Kyl Haselbauer has 20 years of experience working in fine-dining and modernist kitchens, including Bar Cotto and Anchovies &amp; Olives in Seattle. He is also the owner of Bright Spot, a café and coffee shop in Seattle.

Kyl Haselbauer

The Control Freak™ Home

3-quart Saucepan

High-precision digital scale

Breville Super Q™

Fine-mesh strainer

The Control °Freak® induction cooking system

Unsalted butter

Shallot(s)

Garlic clove(s)

Water

Kosher salt

Xanthan gum

In a 3-quart saucepan, melt 27 g butter over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until aromatics are soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.

Garlic

Sweat aromatics

Add water and remaining 200 g butter and bring mixture to a simmer over high heat. Remove from heat.

Simmer butter and water

In a small bowl, stir together salt and xanthan gum until well combined. Set aside.

Transfer contents of saucepan to jar of a countertop blender. Blend, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high once a vortex has formed. With blender running, add salt-xanthan mixture, and continue blending until mixture is completely smooth and emulsified, about 1 minute.

If using right away, wipe out now-empty saucepan and strain beurre monté through a fine-mesh strainer back into the saucepan. Cover and keep warm until ready to use.

If not using right away, strain beurre monté into an airtight container. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 weeks.

Blend beurre monté

Beurre monté can be used right away for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/precision-butter-poached-lobster">poaching lobster</a> or reduced to create a sauce for meats, seafood, and vegetables.

For a plateable sauce, transfer some of the beurre monté to a skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, swirling and stirring occasionally, until reduced by roughly 1/3 and thickened to a spoon-coating consistency, 2 to 5 minutes depending on the amount being reduced.

NOTE: Reduced beurre monté will be less stable as more water evaporates from the emulsion. If the emulsion begins to break, whisk in water, 5 g (1 teaspoon) at a time, to re-emulsify.

Put beurre monté to use

Beurre monté can be made in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, gently warm beurre monté over low heat to [f 140].

Reduced beurre monté can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, gently warm over low heat to [f 120].

Make-ahead and storage

Beurre monté—a warm butter emulsion—is a secret weapon in French kitchens. It’s a cooking medium, a welcome addition to almost any dish, and a sauce in its own right.The tricky bit about beurre monté—and the reason why its use is largely confined to professional kitchens—is that it needs to be kept warm. Too hot and the emulsion will break and the milk solids and butterfat will separate from the water. Too cold and it’ll just be warm, spreadable butter. The key is to set it somewhere where the temperature is right in the Goldilocks window and all the beurre monté magic can happen, which is why it’s often used as a precision temperature-controlled cooking medium for poaching delicate proteins, like shellfish and fish. But if you’re working with an emulsion, there’s a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/unlock-your-hydrocolloid-starter-pack">hydrocolloid</a> out there that can stabilize it. This recipe for beurre monté uses <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/the-science-of-xanthan-gum">xanthan gum</a> to heat-stabilize the fat-in-water emulsion, which means it’ll stay emulsified within a much larger temperature range. You can even chill this beurre monté down, stash it in the fridge for a couple weeks, and warm it back up again. That’s right: It’s bulletproof, and, as a result, super-convenient to have around.The secret’s out. Use it to make <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/precision-butter-poached-lobster">Precision Butter-Poached Lobster</a> and spoon it over at the end for a silky and delicious sauce. Add a spoonful to some sautéed vegetables for a shimmery shiny glaze. Add a spoonful to a broken pan sauce to bring it back together and zhuzh it up a little. The world of beurre monté is yours.

Bulletproof Beurre Monté