"Knob" of butter

I agree to the "wallnut reading"...

Thanks, everyone. OK - good to know it's smaller than a door-knob!

Perfect, Sagegreen!

Lol!

Which brings us back to sagegreen's wal-uh-nuts.

Perfect frame of reference, amysarah, all wine aside.

I had a British house-mate in grad school and we often cooked together. She'd often refer to a 'knob of butter.' I finally asked how big a knob was...she replied: 'size doesn't matter' and proceeded to crack up. (We were well into a bottle of wine at the time.) I had no idea what she was talking about or why it was so damn funny until later, when I learned the other meaning of 'knob' in British slang. True story.

A knob of butter is proportional to the size of the pan. For a 12 inch saute pan a knob is a hefty 1 + tablespoon, for a 14 inch pan it is 2 + tablespoons. Then if you are Australia just remember the pan swirls in the opposite direction.

An English friend told me you scrape the bar of butter lengthwise for a "knob",

I consider it to be a good tablespoon. About what you could cut or carve off generously with a teaspoon - literally one with which you would stir tea. Don't be stingy.

FWIW, I consider it to be about 2 tablespoons.

I think of it as the size of a walnut, maybe 1 ounce...but that just my reading!