Ridiculous question about butter

[Cuppatea14]

Lots of people on various threads are talking about how they will only eat real butter, and not spreads. I'd love to do this (mmmm kerrygold) but can't get my head around how I would spread it on my toast first thing in the morning when I'm in a rush Am I missing something obvious? MIL always has hers in a little dish in the cupboard but surely it goes off if it's not kept in the fridge??

I have always had my butter in a butter dish in the kitchen. So it is protected but room temp and melts/spreads easily

It doesn't go off. I'm sure that it must eventually but ours gets used up way before then.
As to the opposite problem - rock hard, cold butter: that's why God invented microwaves.

How long does it keep out of the fridge?

The main packet of butter lives in the fridge. Then there is a butter dish in the cupboard with a chunk of butter in it for spreading.

The butter dish is changed at least once a day so no way does the butter go off of the dish get manky.

It keeps for a week or more out of the fridge even in summer. Forever in winter!

We have a cheese slicer, like this, which I sometimes use to get a very thin slice of butter if the butter is very hard.

NZ fridges have butter conditioners, little compartments inside which keep the butter at a spreadable temperature.

think of it this way- butter predates fridges
also, remember, cheese is a way of preserving milk- will not go off in 3 days as sainsburys seem to think

Bacteria cannot live on pure fat so butter doesn't go off. Do you also keep olive oil or vegetable oil for cooking in the fridge? Think about how long they last without being refrigerated. It's the same for any fat including butter. If it's exposed to warm temperatures for a long time it may go rancid same as any fat. Mine stats in the butter dish til it's used up

It lasts easily a week at room temp. I only put ours in the fridge in the height of summer when it's melting. Do have the problem of it being rock hard on winter mornings though, the cheese slicer idea is genius, we've got one of those but I've never thought if using it for butter, thanks Tokelau.

leaves to purchase butter dish

I keep mine in a butter dish on the bench, never had it go off.

Mine sits in a butter dish and is fine too! I think you're ok with salted, unsalted goes rancid more quickly. We've never had a problem except the week we went away and there was a little bit left in a butter dish which went all horrible on our return!

Ours is in a butter dish in the fridge and I take it out first thing when I go into the kitchen, so that by the time we need it, it has softened up a bit.

I'm liking Tokelaus's suggestion for the times I forget, though!

Tokelau's

We keep ours on a saucer, uncovered, on top of the bread bin so it is easily accessible with a knife for spreading. The bread bin is in a cupboard in our new kitchen but used to be in the open next to the toaster in our old kitchen, even in the summer. We are all still alive after 30 years like that!

Butter dish as above. It doesn't last long enough in my house to go off...

Butter dish in cupboard - never had any issues, although on the rare boiling hot day it will go a tad squishy.