I just bought butter for the first time in years. I have never used it in anything but pies, but do wonder what differences I will notice between butter and margarine as far as cooking goes.

Will I notice a difference in how it cooks, say for sauteeing onions ? Will it cook away faster / slower... will it impart a differenct taste ?

Are there recipes or cooking situations for which you prefer margarine ?

I purchased unsalted butter. Is there a significant difference in taste ? Will it really help me control salt levels better ?

Talk to me !

Overall, I think your palate will be quite pleased. A few things I learned when switching from margarine back to butter (the Mrs. will not use margarine at all for cooking):

- butter burns more easily than margarine, so it is important to keep an eye on your frying pan when it's not on low heat. I think your food, however, will cook at the same rate, based more on your oven or stovetop temperature.

- margarine cannot generally be substituted for butter in some baked items, like cookies. It is possible to use margarine successfully in cakes but they won't taste the same.

- I don't add salt to my food (with the grand exception of popcorn), thus I buy salted butter. Use unsalted butter if the recipe calls for it.

You won't add any calories with butter. You will rid yourself of some trans fats, but add some cholesterol.

Your onions will definitely taste, er, buttery. And much better.

For most sautéing, I use olive oil or margarine. I rarely use butter, but that is a cost issue and a health issue rather than a taste issue. (If the onions are for something like liver and onions, I will use butter.) However, the difference in baked goods, like pastries, is very noticeable. Think of the taste difference between some cheap box of any pastry, and the same item baked by a trained chef for his family and friends. Even the best margarine is an imitation of good butter, and most are poor imitations. (Again, an analogy - Turn the color down on your monitor or TV. Watch it for a while. Then turn it back to what you normally see. That's the difference between butter and margarine.)

Thank you both for your rapid and well-thought responses.

Fuse, I mostly got the unsalted because I like the bags of instant Idahoan potatoes... and they have like 400 mg of sodium already. Any more and they are too salty for my taste.

As for sauteeing, Sagus and I use a bit of olive oil with the butter to raise the temp at which the butter burns. The flavor is tasty too.

Is There a Difference Between Butter & Margarine?

I use salted butter.

take a look At this.

I think you'll be very happy with butter instead of margarine also. Most margarines are mostly oil, where butter is just more "wholesome".

On one of the sites I read, margarine is ONE molecule from PLASTIC!

Oh, no, Sher! Next thing you know, table salt will be one molecule away from being a deadly poison

Thanks everyone for the wonderful input and the links.