Just watched a line cook nearly ruin a batch of hollandaise by adding cold butter

The sauce broke instantly because the butter wasn't room temp. I had to pull him aside and show him how to whisk in warm, clarified butter slowly off the heat. Has anyone else had to fix this in the middle of a brunch rush?

3 comments

3 Comments

gonzalez.viola1mo ago

Cold butter? In the middle of a brunch rush? That's like asking for a disaster. I can't believe someone would even try that when the kitchen is that busy. You have to keep everything moving and that just stops everything dead. Good on you for fixing it, but man, that's a rough lesson to learn when tickets are piling up.

emma_young1mo ago

Actually, cold butter spreads just fine if you slice it thin. It doesn't gum up the works at all. The real disaster is running out of butter completely.

miles7071mo ago

Hold up, @gonzalez.viola, I gotta disagree. Cold butter can actually be a total lifesaver in a rush. Think about it: if your softened butter station is a greasy mess getting warm by the grill, grabbing a cold block from the lowboy is way faster. You can grate it right over hot pancakes or quickly dice it for biscuits. It melts perfectly on hot food and you skip the whole "waiting for it to soften" step. Sometimes the usual way is what slows you down.