To give up on proper butter and go back to the spread?

[Milliways]

DH & I were both bought up with margarine.

Over the years I have become more aware of “good fats” and after reading lots on here, and discovering what margarine actually contained, we switched to “spreadable butter” (just didn’t tell DH the cost).

For a while I wanted to go to just butter, and spent a while finding my perfect butter dish, which I finally treated myself to and we made the switch.

My problem is, the butter dish is just too good and the butter remains rock hard in this cold weather. When making toast or a sandwich I am using way too much and often ripping the bread.

I scrape it very thinly from the block, sometimes use the bread board to soften it more, hold the knife over the toaster to warm it, (but for a sandwich this doesn’t work), and keep just going back to my anchor spreadable so I can get the job done.

What am I doing wrong? Any tips please, or should I just give up and go back to spread for sandwiches?

Stick to real butter. I wouldn't touch any of that shit hydrogenated spread.

To the people saying ‘how cold is your kitchen’, how hot is your kitchen? I don’t ever really make sandwiches so I only use my butter on toast or in cooking. If I do want to spread it on bread then I pop it on the radiator for 5 minutes.

Ours is rock solid in winter, we microwave it, I've had enough now, having to microwave the butter and it being half a melty mess in the butter dish is one of the most annoying things about winter! Yes our kitchen is absolutely freezing a lot of the time.

Fwiw, we used to buy spreadable but it was still unspreadable fresh from the fridge and it takes the P paying more when it's half vegetable oil, hence the switch to butter.

Might try keeping it in a high cupboard, but not sure how much difference it'd make. Great joy in summer when it's sat there half melted and spreads like a dream!

@nonsensicalmess I don't mean this in an inflammatory way at all, but I think we've all been sold the idea that butter is 'natural' (I certainly believed that most of my life)

but actually it's breastmilk from another species which we are consuming into adulthood (their babies are taken away at 24-72 hours old- I checked with Tesco, Sainsbury's and Yeo Valley that this is the case)
very distressing to witness).

No other mammals drink breastmilk into adulthood and we don't need it for health, so it's worth looking at the fact dairy is a product with a massive marketing budget which gains financially from us believing this.

I'll get me coat...

There is a massive difference between margarine and spreadable butter.

@Candlecandle - your argument about what other mammals do is completely irrelevant. Other mammals rip smaller animals to shreds and eat them raw. By your argument we should all be doing that then?

I used proper butter in a Le Creuset dish, left on the counter, and it's always spreadable. Our house isn't ever freezing though.

I was thinking the same earlier in the week. I find it do hard to spread real butter on sliced bread (not as bad on proper bread though) and I keep a little in a ramekin in the cupboard. It only really works in the warmer months, so I must have a cold kitchen too.

We use pure butter. Get an insulated butter dish from Lakeland. Heat the dish up up and add the block of butter- it's make the butter soft and spreadable. Do not go back to margarine 🤮

I have a LeCreuset butter dish too. Butter dish cannot be placed on the table without someone saying LeCreuset in a comedy French accent.

Marg is rank and I've yet to find a spreadable butter that isn't bland.

I use bog standard butter for baking and sainsburys taste the difference for spreading as it tastes lovely and stays spreadable to a lower temperature than the cheaper stuff. Lidl deluxe is OK, if I'm in there.

I use a peeler to get a thin slice

Dont put it in the fridge, find a good butter dish and leave it out.

I use the back of a tablespoon to spread butter, doesn't tear up the bread and goes on quicker.

Useful for curly butty buffet!!

Yep Kerrygold is the only pure spreadable butter. And while we are being pedantic other spreads are not margarine, which has a legal definition as it was invented as a wartime substitute for butter.

Small amount into a ramekin and microwave, just watch it though otherwise it dissolves into a liquid mess, which is also difficult to spread

My mother used to put the butter in the fireplace because there was no heating in the kitchen, I was brought up on runny butter. When it wasn't in use it was on the kitchen worktop, the kitchen was cold even in summer.

I leave it out if I am going to need it and only have a block of butter, but mainly buy President spreadable but never buy anything with mixed oils and crud in, like palm oil which has been added to Olivio, the bastards, I used to like that when it was actually made with olive oil. Even spreadable needs to be left out for a while to soften.

If it doesn't harden it tends to be crap due to the rubbish that has been added to make it pretend to be butter.

Stick with the real butter and microwave. I doubt you'll be able to go back now anyway.

People who keep on about margarine , it's pretty much technically unavailable in the uk.

Plenty of spreads but not so much margarine.

There also lots of study's that say in some ways a lot of the spreads are way better than butter.

I'll have eithier I'm not that bothered, I just get annoyed with butter having to warm it up to avoid ripping bread to peices.

(Preamble: I live in Scandinavia)

I use a butter spread that is 80% butter 20% oil. It’s a bit hard straight from the fridge but not too bad. Softens quicker. For a short time I tried to make my own, having the idea that it’d be a little cheaper. So 4/5 butter at room temp and 1/5 plain oil (I have rapeseed). Use electric whisk thingie to blend it.

But it was a faff. Works though!

10 seconds in the microwave. It softens in the centre (obvs) so that is where the nice spreadable butter will be.

I saw a tip on a cookery programme once- if your butter is too hard, get a little bowl/cup/ramekin of warm water, sort or temp you could put your finger in, then cut off how much you need and let it sit in the water for a few seconds. It’s then perfect for spreading and doesn’t melt as the water isn’t too hot. I gave up with microwaving as I kept forgetting and melting the butter too much. With this method you can let it sit in the water til you need it. Sounds a faff but it’s worth it for proper butter. 😋

Proper butter on toast, spreadable butter (lurpak) on bread.

@ohtherewearethen well, my post was in response to the idea that butter is 'natural' and so I was explaining that nowhere else in nature do mammals drink breastmilk into adulthood, let alone breastmilk from a different species.

I know it's an uncomfortable area, believe me, I ate meat and dairy all my life and it took a lot of getting my head around that I'd been lied to both in terms of what we need to be healthy and the absolute horror which is the meat and dairy industry.

I haven't rtft so I don't know if you already addressed this but how is it cold and hard? Do you keep it in a fridge? Ours is just kept in a butter dish in the cupboard for most of the year so it's perfect at room temp.
It's in the warm summer weather I have to keep it in the fridge and that's a pain