I don't always plan cookie making ahead, so I often always have cold butter. I can slice the butter up and use the heat on this thing, to avoid the room temp butter in advance issue. The heater (kinda like a gently blow dryer) and the turning mixer operate independently, so you can have each on by itself, or both together. It gently blows warm air over the beaters, and it's mild. Not harsh enough to melt butter, just soften it. Once it's soft, you turn the heater part off, and continue beating without the heater. I almost solely use this to soften butter or cream cheese. A full 2 cups of product is just fine, and more maybe. If you want a really cold 2 cups of butter, either slowly chip away at it vertically, or use a butter knife to make square slabs 1st. The motor squeaks a touch if it's struggling a bit with the load, so I took off 1 star for that, but I'm pretty happy with it, and would recommend it.