In theory, browning butter is simple, but in practice, it isn't exactly foolproof, and much can go wrong. In addition to maintaining low heat and using the right type of pan, you want to look at the kind of butter you're using, as salted butter makes this process more complicated.

When you brown butter, a chemical reaction called the Maillard reaction takes place, causing the amino acids and sugar in the butter to brown and form new flavor compounds. However, salted butter is more prone to burning and produces more foam, which prevents you from seeing the color change and milk solids to determine the doneness.

The unique flavor of browned butter comes from the toasted milk solids, and when the salt from the salted butter sticks to the milk solids, it neutralizes the nutty, toasty flavor you normally get from browned butter. If you successfully brown salted butter, it creates deceptively bigger browned bits, but only because the salt sticks to the milk solids.