What is the best way to chip your butter when making biscuits?

Question

I love biscuits and have made many. The one thing that gets me is cutting the butter. I have used several different approaches with varying degrees of success. What works for you.

It'd be helpful if you edit in which approaches you've tried, and what you did/did not like about each. We're a question-and-answer site, not a discussion site. — derobert, Oct 09 '12 at 16:05

score 10 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 09 '17 at 17:30

10

I love using a pastry cutter, something like this:

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It does the best job cutting butter or shortening into flour. Every now and again while using it I use a fork or butter knife to remove the big blockages.

edited Mar 09 '17 at 17:30

Community

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answered Oct 09 '12 at 15:20

lemontwist

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score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 09 '12 at 18:05

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I used to use a pastry cutter, but it was hard work and a pain in the butt clearing the blockages. So I switched to using a food processor.

It's so much quicker, and providing you cut the cold butter into 1x5cm sticks, it yields perfect results with just a few pulses.

answered Oct 09 '12 at 18:05

ElendilTheTall

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I have to agree with this method. It is quick and easy. – Jake Robinson Oct 09 '12 at 18:51
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Having no dishwasher, I find removing blockages easier than washing out a food processor by hand. But I do agree that otherwise it is quick. – lemontwist Oct 09 '12 at 19:08
I don't have a dishwasher. Hot water works wonders on butter – ElendilTheTall Oct 09 '12 at 20:15

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 09 '12 at 15:40

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I usually use my hands, working on soft butter chopping small pieces with my fingers.

answered Oct 09 '12 at 15:40

napolux

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Using your hands is a bad idea. The heat from your hands will, in time, melt the butter making your biscuits less flaky. Besides, karate chopping butter is difficult to boot. – Jake Robinson Oct 09 '12 at 18:49
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@Jake- This technique has its place and isn't a bad idea. It is done with the fingertips to limit melting and is more of a rubbing motion. It is less flaky because some of the fat is rubbed in but sometimes that is desirable for a more tender product. – Sobachatina Oct 09 '12 at 20:04

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 10 '12 at 16:09

One, cut up your butter into small cubes, then freeze it on a plate. The colder you keep the butter the better the result. Then, if you have one, use a food processor to cut the butter into the flour. I don't have one, so I use a cutter, then finish it with my fingertips. If I feel the butter is getting too warm I'll put the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes.

I've found that as important as the cutting is the flour I use. The lower the protein content the better. That, and work the dough as little as humanly possible to avoid gluten chains.

What is the best way to chip your butter when making biscuits?

4 Answers4