Where do you keep your butter?

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yellowbird

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I grew up leaving the butter in a covered dish on the counter so it’s always soft when you want to spread it on toast. My husband grew up putting the butter in the fridge where it’s always hard as a rock. He says it spoils on the counter. I say nonsense! I never once got sick from eating spoiled butter and besides, at our house with 7 people, we go through a stick every 2 days, sometimes quicker.

We’ve been married for 18 years. We’ve pretty much ironed out all other important issues, like toilet seat up or down (down!) but this butter thing drives us both batty.

So tell me, where is your butter?

Edit: -Real butter -
 
Lol. OUr butter is in a covered butter dish on the counter…just like you mentioned.

We also go through a stick in about 2-3 days…and we don’t worry about it “spoiling”…

We keep the butter quarters in the refrigerator until ready for use, though.
 
Some folks use the term “butter” as a generic term for yellow stuff you put on toast… so, my first question is are we talking about real butter or margarine?

My grandparents left margarine/oleo on the counter.

Butter, as a dairy product, will go rancid after a couple of days if left out of the fridge. Margarine will last longer, it is oil and takes longer to spoil.

If you live in a warm climate or don’t eat an entire stick in a day - then, you might have some whipped spreadable butter in the fridge.
 
Ours is in the fridge. Margarine won’t spoil left out since it’s only about a molecule away from being plastic.
 
In the fridge. I never knew you could keep it on the counter! But I am so excited to read this thread and learn otherwise! Especially for a family who doesn’t own a microwave, how utterly convenient to have a ready supply of softened butter! I also don’t like the taste of margarine on toast, so now being able to spread real butter instead is going to be awesome! :bounce: I really am so happy to learn this! THANK YOU YELLOWBIRD!!! :tiphat:
 
I finally got dear wife to keep the butter in the cupboard instead of the fridge. Sometimes she still puts it in the fridge out of lifelong habit.

I manage a kitchen, and according to the food safety classes unsalted butter should be refridgerated and salted butter does not require refridgeration unless it will be out for a while - more than a few days or above 80 degrees. (That’s why people started adding salt to butter in the first place - it was a preservative back in the days before mechanical refridgeration. Then people just got used to the taste. )

I use unsalted butter and at home I leave it out anyway. At work I keep it cold and whip it in a big mixer so it’s soft enough to spread easily.
 
Since it comes in a four pack, how about if he uses one of the ones in the fridge and you use the one you leave out?
 
We keep our butter on the counter as well. Here’s a link I found about this topic.

missourifamilies.org/quick/foodsafetyqa/qafs649.htm

Basically, the author (who is director of food safety for the University of Missouri) says he recommends storing butter in the fridge, but says there is very little to worry about if you leave it out.

Perhaps you need two butter dishes – one in the fridge for hubby and one on the counter for wifey! 😃
 
Two more cents: There is really very little danger in leaving out butter because when fats go rancid there is no way you are going to eat them. The effects of spoiling keep you away.

This does not apply to bacteria in meat or on unwashed raw veggies which get you sick by entering you in small quantities and then multiplying.
 
IMHO it nees to be in the fridge…

Growing up whoever woke up first took it out of the fridge so it was soft by breakfast (that in a warm country)

Here, not a problem, I use butter in baking and Becel margarine (which is soft) for regular use. Both of these are always in the fridge
 
I don’t know really. That’s been a source of rumor for a while. It wouldn’t surprise me, but I can’t say for sure. If I understand right, margarine is basically solidified oil. We don’t use margarine, just butter.
yellowbird said:
:rotfl: Is that true?

We just like real butter.
Click to expand...
 
google a “butter bell”. My friend got one for Christmas, as a joke and LOVES it. It would solve both your problems. They used to be used all the time, and I’m not sure why people stopped using them. Probably because they found that leaving it on the counter was just fine (that coming from a Dairy Farmers Wife:)).

Let the butter soften, but it in the bell & go from there!😃
 
My butter stays in the fridge, but if I know I am going to use it I try to bring it out of the fridge at least 2 hours before I need it so it is a bit soft.
 
Only butter is butter.

I never put the stick currently in use in the fridge. It is always in the cupboard (never left out on the counter) in a butter dish. Only if it is in the 90’s during the summer and the house is hot do I put it in the fridge.

I keep the extra stash of butter in the fridge, and when I buy it on sale I put that in the freezer. Butter freezes amazingly well, so it’s a great way to stock up during the holidays when butter is typically on sale, or if you go to a warehouse club.

LOVE butter in the cupboard!!! 👍

~Liza
 
…when i butter my toast, i use the butter in the covered butter dish, and if that is gone i pull a stick from the fridge and radiate that booger till it’s soft…:eek:
 
I keep butter in a covered butter dish in the cupboard as did my Mom & Grandmother before me. This one has never been a source of friction between DH & me, unlike the toilet paper/seat, since his Mom did the same.

The tub of soft margarine (which we normally use instead of butter) spends most of its time in the fridge but has been known to be left on the counter for a couple of days. It goes in the fridge in the summer because otherwise it melts & separates. I’ve never known it to be hot enough to do that with butter.
 
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