do you leave butter on the counter?

[aprilgail2]

Never, ever and my mom's family all live in the country on farms. I keep mine in the fridge. But, butter can be kept out several days with no problem. After that, it can go rancid. It is fresher and fresher tasting if kept wrapped and store in the refrigerator. It won't kill anyone to eat rancid butter, but it doesn't taste the same. Salted butter lasts because salt acts as a preservative. But, this is REAL butter, not margarine or butter that has oil or something added to it.

I never ever keep butter on the counter- always use it and put it right back in the butter keeper part of the fridge. I have one person I know that keeps it out and I just do not like the taste of warm butter on my bread/rolls- I like nice cold buttter on them- it really grosses me out when its soft and gooey-tastes MUCH better and fresher when kept in the fridge.

This is an ongoing debate in our house too! I grew up in England and we never refrigerated the butter or the eggs, so I put them in the pantry. DH grew up in NY and puts everything in the fridge, including bizarre stuff like coffee grounds. When we first moved in together, things went backwards and forwards between the pantry and the fridge constantly before I convinced him he wouldn't die of food poisoning.

Coffee stays fresher in the fridge!

 

[dawson5]

Coffee stays fresher in the fridge!

I always thought that too, until we started grinding our own beans and started reading up on it. Fridge and freezer pull moisture out of the beans. We store ours in an airtight container in the pantry. Supposed to be in a cool, dark place.

 

[Hannathy]

covered dish on the counter.

ITA about eating real butter. Ugh to margarine on toast or rolls.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Mine stays in the fridge. I only take it out if I'm going to be using it.... usually for baking.

 

[NMAmy]

I rarely eat butter anymore but when company is coming for dinner, I pull the butter out and put it out to soften before they arrive. I keep it for baking, popcorn and corn on the cob but we don't use it often enough to keep it on the counter.

I grew up in the suburbs and my mom always kept butter on the counter (and still does!)

 

[Squirlz]

There is always a stick on the counter in a Fiesta Ware covered dish. The remaining quarters are refrigerated or frozen.

 

[kirstenb1]

The things you learn! Since it falls under "dairy" I refrigerate it, just like milk or cheese. I remember my Mom always left it on the counter, but she had 6 kids, so we probably used a stick a day!

 

[goofy!]

We only use real, salted butter.

While the majority of the sticks live in the refrigerator, there is always a stick on the counter. That stick gets immediately replaced when low by the stash in the refrigerator.

It is usually in the butter dish on our island. I never leave it by a window where the sun can stream in or by the stove. Otherwise you have butter soup.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

I'm just blown away by how many of you use real butter! The last person I knew that used butter was my late MIL twenty years ago (and she died of a coronary occlusion from high cholesterol)!

My whipped low-fat margarine stays soft in the refrigerator.

 

[Abbie]

My parents always kept butter on the counter but I never have. I only buy real butter once a year anyway when I make chipped beef for Christmas brunch. Otherwise, it's margarine for the little baking I do and (get ready to gasp in horror) spray butter for bagels and toast! I love the spray butter, no fat, no calories.

 

[palmtreegirl]

We don't use butter, we use Smart Source whipped and keep it in the fridge.

 

[tasha99]

Real butter, one stick out on the counter and the rest in the fridge. I thought margarine was just as bad for you as butter (and far less delicious). Is that wrong? The soft, tub stuff would be healthier, but not the sticks, right? Or has that changed again . . .

 

[Vijoge]

One stick of butter in the butter dish on the counter, three sticks is the fridge, the rest in the freezer. DH has a degree in culinary arts and he says to only reason to refrigerate butter is when you have a recipe that specifically calls for cold butter, as in some pastry recipes.

 

[marmalade]

We only use real, salted butter.

While the majority of the sticks live in the refrigerator, there is always a stick on the counter. That stick gets immediately replaced when low by the stash in the refrigerator.

It is usually in the butter dish on our island. I never leave it by a window where the sun can stream in or by the stove. Otherwise you have butter soup.

This is us also, real, salted butter on the counter. When the stick starts to get low I pull another one out of the fridge and place it in the dish. I wouldn't have it any other way, I hate hard butter.

I'm just blown away by how many of you use real butter! The last person I knew that used butter was my late MIL twenty years ago (and she died of a coronary occlusion from high cholesterol)!

My whipped low-fat margarine stays soft in the refrigerator.

I remember a biology class in college where they professor told us margarine was something like 1 molecule away from being plastic. Since then I have never used margarine. This could be incorrect information but it stuck with me. Plus you can't beat the taste of real butter.

 

[Mermaid02]

I'm just blown away by how many of you use real butter! The last person I knew that used butter was my late MIL twenty years ago (and she died of a coronary occlusion from high cholesterol)!

My whipped low-fat margarine stays soft in the refrigerator.

I doubt she died simply because she ate butter.

Real butter, one stick out on the counter and the rest in the fridge. I thought margarine was just as bad for you as butter (and far less delicious). Is that wrong? The soft, tub stuff would be healthier, but not the sticks, right? Or has that changed again . . .

My thought is that I would rather eat something "real" than something made with so many chemicals- especially when the "real" tastes so much better. We don't use a lot of butter- but when we do it's the real stuff.

 

[tzolkin]

I doubt she died simply because she ate butter.


My thought is that I would rather eat something "real" than something made with so many chemicals- especially when the "real" tastes so much better. We don't use a lot of butter- but when we do it's the real stuff.

I was going to post the same thing.

We are very health-conscious and have no issues with eating real butter.


I'm also one of the "leave-it-out"s. I have never wound up with a soupy/oily mess (perhaps because I live in the frozen north-- sometimes in the winter the butter is just as hard sitting by the window as it is directly from the fridge) and having hard butter for spreading is extremely irritating to me.

I'm now also curious how repeatedly microwaving and cooling affects the butter as opposed to just leaving it out.

 

[Tinijocaro]

We only use real salted butter and I have been leaving it on the counters for years, except in the summer when it melts.

I often wonder how a dairy product doesn't go bad being left out.

NOTHING better than soft butter on bread-NOTHING!!!

 

[dizluvah]

i don't leave the butter out but my mom always did - i remember the stick on the kitchen table when I was a kid - I used it as "lip gloss".....

 

[krcit]

i don't leave the butter out but my mom always did - i remember the stick on the kitchen table when I was a kid - I used it as "lip gloss".....

 

[Liberty Belle]

I refrigerate ours (unless it's out to soften), but when we were little, we'd leave it on the table all the time. Seems like it was always there.