Do you keep butter out of the fridge?

[bobstersmum]

I absolutely love real butter and hate all the crap that's put into spreads, but I am always wary of leaving out of the fridge. Does anyone have any knowledge, is it OK to be stored on the side in a relatively cold kitchen?

We keep our butter out of the fridge in a butter dish with a lid all year round. It never goes off, but we get through a block in 2 or 3 days.

Our house is chilly and we usually have to warm the butter in the microwave to make is spreadable in winter.

I keep mine in the wrapper in the cupboard. Used to have a butter dish but it got broken. Any block butter I have lives in the cupboard rather than the fridge - I don't want to risk finishing one block and having to use a rock-solid one from the fridge! It's never been a problem even in the hot summer.

I got margarine that's in the fridge for spreading toast with, and butter left outside when I make roux or fry off some leeks.

Ooh good, I will not bother putting it in the fridge again then. Thank you. As most people have said, it gets used up quite quickly anyway, I was only worried as the kids have taken to enjoying butter on their toast including toddler, I didn't want to risk giving her upset stomach.

I think it would be very hard to give someone a bad stomach with butter

We have a chunky Le Crueset butter dish and apart form the really hot days the butter was fine

A revelation of recent years has been keeping butter and eggs out of the fridge. As a PP said you'll know if it's gone rancid. And ours seems to keep for weeks.

I always do, I hate butter ripping the bread because I can’t spread it.

Can anyone recommend a good butter dish? I already keep butter out of the fridge, but my current dish is chipped and needs replacing. Ta!

I always do, but especially in summer I wish I had an old fashioned larder like my gran had.

We only use actual butter as well. We keep a have a block at a time in a little ceramic pot, like the size those Gu puddings come in. The only time it's refrigerated is when it's warm enough out for it to just start to go a bit soft. For that time period it is the responsibility of whoever wakes first to take it out of the fridgefor the day.

Can anyone recommend a good butter dish? I already keep butter out of the fridge, but my current dish is chipped and needs replacing. Ta!

I’ve got a couple of le creuset ones that I got in TK Maxx. £12.99 I think they were.

Yes, butter out always

We got this butter dish
www.lakeland.co.uk/1496/Insulated-Butter-Dish

We've had it for years and it goes in the dishwasher every time we use up a block of butter. Still in excellent condition.

A revelation of recent years has been keeping butter and eggs out of the fridge

I don't understand why anyone would think that they need to be kept in the fridge.

Yes, butter out of the fridge, a quarter of a block at a time.

Well Barbara, my thinking was, butter is made of milk, which goes off when left out of the fridge. Eggs, no idea!

A revelation of recent years has been keeping butter and eggs out of the fridge

I don't understand why anyone would think that they need to be kept in the fridge.

Because my Mum did .... never underestimate the power of "that's what we've always done ..."

But butter is a way of preserving milk, to make it last longer. It really doesn't deteriorate out of the fridge at anywhere near the same rate as fresh milk.

I also keep butter in a lidded dish out of the fridge. I would never buy spreadable - it's approx half butter/half oil and margarine is completely inedible IMO.

I was always a big fan of Mary Berry, until I read that she uses Stork to make Victoria sponges. I tried it - took one bite and threw the cake out for the birds. Oily and horrible instead of rich and buttery.

I have the majority of it in a butter dish in the fridge, but cut off some and put it in a small ramekin in the cupboard. It gets washed and re-filled every night.

But butter is a way of preserving milk, to make it last longer. It really doesn't deteriorate out of the fridge at anywhere near the same rate as fresh milk.

I didn't say there was any sense in what I was brought up doing - as with a lot of things people do "because we've always done it that way".

Every fridge I've ever owned has come with egg-holders, which makes you think eggs need to go in fridges. It's only in the past 10 or so years, I discovered otherwise. Same with butter. I now know that butter and cheese(s) were ways of preserving milk in the days of pre-refrigeration. As was curing, smoking and salting meat.

Yes, always have done. We only ever use butter so get through quite a lot, it going sour just wouldn't ever be a possibility! We keep it in a butter dish on the worktop. Butter is the one thing that I don't think I could ever switch from, spreads etc. just taste so horrible in comparison.

My parents do.
They leave half a block of butter in the butter dish. Probably gets used in a few days.

I have been known to make my own spreadable butter, dead easy: just soften a block of butter ( careful use of defrost setting on microwave) and whisk in a healthy mild flavoured oil, like light olive oil or rapeseed, with an electric beater. I add about a quarter to a third oil by volume and some extra salt to make up for the dilution. It's fine for most things and helps the butter go further, it's so expensive these days!

You have to put it in the fridge to firm up obviously.