We are loving the Butter Keeper my daughter got me for Christmas. This little ceramic jar holds a full stick of butter inside the lid, which is then turned over and placed onto the bottom, which has been filled partway with cold water. The water, changed every 3 days, provides an airtight seal as well as maintaining the temperature cooler than room air. The butter stays at a wonderfully spreadable consistency and small amounts are easy to remove.
Is is wise to store butter outside of the fridge?
Because butter has oils, it can turn rancid (ie, develop an off flavor and smell) if left in contact with air for too long. This is less of a problem with salted versus unsalted butter and can be prevented by wrapping or covering butter when softening it. I have to admit I am particularly sensitive to even small changes in flavor, and always use salted butter because of this issue.
As far as health concerns go, the official party line is to refrigerate your butter, avoiding even the lower temperature butter storage compartment on your fridge door to store butter for more than a few days. Most experts recommend caution when storing butter in a french type butter keeper. Other say butter is safe stored this way for up to two days outside the fridge. When challenged, some appear to hedge, saying that while it is best to keep butter in the fridge, you needn’t worry too much if you don’t.
Mold growth on water filled butter crocks has been reported by some on comment boards around the web, while others state that salting the water and washing your crock in the dishwasher between uses prevents this problem.
How do I store my butter?
Because I love to bake, we buy our butter in bulk packs from Costco and store these in the freezer, keeping one pound at a time in its wrapping and box in the main compartment of the fridge, an an unwrapped stick in the butter keeper on the fridge door.
I plan to use my Butter Keeper to store better at room temp during times when we are using butter quickly enough to prevent spoilage (ie., weekends and during times we are entertaining a lot.) If we are in a cooking/entertaining lull or going to be away for more than a day, I will leave the keeper empty and just enjoy looking at it on my shelf.
I’d be interested in hearing how others handle the butter storage issue, and experiences you may have had using a butter crock.
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More on Butter Storage from Around the Web
Apartment Therapy tackles the question nicely
The Food Network has a video on how the ceramic butter keepers work
Great idea! Your daughter has good taste, too.
I'm going to have a piece of toast right now, slathered with way too much soft, salty, delicious butter. Thanks! LOL
Happy New Year to you and yours.
The stick we are currently using is kept in a covered
butter dish, out on the counter. The current pound is in the butter keeper in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. We've always kept a covered dish on the counter and despite guidelines to the contrary, I see no reason to change that, as I have never once had it go bad. In the hottest part of the summer, I might stick the butter dish in the fridge, but that is more to keep it from melting, that to prevent spoilage. It comes from a rural upbringing I guess – my grandmother made her own butter and never kept it in the fridge, just a coolish spot on the porch. And I am also in Upstate NY, so if I lived in Florida or Texas, I might do things differently.
Same as Donalyn, there is usually a stick of salted butter in a covered butter dish on the counter. During the summer when it is warm enough to be soft, we use it up on sweet corn and green beans. Haven't ever had it go bad.
The rest of the pound is in the fridge, and back up supply in the freezer.
I have to admit I have always been freaked out by the concept of keeping butter out of the fridge. But then again we kept peanut butter in the refrigerator when we were growing up, didn't we TBTAM? I love the Butter Keeper, have seen it advertised on QVC and wondered about its effectiveness. Are there any recommendations for using ice water in the base?
XO, OBS Housekeeper
That is brilliant! I'm going to have to track one down for my sister this holiday season. She would love that.
As far as counter vs. fridge: we grew up in NH and never kept the stick of butter we were using in the fridge. It was always in a butter dish on our counter. My sister still does that way (we live in GA now). I think it might be a northern thing. I don't use stick butter anymore and have fallen way to the whipped spreads, etc which I feel are more sensitive, but anytime I have left butter out (at work, for instance) people have freaked out about it. I never knew! And I still don't really worry about it.