Microwave query about butter

Brie

OK so not about computers but I thought the brainy types here might be able to help answer a question about softening butter in the microwave.

OK so usually I take the butter out of the fridge, put it on a plate and leave it on the dining room table overnight.  By morning it is normally reasonably spreadable. 

But sometimes I forgot or don't realise how little butter we have so then it's a case of taking it out of the fridge, putting it on a plate and trying to soften it in the microwave.  10 seconds doesn't soften it quite enough and 20 seconds is almost too much in that you can see that the butter is nearly melted in the middle.  The microwave works in 10 second intervals so often I'll put it on for 20 but open the door at about 17 seconds when the butter is just right.  

OH this morning nuked it for 10 seconds, realised it wasn't soft enough so did it for another 10.  And it wasn't even close to being as soft at 15 -17 seconds.  Why?

Same brand/type of butter, same plate, same microwave at the same setting - only the time is different.

flaneurs_lobster

For spreading on bread?

Nuke it to liquid and apply with a pastry brush.

In the spirit of never giving a straight answer.......

PRAISETHESUN

Sounds like the perfect excuse to put on a lab coat and start experimenting! Some factors that might be involved, alongside the factors you've already identified:

Mass of butter involved - are they all the same amount of butter?
Size/shape of the butter lumps involved - solid lumps vs. partially spread out already?
Initial temperature of the butter - straight out of the fridge, or standing for a little bit? How constant is your fridge temp? Is the butter always put back in the same place, or does it get put moved around closer to/away from the cooling elements? How cold is the kitchen?
Initial temperature of the microwave - both the interior where you put food, and the electronics themselves. Electronics can be more/less efficient at different temperatures
Accuracy of the "10 second" microwave timer (you could use a stopwatch to check this)

Vitor

The cold weather means the electricity supplied to homes contains fewer "electricals" so Microwave isn't as good.

Brie

PRAISETHESUN said:

Sounds like the perfect excuse to put on a lab coat and start experimenting! Some factors that might be involved, alongside the factors you've already identified:

Mass of butter involved - are they all the same amount of butter?
Size/shape of the butter lumps involved - solid lumps vs. partially spread out already?
Initial temperature of the butter - straight out of the fridge, or standing for a little bit? How constant is your fridge temp? Is the butter always put back in the same place, or does it get put moved around closer to/away from the cooling elements? How cold is the kitchen?
Initial temperature of the microwave - both the interior where you put food, and the electronics themselves. Electronics can be more/less efficient at different temperatures
Accuracy of the "10 second" microwave timer (you could use a stopwatch to check this)

same shape and type of butter straight out of the fridge from the same shelf all the butter sits on in the fridge.  
Kitchen is cold but not as cold this morning as some days.

not sure about the timing but assume it's accurate....

Olinda99

are you putting the butter at the same radial distance from the centre of the microwave plate ?

DullGreyGuy

There will be time for the microwave to actually get going properly and at full power. Random folk who may not know what they are talking about say about 2-3 seconds. So if you do 20 second run you are actually only getting 17 seconds of actual full power. If you do 2 10 seconds runs you're getting 14 seconds of full power.

Ergates

flaneurs_lobster said:

For spreading on bread?

Nuke it to liquid and apply with a pastry brush.

In the spirit of never giving a straight answer.......

Melt it into a bowl and dip the bread.  

Ergates

Two possibilities:

1)  Your microwave has a fault and is losing power.

2)  Dumb luck.  The microwaves aren't evenly distributed in the oven- they're more intense in some areas than others.  That's why the platter rotates.   When you're microwaving something for a longer period this evens out, but for a short period sometimes the butter could spend more time in a "hot" zone than other times.  Another thing that might contribute to this - in some microwaves, the platter alternates the direction it rotates between runs (so for 2 10 second runs one it would go clockwise the other anti-clockwise~) which could exacerbate the un-evenness.

Newcad

Been there done that with butter (still do sometimes for cakes, yes I know what you will read online about cold butter- don't believe it all and try/experiment for yourself).

For spreading on bread straight from the fridge try the many (different priced) spreads that are available these days, you will find one or two brands that you prefer.

flaneurs_lobster

Newcad said:

For spreading on bread straight from the fridge try the many (different priced) spreads that are available these days, you will find one or two brands that you prefer.

I've tried a few over the years, never found them as "good" as butter. Maybe it's just knowing there's vegetable oil (usually rapeseed) in there, blind taste test would probably show me up.