Why is unsalted butter called for in many recipes?

Lori K hit it on the nose. Sometimes will effect your recipe ingredients.

It moderates the amount of salt. Butter itself is salted because people tend to put salt on things with butter anyway.

The butter itself is not really any different, unless there is something that might react with the salt.

Just follow the recipe. Common sense.

Yes, when a recipe calls specifically for unsalted butter---use unsalted butter. Salt chemically effects some substances (such as leavenings).

It is to help control the amount of salt in the recipe. If its salted, and you add the salt the recipe calls for, your dish may turn out too salty.

Im no cooking expert but I am sure that it allows you to add your normal salt at the end of a recipe (eg 2 tsp / Tablespoons etc) without making the meal / dish too salty.

Unsalted butter is used predominately in desserts, pastry, croissants. Any sweets that use butter. You wouldn't put salt on you chocolate cake, would you? Butter is used in all cakes made by the creaming method.

An Irish chef.

basically to control or tone down the salty flavor of the dish, it's easier to control the salt when you use the salt itself rather than the butter for flavoring.. and they come in different level of salt property so you don't know how it would add up to the flavor..

also for health reasons..

you got it, it moderates the amount of salt

just use normal butter, youll never know the difference

that right, less salt its better for you!