unsalted butter -- necessary in souffle?

[Emily_R]

Hi all --

Am about to make a chocolate souffle for the first time... The recipe calls for unsalted butter. I regularly substitute salted for unsalted butter with lots of cookie and cake recipes... But without knowing souffle chemistry -- is unsalted butter a must? Or can I skip it and use salted.

Thanks in advance!

Emily

[etalanian]

Unsalted butter has less water in it than salted butter, and of course it doesn't have salt. Both of those differences could have minor impact on the outcome of the souffle in texture and flavor.

Without being familiar with the recipe you are using, I couldn't say for certain, but my feelding is that you won't have a serious problem. You could add a teaspoon or two more flour to compensate, depending on the amount of butter called for in your recipe, and you should reduce the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon for every stick of butter used in the recipe.

Let us know how it turns out.

Eileen