Butter Storage

[gpjoe]

I don't use a ton of butter but my wife does - almost daily on toast. She stores a stick in a covered butter dish that sits on our counter 24-7 until the current stick is gone and replaced with a fresh stick.

I recently became aware of the French butter "bell" or crock that suspends the room-temperature butter upside-down in the bell portion, with a bit of water in the crock to seal the butter from air and preserve the butter. (Pic lifted from the 'zon for illustration.)

It looks kind of neat, and makes logical sense in regards to keeping the butter fresher longer, though I'm all about simplicity and replacing the water every few days feels like a PITA.

I've also read that if the room temperature gets too warm, the suspended butter can fall out of the bell and plop into the water-filled crock, creating a mess.

So, anyone have any experience with this contraption?...how often do you actually change the water?...ever had the butter fall out and into the water?

And lastly: if you've never used a butter crock, what is your preferred storage method?

 

[Jay21]

Seems like a slick idea. I’m sure it works just fine, but it’s probably not adding any benefits. Sure, it’s air tight, but there’s still air with bacteria in there from when you closed it up. The larger enemy is light. It’s not hurting anything by using it. Seems nice and keeps the counter looking organized. May also keep cat prints out of the butter.

 

[gpjoe]

Yeah, seems like it can't be any worse than a regular butter dish. I'm sure my wife would think it's "cute", and I was going to order one for her. Low risk at scoring a few points for under twenty bucks.

My main concern is the water, and what happens if left unchanged for too long. Right now our butter seems fine sitting in a covered dish for weeks (?) and I'm wondering if neglecting to religiously change the water may actually be worse over a similar time.

 

[Jay21]

Yeah, seems like it can't be any worse than a regular butter dish. I'm sure my wife would think it's "cute", and I was going to order one for her. Low risk at scoring a few points for under twenty bucks.

My main concern is the water, and what happens if left unchanged for too long. Right now our butter seems fine sitting in a covered dish for weeks (?) and I'm wondering if neglecting to religiously change the water may actually be worse over a similar time.

Wife bonus parts are essential in life.

The water was a concern for me as well since that's required for bacteria and fungi to grow. I'd probably change it once a week of with every new batch of butter, whichever comes first. Not changing the water frequently enough can lead to more decomposition compared to a regular butter dish. The good thing, though, is once butter goes rancid, you'll know immediately before you eat it. Plus, when was the last time you heard of some dying from bad butter?

Edit: the internet says change the water every 2-4 days. Seems like a safe bet.

 

[coachschaller]

I had one, bought some for all my family members. None of us use them now...
I found that the butter developed mold faster than just a plain butter dish. Also, faster that the butter we leave in the fridge. My theory is that the mold forms from the food left on a knife used to scoop out the butter (say when you are buttering a couple pieces of toast).

We just normally use the butter mixed with olive oil and leave it in the fridge for spreading. We still have sticks of butter for other purposes.

 

[Jer78]

Hi there,

We have one. As a bachelor I would use it but for larger groups can be finicky.

Pros
Seals butter in the water
Water regulates temperature - butter is easier to spread in winter and doesn't melt as quickly in summer

Cons
You change the water once or twice a week
A pain to load
If bell is wet butter can slip out

That said we put it away because no one else loaded it, and also still pulled blocks from the fridge and left them out. So not for everyone.

 

[Jer78]

I had one, bought some for all my family members. None of us use them now...
I found that the butter developed mold faster than just a plain butter dish. Also, faster that the butter we leave in the fridge. My theory is that the mold forms from the food left on a knife used to scoop out the butter (say when you are buttering a couple pieces of toast).

We just normally use the butter mixed with olive oil and leave it in the fridge for spreading. We still have sticks of butter for other purposes.

Mix with olive oil.. thats a good idea

 

[Rob72]

We use one. If you use ~1 butter stick/7-10 days, and temp does not get over ~75 degrees, no problem. People are not used to some of the cautions we used to use, back in the day, e.g., you have to be really careful about double-dipping with a utensil in a room-temp storage container, regardless of whether or not its touching the piece of toast or your mouth between dabs.

I like it.

 

[Old Hippie]

I've considered one but it never seems to rise to "I need this" level. About 10 years ago I bought a couple of recycled glass storage containers with glass lids. They're probably a couple of cups; never actually measured them. Each one is the right size to hold the butter that comes from one quart of 38 per cent cream.

My usual workflow involves lining a container with a sheet of plasti-crap, then once the butter is made, drained and salted I spoon it into the container, pack it down and fold over the plastic to cover. Once it firms up a little in the fridge I tap it out of the container and toss the lump of butter in the freezer. Going the other way, take a lump out of the freezer, peel off the plastic and drop it into the container.

We use a fair bit of butter, but neither one of us wants to leave it sitting out all the time.

O.H.

 

[DrStrange]

At best, that crock seems to be a solution to a nonexistent problem.

She knows what she's doing.
She uses a lot of butter the way that people who use a lot of butter, do.

 

[Frito Ray]

We just use a regular glass covered butter dish, but we only leave out what we consume in two to three days…about 1/5 of a pound; the rest stays in the fridge.

That water bell could be interesting if you replaced the water with some port or whiskey

 

[Legion]

Where I live you would be pouring the butter onto your toast in summer. Butter lives in the fridge.

 

[Rushman2112]

What he said. Our kitchen is usually a minimum of 28c...

 

[Eben Stone]

I've been keeping butter in a dish on the counter for over 20 years and never had a problem till about a month ago. It went rancid. It was disgusting. I had to throw away the wooden butter dish cover because I couldn't get rid of the stink. The only thing I can think of as to why it went rancid is I had put in a pound of butter instead of a stick. Oops.

 

[musicman1951]

In NY we leave it out in the butter dish most of the year. In the summer it goes in the fridge or turns to a near liquid state. I'm going to have to try making some EVOO butter - first I've read of it.

 

[shavefan]

We leave butter out on the counter 24/7/365, one stick (4oz) at a time in an opaque covered butter dish. Wash between replacements. Never had any issues.

 

[abies]

We keep our butter in the fridge.

My family has always had butter on the counter and it never ever has gone bad.

However, we tried it one time to experiment and the butter eventually got moldy, and wasn't practically speaking that much softer than if it had been in the fridge.

My guess is which is optimal depends on how quickly you use butter. We don't really use butter as much as my family does so my guess is they go through a stick of butter more quickly.

I was attracted to the crocks for awhile when we were thinking of leaving some out on the counter, but after our experiment I never got one. I personally would just leave out the water; I suspect it doesn't make too much of a difference compared to a "regular" butter dish.

 

[Frito Ray]

I’ve made butter exactly twice in the past few weeks inspired by the teachings of Old Hippie in another thread.

My first butter came out a bit hard, so during my second, I rang it out a bit less and this morning discovered a bit of water at the bottom of the dish.

So I thought of this thread, perhaps the original purpose of the butter bell was to let occasional excess water drain from the home made butter.

 

[Tirvine]

I have had and used a butter bell. It is, indeed, a PITA. It can be a bother to load and scrape clean. Changing the water is a nuisance. Even if the main blob does not fall into the water (it will), smaller bits will end up there. I far prefer this:

 

[Maxwedge]

I had one. Can't recommend it. The water is a PITA, drips on the counter or table every time you need butter. PITA to load.

I've been using a basic glass butter dish (with lid) for 30+ years. Never experienced rancidity or mold.