Here's How Much Butter Ree Drummond Needs Regularly
If there's one thing Ree Drummon loves besides the Malboro Man and her children, it's butter. In a 2011 blog post on The Pioneer Woman, Drummond admitted that she used 121 pounds of butter (484 sticks) when filming recipes for her show. Amazingly, that does not include the extra butter that is used for the crew's meals. Anyone who's watched her show or flipped through her cookbooks knows her food is rich and hearty — after all, she does have to feed hungry cowboys and her growing family. Many recipes in her large repertoire feature her favorite ingredient, butter.
One of Drummond's favorite steak toppings is an invention she dubs cowboy butter. Cowboy butter is a mix of softened butter, parsley, lemon, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Drumond dollops the butter over a rib-eye steak, which helps add seasoning and juiciness (per Food Network). When she wants to fuel her husband up for a day of ranch work, she makes his favorite breakfast, an egg in a hole. In an interview with Mashed, The Pioneer Woman shared that she used half a stick of butter to make 3 eggs in the holes. She reasoned that this allows the eggs to properly fry while still having enough butter to saturate the bread and crisp it up. Since she is constantly cooking up decadent meals, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the culinary TV star stocks up on butter when she hits the grocery store.
There's never enough butter
In an post on The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond confessed that she buys 10 to 15 pounds of butter in one shopping trip. While this may seem a bit excessive, Drummond knows how important the ingredient is. She loves to use butter for both savory and sweet recipes, though in varying amounts. While Drummond buys a lot of it, not every butter is created equally and should not be used interchangeably.
If you've ever perused the grocery store dairy aisle, you've likely seen your fair share of butter. One of the most common differences you may see is salted vs unsalted. The main difference between these kinds of butter is one contains salt and is better used in savory dishes. Since baking is a precise science, unsalted is typically better since it doesn't contain any added salt that can alter the water or fat content (per Webstaurant Store). A slightly less well-known type is called European-style butter. This butter is more churned, resulting in higher butterfat content. It also has added cultures, giving it a tangier taste than traditional butter, and is often used when making pastry dough or caramels and candies (via Restaurant Clicks).
A good recipe will always tell you which butter is best, but if you're in a pinch, unsalted is always a safe bet. You can always load up on all the butter you need just like The Pioneer Woman.