice clean chunk of clarified, smoked butter.  I use it to impart a smokey flavor to things I cook in a skillet... ham steaks.. eggs... etc.


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## BGKYSmoker (Nov 25, 2016)

Yup

Good Budda.













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__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 25, 2016


















aok4.jpg



__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 25, 2016


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## mojoman83 (Feb 8, 2020)

frankieboy said:


> Hello.
> 
> Just like to add that I find butter doesn't need more than about 2 hours in the cold smoker.
> 
> ...


Did you let the butter mellow out before trying on toast or tried it on the same day you smoked it?


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## GaryHibbert (Feb 23, 2020)

Melting the butter and then letting it reharden would definitely change the texture.  But, it would still be great for cooking and frying.
Try bringing the butter to room temp and then blend it with an electric mixer.  Spread the butter out on trays.  Put it in the cold smoker and surround it with frozen water in plastic bottles to keep the temp down.  Then just package the butter (I use plastic wrap and twirl it into logs).  Then keep one out for immediate use and freeze the remaining logs.
Gary


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## CFLJOHN512 (Jul 2, 2020)

I think as long as you don’t break the butter (temp too high to where it separates) you’d be ok.


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