Do you refrigerate butter?

jennybearlv
jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
edited November 14 in Food and Nutrition
Yes or no, and why?
«134

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    Yup, or it ends up liquid. It doesn't occur to me not to. I don't use enough to stop it going rancid if I didn't.
  • marm1962
    marm1962 Posts: 950 Member
    Yes, because it will get moldy if not used within a certain period...and it is after all a dairy product and should be refrigerated.
  • DEBOO7
    DEBOO7 Posts: 245 Member
    Yes.. otherwise it'd be all soft and runny!
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Yes but don't use a lot of butter. If I did I'd leave it out
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
    No we leave it in the cabinet. We hardly ever use it but it always tastes delicious when we do. Keeps it soft and no it doesn't melt.
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
    Nope. It's in the cupboard, once I've unwrapped a bar (the original box is kept in the fridge). Real butter, not margarine. I've never had a problem unless someone leaves crumbs behind, then it might mold. I hate hard butter! ;)

    I agree with all of this <3
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    We don't use it all that often. It's pretty rare. In fact, I keep it in the freezer in a ziploc so it doesn't absorb flavors and just grate what I need for recipes.

    I tend to use olive oil more often.

    If we used butter frequently, I likely wouldn't refrigerate it. My mother never did.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    I use Earth Balance vegan butter and its in a square little tub. I keep it in the fridge it spreads pretty easy even when cold.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Yes and no. We have a bit out in a covered container and the rest is refrigerated until needed. We have out the amount we will use in a couple of days. Our kitchen is warm enough for it to be soft enough to spread but not melty. I've never had a problem with it going bad or getting moldy in that time period.


  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Yes, but a stick of butter lasts us more than 2-3 months so it would go rancid. Plus it gets hotter than the melting point of butter in the summer and the last thing I want to do in that heat is to clean greasy counters.
  • lemonaid7
    lemonaid7 Posts: 156 Member
    No, I live in Canada stays pretty firm on the counter
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    Nope. Well, actually yes and no. When I buy a pound of butter, 3 sticks stay in the fridge, one stays on the counter in a covered butter dish. Never ever ever have had a problem with it. Never gets hot enough here to be runny; always the perfect spreadable softness. My parents did the same thing, as did their parents before them. Never got moldy, never went rancid. Always pure deliciousness for our toast, muffins, and bread.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    I wonder how many use real butter?

    Some is out and some is in the fridge at our house. Real butter. Never oleo. Never any problems leaving it out.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    Nope, especially not in the winter as our house hovers around 63 degrees. When it gets hot in the summer I am more inclined to refrigerate it, and of course all the not-in-use butter is either in the fridge or the freezer.

    I have never in my life seen a stick of moldy butter. Under what conditions does this happen?
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    Nope, especially not in the winter as our house hovers around 63 degrees. When it gets hot in the summer I am more inclined to refrigerate it, and of course all the not-in-use butter is either in the fridge or the freezer.

    I have never in my life seen a stick of moldy butter. Under what conditions does this happen?

    Me neither. Just jelly :wink:
  • fr3smyl
    fr3smyl Posts: 1,418 Member
    Will that work in Southeastern U. S. Climate? Humid, warm, beaches, you guys have really sparked my interest.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    Nope, especially not in the winter as our house hovers around 63 degrees. When it gets hot in the summer I am more inclined to refrigerate it, and of course all the not-in-use butter is either in the fridge or the freezer.

    I have never in my life seen a stick of moldy butter. Under what conditions does this happen?

    Generally it's stuff like crumbs in the butter which go mouldy. Pure butter is far more at risk of going rancid (and even that takes a while).

    Personally, I've come home after a summers day at work to find candles in liquid form, so butter doesn't have any hope!
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    I wonder how many use real butter?

    Some is out and some is in the fridge at our house. Real butter. Never oleo. Never any problems leaving it out.

    I only use 100% real butter, usually salted. When we got married my husband was one to buy Shedd's Spread or some other abomination. I took care of that habit really fast. ;)
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    I keep it frozen until I need a new stick and then I keep that in the cupboard. I hate trying to spread hard butter on bread or pancakes. In the summer it tends to start to mold before I can use it all. From now on I'll just take out a half a stick or so as I use it.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    edited January 2017
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    Wikipedia says "Butter remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32–35 °C (90–95 °F)."

    It's never that warm in my house unless the AC is broken. We have hot summers, Oklahoma USA.

    Y'all really live and sleep in temps hot enough to melt butter?

    A huge number of houses in Australia don't have AC at all, or have room by room reverse cycle systems (like mine) which are only turned on when someone is home. Because we don't get the freezing winters, by and large, whole house climate control is actually in the minority, particularly in older homes. I've never even been in an Australian house that has a furnace, for instance.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited January 2017
    Barbonica wrote: »
    Nope. I use a french butter dish/crock. Keeps it cool enough in the summer not to melt, but keeps it soft for usage. Butter existed long before we refrigeration.

    This is exactly what I do. Works perfectly and I've never had my butter get too melty or go rancid.
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    Wikipedia says "Butter remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32–35 °C (90–95 °F)."

    It's never that warm in my house unless the AC is broken. We have hot summers, Oklahoma USA.

    Y'all really live and sleep in temps hot enough to melt butter?

    My place can get around 80 degrees in the daytime in July and August. The butter isn't a liquid but it is very soft and goes bad much more quickly than the winter when I keep the place 68-70 degrees.
  • amygarcia0212
    amygarcia0212 Posts: 9 Member
    fr3smyl wrote: »
    Will that work in Southeastern U. S. Climate? Humid, warm, beaches, you guys have really sparked my interest.

    Absolutely! I've lived in Southern Texas, Eastern North Carolina, and now Virginia Beach. Always one stick on the counter in a covered butter dish, the rest in the fridge/freezer. I'm too impatient to wait for butter to soften enough to spread on my bread
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