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?

Pure butter all the way here. Margarine is utterly revolting.

I hate softening butter in the microwave though. The best way to quickly get it soft is to cube it up, and drop as much as you need into a bowl of room temperature water for a minute. Not too warm as it will melt, but not cold.

Lurpak softest, definitely notice the difference even with it being in the fridge!

Turn up the heating in your kitchen, it must be freezing!

President Spreadable has already been mentioned but for me this is the holy grail of butter. No added oil it is pure butter. I buy the 250g tub and store out of the fridge. Perfect spreading consistency and doesn’t go rank before you’ve used it all.

Use a vegetable peeler and scrape off thin slices, perfect for hot toast. Oddly I find butter that has been frozen more spread able at room temp. I bulk buy when on offer.

Make spreadable butter with 50:50 warm oil and melted butter, pour it into your butter dish, you're welcome.

I don't understand why you all keep your butter out of the fridge ?

I don't understand why you all keep your butter out of the fridge ?

What do you think a butter dish is for?!

The whole thread is about the reason why people don’t keep butter in the fridge! How can you not understand?

M&S spreadable butter is the best. No revolting ingredients, buttery and fairly spreadable. It's not spread texture, mire buttery than that, but quite soft

unsureconfused20

^^

So the butter spreads easier. But chez le OP it's minus 20 so the butter is still hard as a brick.

I don't understand why you all keep your butter out of the fridge ?

I don’t understand why you keep it in the fridge.
Mine lives on the side all year round.

I too don't understand why people keep butter in the fridge. It doesn't need it for a week or two at least, butter is a preservation method after all, and it doesn't spread.

We too use President spreadable or M&S softer butter and put some of it in the butter dish to keep at room temperature as it takes us ages to use it so it does start to turn in the warmer months, but that's probably after nearly a month?

You all need to get this. It's a magic knife for hard butter and is a game changer.

Purposefull-Stainless Steel Butter Spreader & Curler-Cheese Grater Knife https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N418VYF/ref=cmswwrwaaapiii_icrxEbP4QRFJA

I agree with @managedmis that M&S spreadable is 100% the best of the spreadable butters and tastes nice.

But we use pure butter. We slice off about an inch thick slice at a time and put it in a small butter dish. We keep the rest in the fridge to keep it fresh. In very cold weather, if the kitchen is cold overnight, it goes hard so I cut off a corner and put it on a side plate / saucer and sort of mash it with the knife to soften it enough to spread on the bread. Only takes a couple of seconds. No microwave here.

Look up how margarine is made. Revolting. Stick to butter

I don't buy butter because I like it too much. Margarine doesn't tempt me to eat too much bread/toast or to spread it too thickly. I'm not overweight but I would be if I let myself use butter.

You have the wrong butter dish
You need the Lakeland insulated one
It’s a game changer

Marg is what the devil uses as a lubricant .

I use Kerrygold softer butter. It's real butter (unlike the spreadable 'butters') but naturally softer than normal, due to the type of milk the cows produce. It's sold in a gold tub.

It varies in softness, but even if you get a firmer batch, if you take it out of the fridge and put the portion you need on to a plate or ramekin, within a couple of minutes it's ready to spread.

I will be buried gripping my Lurpak ... nothing will part me from my beloved Lurpak ... NOTHING !!!!

Ooh, I look the look of that knife poster @unchienandalusia, thanks!

I have some president spreadable, must try leaving that Out of the fridge as it’s rock solid, (and I’d thought it would be the spreadable alternative to anchor spreadable that lives in the fridge)

Thanks for all the other tips, reckon it’s just my house is too cold!

A butter wizard by Alfille is the way to go. I'm on my 4th and have bought them as presents. They're a plug in butter dish where you can adjust the temperature so always perfectly spreadable. Unfortunately they've stopped making them for some reason but if the whole of Mumsnet gets behind me I reckon we can change their minds. Until then there may be the old version available on ebay. Come on Mumsnet. Start a campaign to get them made again. Everything tastes better with butter!

Won't it go off though?

No, it never goes off. In the heat of summer it goes quite soft, but never goes off.