To keep spreadable butter in the cupboard

[willywallaby]

Every time MIL comes round she moves the spreadable butter from the cupboard to the fridge and explains that it spreads straight from the fridge, so it needs to be kept in the fridge. Spreadable butter does not spread straight from the fridge though. None of the own brand ones do and Anchor doesn't. I don't know about Lurpak. MIL bakes all her own sourdough so maybe it spreads better on there. And it spreads okay on toast. But making a regular sandwich on supermarket sliced bread is a ridiculous experience with spreadable butter unless it's at room temp. I only keep spreadable butter in the fridge if the weather is hot enough to liquify the butter. Or if MIL has been round and I haven't put things right again.

I agree. The thought of it is making me queasy.

It’s true but I guess OP’s MIL values life and health of her son.

I know this is going to sound crazy. I thought it did when I first heard it too. But don't knock it till you've tried it..

If you have trouble spreading your butter, swap your knife out for a dessertspoon. For some reason the rounded bit spreads butter better than a knife.

I once read the ingredients, even the so-called olive oil spreads have little olive oil and loads of preservatives so I started to mix olive oil with butter to get a consistency that was spreadable from the fridge. It’s delicious!

Your fridge might be up too high.

Are you not in the UK?
It seems odd that you have never heard of spreadable butter. It is just butter that has vegetable oil in it to soften it so that it spreads straight from the fridge.

Or is this faux naivety?

@willywallabywho fucking cares. It’s your house, your rules. Ask her to mind her own beeswax

There's an easy way to check.

Can you reach the butter? If not then the fridge is up too high.

(I'll get my coat)

I’d keep it in the fridge but it’s your butter in your house so you can keep it in the airing cupboard or the loft if you wish! She can keep her nose out.

No, I'm in the UK, I just don't call it that and my husband never has either 🤷

To me, butter is butter, spread is something else. We called it by brand name eg: "pass me The Clover/The Lurpack/The Vitalite" or I might call these things collectively "spreads".

I'm surprised people don't differentiate because to me, they are different things and we use them for different purposes. And they taste completely and utterly different??

It's like calling margarine butter to me. Or mayonnaise. It's not?

Anyway I don't care. I just needed clarification.

I don’t spread butter. I slice it (not terribly thinly) and lay the slices on the bread. Then add whatever filling. If the filling is likely to make the top slice of bread soggy, I smear a thin layer of mayonnaise on the top slice.

Agree, though if my kids live with anyone else when they grow up, I wouldn't argue or move their partner's stuff. Mentioning the food hygiene aspect you've said once is ok, but I'd not do it more than once.

Don’t you mean down too low?

That’s a fair point!

We have the anchor spreadable stuff and while I agree that straight out of the fridge it is a bit stiff to spread, it literally only takes 30 seconds or so to spread easily - I put a bit on each bit of bread, go and get the cheese etc out of the fridge, and by the time I’m back to the bread, each little splodge has softened fine.

If it gets left out, I find it goes too soft and you can just scoop it out too easily. If you’re going to leave it out I’d rather do normal salted butter which doesn’t go too melty.

We have one of these. They butter is kept out on the worksurface and is 100% spreadable but doesn't go off:

amzn.eu/d/eGaw8Ea

Normal butter stays out in the butter dish. Spreadable butter stays in the fridge!

This 👆

I’m old enough to have known life without a fridge. We still ate dairy products, including butter and margarine, using nose and common sense to judge if they were ok. MIL needs to butt out.

Growing up in the sixties butter was in a butter dish kept in the cupboard. My mum grew up during the thirties and forties. No fridge and butter kept in cupboard. She lived till 94.

Vitality and clover aren't butter

Anchor spreadable IS butter

I keep my lurpak next to the fridge - it just doesn’t spread otherwise!!

Vitallite and clover aren't butter

Anchor spreadable IS butter

Well, blow me down with a feather. I did not know this.
So there is some sort of spreadable butter that you buy in tubs and keep in the fridge. I did ask if there was.
But OP calls Danepack "spreadable butter"?
Anyway, I only buy Tesco salted butter in blocks which goes in a butter dish on the worktop, and clover which lives in the fridge. I've never bought anchor spreadable AFAIR.
As I said, I was just looking for clarification. I don't actually care who calls what what.

Lurpak / Danpak spreadable, and anchor spreadable are a mix of butter and rapeseed oil, to make it more spreadable. So they’re approx half butter. They def taste a lot nicer than non-butter-containing spreads, to me anyway.