How much is a knob of butter?

Question

I was reading a question here on Food and Cooking and no one seemed to know how much it is. I tried to Google convert it to cups but no dice.

So how much is it?

score 20 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 12 '15 at 10:27

20

In this Gordon Ramsey scrambled eggs video he uses a "knob" of butter. It appears to be about 2 Tbsp.

I don't think it's intended to be a specific term. You'd never see "knob" used for baking, where exact amounts matter. When cooking, recipes tend to be a general guideline rather than a strict set of instructions.

edited Apr 12 '15 at 10:27

Community

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answered Aug 24 '10 at 18:11

hobodave

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score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 29 '12 at 18:07

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2 or 3 tablespoons is equal to a knob. Also it depends on what you want, it is your choice how much your eggs taste of butter.

edited Jul 29 '12 at 18:07

rumtscho

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answered Jul 29 '12 at 17:26

beka

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 24 '10 at 19:18

I tend to treat it as 'a knifeful' but thinking about now it its probably about 1-1.5 tbsp, depending on how soft the butter is.

If the butter is too cold to get a knife to scoop it with, and I have to cut it, I try to cut a corner off starting about 1 cm into the edge, creating a pyramid type shape.

As @hobodave pointed out Gordon Ramsey uses about 2 tbsp, but that tends to be the same with the chefs, they go heavy on the salt and the butter and the cream.

YMMV.

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 24 '10 at 21:13

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Perhaps it's equivalent to a "pat" of butter.

answered Aug 24 '10 at 21:13

KatieK

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 30 '10 at 08:00

I believe the term "knob" of butter was developed and used in the days before standardized measuring. The amount is about 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons -- about the size of a knob on a kitchen drawer.

Other non-exact measurements: palm, handful, wooden spoonful, size of a walnut, size of an egg, a glassful ...

How much is a knob of butter?

5 Answers5