Butter has always been a staple, but it is rarely made at home. It shows up wrapped in paper, already salted or unsalted, and ready to go. That convenience has slowly pushed the process out of sight.

In pretty much every baking recipe, no matter the diversity of the ingredients or range of final products, you can almost guarantee one thing: If the recipe calls for butter, you’re going to be told ...

Some recipes allow for at least a degree of objectivity. The instructions tell you that your dish (or one step of it) will be done when the timer goes off after a certain number of minutes or once a ...