The great butter shortage of 2018 at my old shop

Adam Moore · 2026-03-20T04:00:07.143508+00:00

We were in the middle of a massive holiday order for 200 croissants when I realized we were three pounds short of European butter. I had to send my apprentice to three different stores in the rain while I started the laminations with what we had. Anyone else ever had a key ingredient vanish at the worst possible moment?

troy4946mo ago

Keep a backup brick of that good butter in the freezer for emergencies. It thaws fast in a pinch and saved my butt more than once.

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gray6446mo ago

Man, "key ingredient vanish" is the worst kind of kitchen panic. We once had a whole case of eggs just be bad right before a huge breakfast catering job. It's that stomach-drop feeling where you're already mentally calculating the drive time to the nearest wholesaler versus how much time the recipe actually needs. Everything just stops dead.

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angela_baker6mo ago

Oh man, that's rough! I mean, at least eggs are a quick store run, but good butter for lamination is a whole different level of stress.

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