I have been looking through the recipes here on CC and was wondering if someone could tell me the difference between using salted and unsalted butter for icing recipes, thanks in advance for thoughts on this.

i normally just use salted and honestly i cant tell the difference.. i add salt anyway to my icings to cut the sweetness

a lot of people prefer to use unsalted, because then they can control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe

I have always used salted because it is cheaper but I watch some baking show and she said that she always used unsalted so that she could control the amount of salt in her recipe. she also said that brand to brand the salt content varies alot. The salt in the butter absorbs water so you actually get less "butter" than buying the unsalted which is why salted is cheaper.

Today I tried the unsalted and I must say that I did see a difference with the smoothness of the BC icing and I liked the taste better also so I am now sticking with the unsalted.

Well, most folks use the salted because in many areas it is a lot cheaper. Some do use it because it cuts the sweet a bit and dissolves better than adding straight salt.
The salt in salted butter also acts as a preservative both for the butter and for your icing. Icing using salted butter can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days, I find it actually keeps longer. Salted butter on its own can be kept up to two weeks at room temperature as long as the temperature is cool , about 70F.
Perhaps the amount of salt varies quite a bit in the U.S., here I find it pretty much the same in all brands, even the cheaper ones. I have never had it make an icing gritty either.
When I have unsalted I have used it but honestly don't see or taste much difference in the icing. Perhaps there is quite a difference in butter here in Canada, I don't know.
There is more a trend towards using unsalted butter these days, the older cookbooks used salted.
I find it makes more of a difference when you are cooking or baking, but for icing, I don't feel that it is an issue. Since unsalted costs almost twice as much as salted here, I tend to use salted most of the time, especially in icing as the cost of the cream and whole milk and pure real vanilla I also use, makes it expensive enough. I know most folks use artificial flavourings like clear vanilla to keep the icing whiter, but since these artificial flavourings to me, don't taste anything like the real thing - they have quite a chemical aftertaste - I can't see wasting the extra money on unsalted butter if that is how you are flavouring an icing.
Just my opinion,
hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I wasn't sure myself of whether to use salted or unsalted butter in my icing/cake recipes... I bought the WalMart brand of butter and it's salted .. I was going to just try that to see how it worked... now I see it more than likely will lol ... thanks SquirrelyCakes... you are such a wealth of knowledge and help us sooooooooooo much on here!! I enjoy reading all your comments

I always use unsalted when baking, but salted when making my icing. I find the salt cuts the sweet taste. I didn't know salt content varies per brand though. I always just buy what's on sale. I guess I will have to start paying more attention, anthough I haven't noticed any difference yet.

I use unsalted...I think it's a personal preference. I like the taste of icing better with less salt. It seems milder.

In Canada, the humidity or moisture level varies in the different brands of butter, I haven't found any difference in the levels of salt. But I suspect that is different in the U.S.
I would be adding salt to the icing anyway to get it less sweet, but since it is in the butter, I don't need to. Since butter in salt is absorbed well, I don't have to worry about it making it gritty.
Haha, and yes, I too buy the cheapest. At $4.39 to $4.79 and up for a pound, it is expensive anyway. Our unsalted is around $3.79 and up for half a pound.
I will use unsalted in an icing made up mainly of butter and chocolate, like the Sarah Bernhardt type of icing.
Some folks have the mistaken idea that salted butter is old butter with salt added to it, it is not. Mind you the salted butter you buy can be older because the salt can preserve it a lot longer. But they don't try to disguise the taste of rancid butter buy adding salt as I have seen suggested on another site.
Yes, sweet butter on its own does taste milder, because there is no salt added.
I think the important thing is to make sure the butter you are using is fresh and not to keep it past the expiry date.
Hugs Squirrelly

Squirrelly thanks so much for all the info on this topic. Just one more question, I noticed you mentioned Sarah Berhardt type icing in your post, don't mean to sound stup, but who is she and what type icing does she use. I feel sometimes like I live a sheltered life all I do is go to work and come home, but coming home is the fun part because I get to play catch up and read all the great stuff here on CC that I have missed all day.

I bought some salted, WalMart brand .. I want to try using half butter, half Crisco in my next icing I make .. it'll be a first for me *fingers crossed*

Wow I had no idea unsalted costs so much more for other people. Salted and unsalted are the same price here. (atlanta, ga) I usually would buy mine at Walmart or one of the grocery chains. Walmart is usually about $2.48-$2.88/lb.

But I recently rejoined Costco and they had 4 POUNDS FOR $7.39! I thought I died and went to butter heaven! What a bargain...and it has been pretty good for me so far.

I've always used unsalted for my cakes and icing. I've never made anything but 50/50 icing. I take it you all usually do 100% crisco? I like the taste of 50/50, I haven't tried anything else yet.

Well the unsalted butter is better for some icings, but for a decorator's buttercream, I can't see paying extra for it, especially if folks add salt anyway to the icing and most especially if they are going to the expense of buying an artificial butter flavouring.
Haha, but you know, we are all different and have different opinions on the subject.
Interesting, I thought Blue Bonnet only made margarine, I guess that is because in Canada, they don't sell Blue Bonnet butter. At least I have never seen it.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I prefer a little popcorn salt...it does seem to make the sweetness not TOO sweet ...but I also use salted butter sometimes too and just add less of my own salt.

In Canada, margarine has to state that it is margarine right in the name.
Generally margarine has too much moisture in it to use for a decorator icing. I say generally because though it isn't recommended I know one or two people that use it with no problem.
I know Kiddiekakes uses margarine, I believe she uses tub margarine in her icing. Her icing is always perfect, so obviously it works really well for her.
Baking and an uncooked unheated icing are two different things. Generally for baking, the best margarine to use is the hard margarine sold in blocks, squares or sticks- as you see in the U.S. The tub margarine has too much moisture for baking although there are some recipes that are adjusted for use with this type of margarine.
Margarine was created as a cheaper alternative to butter, during the war. Both margarine and butter have a lower melting and burning temperature. These fats react differently from shortening or cooking oil when placed on a hot element. When either butter or margarine are used for greasing a pan, the fat can be re-absorbed back into the cake causing cakes to stick to the pan and is one reason why this use is not recommended for most things.
When used in baking, the big difference is taste. If you are finding that it tastes good to you and works well, then always stick with what makes you happy.
Rule of thumb for cakes is that generally butter is better in a chocolate cake, shortening makes a lighter fluffier white cake, butter makes a more dense batter.
With decoratpr icing, all-shortening makes an easier to decorate with icing, an icing with both shortening and butter makes a more flavourful icing that doesn't melt as easy in your hands, an all-butter recipe makes the best tasting icing but is harder to handle and decorate with because of its higher moisture content and the fact that it has an 83F melting point whereas shortening has between an 89 and 99F melting point.
About the only thing I use margarine for other than on toast, is in the odd older cookie recipe I have and then, it is the hard margarine I use. I have tried a lot of recipes using either and I find that I prefer the taste of butter over margarine in nearly all cases.
It is a funny thing, when you switch exclusively to using butter, margarine tastes funny. When all you use is margarine, butter tastes funny. When you use salted or unsalted butter, each taste a bit odd when you switch between the two. I guess ours tastes change and we get used to one thing over another.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I'm still amazed that unsalted is more for some of you.

I'm happy to report that Costco has gone down even more to about $6.79 for 4lbs of butter - salted or unsalted.

i like salted butter for baking and making uncooked buttercream. salt both balances the sweetness and enhances the flavour of many foods, even those things we might not think of as being improved by salt, like chocolate (i love salted chocolate). the most popular brand of chocolate chip cookies on the market is very salty.

squirrellycakes: if you're every feeling frisky and want to try a margarine in place of butter, give the lactancia brand (hydrogenated in the brown and white container) a try. i've used it in butter sponge cake batters with great success, and also in buttercream (instead of shortening, which i find unpalatable). it's less than half the price of cheap butter per pound. when it first came on the market they had tv commercials that claimed you could make shortbread with it (which was a vicious lie!!! ), but it did work well in other cookie recipes.

I don't find margarine such an issue with cookies, but cakes, well, haha, it will take some convincing. Don't forget I have a lot of old cookbooks and margarine was used widely in those.
Unfortunately we cannot get our hands on the baker's margarines they use commercially, but in Quebec you can.
If I ever find it in the local stores, kiddo, I will try an experiment.
Hugs Squirrelly