Butter: Butter has incomparable flavor and provides texture, richness, and leavening to baked goods. Its primary drawback is its low smoking point, limiting its use in sautéing for only brief periods. To sauté with butter, two adjustments are possible. First, combine the butter with a bland oil that has a higher smoke point, like canola oil. This increases the smoke point while leaving a buttery taste. Otherwise, use clarified butter, (“ghee” in India). Clarifying butter removes the milk solids, which burn before the fat. A method for clarifying butter is described at the bottom of this column. Since butter is expensive, purchase the best tasting butter, which is usually unsalted butter. It is also likely to be fresher; salt acts as a preservative and producers, distributors, and markets will move unsalted butter more quickly onto and off grocery shelves. A second advantage to unsalted butter is to give the cook greater control over the amount of salt in the recipe. When buying unsalted butter, look for butter wrapped in foil. Light and heat adversely effect butter, and it can pick up other odors. Foil provides a good barrier to slow down rancidity and prevent odor absorption. The best place to store butter is the freezer, where it will keep for up to 6 months. Butter will keep 1 ½ months in the refrigerator.
Margarine: I, personally, do not advocate using margarine. Margarine was developed to be a lower priced alternative to butter, and, also, was touted as a healthier alternative. Whether margarine is healthier than butter is now being questioned, but apart from that, I do not feel the price differential merits settling for significantly less flavor.
Cooking Oils: The best oils for cooking are generally bland in flavor and have high smoke points, making them useful for sautéing and frying. Specific examples include canola (“rapeseed” in the rest of the world), corn, safflower, soybean, grapeseed, refined peanut oil, and sunflower oils. Peanut oil is actually the best, it has the highest smoke point, justifying its use in Oriental wok cooking. Store these oils in airtight containers, away from heat and light. A generic “vegetable” oil is a blend designed to be tasteless and to have a high smoke point.
