I put butter in the fridge, DH wants it on the counter. Who is right?

[MixedFamily]

We don’t have a huge kitchen so it will always be at least 1 mt away from hob or window. Would a butter dish “protect” it enough from it? I have always assumed butter goes in the fridge but he says it doesn’t. What do others do?

It’s dairy so unless you want diarrhoea I’d choose the fridge to keep bacteria out

French butter dish! Got my husband one for Christmas and until I got it I didn't realise that water is used to seal the dish. Keeps fresh for 4 weeks outside the fridge unless exceptionally hot, which might reduce that. It works beautifully!

In a butter dish on the counter. It's not warm enough in my kitchen for it to spoil.

It lives on the counter all year round in our house, but my MiL bought us an insulated butter dish that works brilliantly.

Jeepers, how long do you keep it?

@Guineapiggywiggy there are a few, real spreadable butters out there. They don't contain any oil and the ingredients are the same. M&S and Lidl both do one.

https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-softer-butter-518030011?utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=955441401&utmmcontent=non-brand&gclsrc=aw.ds&dsrl=1291540&dssrl=1126321&dsrl=1164972&gaddsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADi6iHkOVwaC2FZWqBp-1NhCKIU1q

Cut off a slice to last the next few days and keep in a butter dish on the counter. Rest goes in fridge. Just keep topping up.

We used to put the whole block in a butter dish on the side but in summer tends to go a bit rancid after a week or so.

I don't keep it out at all. This is any butter that's left out in a butter dish. The outside goes yellow and it just tastes off :(

I keep the butter in the fridge but keep some on the counter is a mini butter dish (10cm).

We have a butter bell, so it lives on the side but its kept cool by the water in the jar the bell sits in. Water is changed for fresh cold water every couple of days and it gets washed out when we refill the bell with new butter.

Stayed spreadable and cool even in a heatwave.

I live on my own. I buy a block of butter and usually take a fifth at a time into my butter dish.

I love my butter dish it was handmade by a very talented studio potter and when I accidentally broke the lid she whipped me up a new one.

I wonder if this is a "how you were brought up" thing. We were very firmly a butter dish household. It used to live in the kitchen cupboard both at home and both my grandmothers' houses.

DH is right, which is fortunate. If he had been wrong then on Mumsnet it would be considered grounds for divorce whether or not you wanted it. 😄

Does the water touch the butter?

Ingredients
Butter (Milk), Salt (1.8%), Minimum 80% Milk Fat

Its been manipulated. I’d rather get a butter dish!

In my country /unsalted/ butter lives in the fridge. I the UK I found most people keep their /salted/ butter out of the fridge. Both ways are fine and each have reasons for and against. Its just about a preference.

I use a Spreadable like lurpak and even that stays on the side

Perhaps it’s because I use slightly salted. Ours is in constant use though so never gets a darker yellow
’skin’

This!

The vast majority of spreadable butters on the supermarket shelves are a blend of butter, various oil and cream. They can be up to 50% not butter

It only takes 10 seconds in my microwave <preens> other than that...

What 👆 said.

Proper butter goes in a butter dish on the side.

Butter dish on the side.

That link explains how you can make a spreadable butter using a different process, but then says that anchor don’t actually make a spreadable butter. If you look at lurpak spreadable butter it’s only about 60% milk, the rest presumably being oil and additives, and is about as far away from butter as it’s possible to be. I suspect if it was less than 50% milk they couldn’t call it butter at all. I think unless the ingredients are just milk (and salt) they shouldn’t be able to call any of the spreadable ‘butters’ butter.

In fact, anchors ‘spreadable’ doesn’t use the word butter, and is a blend of milk and rapeseed oil. Though they use the phrase ‘made in the UK with 100% British Milk’ to deliberately confuse you at a quick glance. If you keep reading it turns out it means the milk they use is 100% British, but the spread is only 54% milk!

Ingredients per their website Anchor Butter (54%) (Milk), Rapeseed Oil (33%), Water, Salt (1.1%), Colour (Beta Carotene)

Ha! This is the constant argument between me and my mum, well that and which way should a loo roll hang from the holder (over or under).

In my head, butter should be kept in the fridge to maintain its freshness and prevent it from going rancid. However, if you prefer your butter to be softer and more spreadable, you can leave a small amount at room temperature in a covered butter dish for short periods of time, usually no longer than a couple of days. Keeping it in the fridge when not in use helps ensure that it stays safe to eat and retains its flavour.

Personally I just love the sensation of cold butter melting on the toast or my crumpets but my mum like it unchilled so its easier to spread. I think that is just down to our personal tastes but according to the manufacturers, you should keep it in the fridge to maintain max edible life and to prevent it soaking up other odours.

On the Lurpak website, it says

Unopened Lurpak Butter

• Refrigeration: Keep in the refrigerator at a temperature below 5°C (41°F).
• Shelf Life: Unopened Lurpak butter typically lasts for 2 to 3 months from the production date when stored properly.

Opened Lurpak Butter

• Refrigeration: Continue to store in the refrigerator after opening.
• Shelf Life: Once opened, it can last for an additional 3 to 4 weeks.
• Airtight Container: To maintain freshness, consider transferring the butter to an airtight container to prevent it from absorbing external odours.

Hope that helps.

This is the reason we have two butter dishes. The bitter is cut in half, mine out his in the fridge