?butter/refrigeration
 

I know this has been talked about before but----
I have always refrigerated my butter, altho, I do remember my grandmother keeping hers in the pantry on a window sill in the winter and on a shelf there in summer....not in the "icebox".

so the other morning, I made toast, got out the whipped butter, from fridge and read the container...."keep refrigerated". Then realized that butter is always kept in the "coolers" at the stores.....so if it's not necessary to refrigerate, why is it not on the shelves? Just wondered if anyone knows the answer.

Because it will melt very easily. The whipped butter is different than what we grew up. I leave my butter on the counter but if I leave the spread on the same counter, it will show signs of melting, even in the winter time. The softer the butter the less fat and the easier to melt. Plus the spread has more additives in it.

I have a French Butter Crock. A stick of butter is packed into it. The base has water in it and the crock is then turned upside down into the water. It keeps the butter fresh. The water is changed every few days.
My great grandma used something similar, and so did grandma.
I started using mine about 20 years ago.

I keep a stick of butter in the dish on top of our microwave but the rest is refrigerated. I know many who keep butter out and uncovered. My dish has a lid on it. I also don't have it sitting in the sun.

I understand the whipped butter I have may melt if left out, or whatever, but I was thinking of stick butter. sticks is what I usually buy, but keep all in fridge. So for those who keep stick butter - one at a time - out, about how long is it out.....several days or more. I don't usually cook with butter - evoo, is my sautéing choice....so it is used to put on bread, or hot veggies.......so it is not used quickly......

I would think whipped butter would need to be refrigerated. I buy Land of Lakes or Kerry Gold stick butter. I leave a stick out in an antique butter bowl on the kitchen table. Both butters get soft but I've never had it melt and during the spring and fall I routinely have the windows open and it can get to 78 degrees in my kitchen. Since it's just me and hubby the stick of butter is used up anywhere from 4 to 9 days. I have never had it "go bad", get rancid, grow mold or make us sick. I also leave the eggs I get from our chickens in a bowl on the counter. That said I am very careful about food and spoilage since hubby and I both had food poisoning in our early 30's.

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*** Only use sticks and do not refrigerate unless not used in a week.
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I use a Butter Bell now. After purchasing one very recently, we love it. We keep a tub of Margarine in the frig, but hardly use it now since we have soft butter.

I keep mine in the refrigerator. If I leave it out more than a couple days, it smells funny to me.

I keep the current stick on the counter in a covered dish for probably a week or more. It's only DH and I. We rarely have bread in the house so the only thing it's used on regularly is veggies. Although I do cook with butter so sometimes it gets used up rather quickly. But even that is rare as we grill most of our meat and the food items I add butter to during cooking is rice or potatoes - mashed or homefries generally; eggs; that's about it.

I've never had butter go rancid. A little 'extra' soft sometimes but not rancid or otherwise bad. The only time I've tossed butter that had been sitting out is if it's not been used by the dog sitter when we're gone for a 2 week period. Most times we'll try to stick it in the fridge for that period but it does slip through the cracks at times.