Let me get this part out of the way: According to the Food and Drug Administration, it's safe to leave butter and margarine out at room temperature. The agency warns that leaving your butter in this temperate state for a few days may result in its flavor turning toward rancid, but I like to live my life on a knife's edge, and I take the risk. This isn't how I was raised.
Did you grow up in a butter household? I didn't. It was one of the great mysteries of my childhood, why food tasted better when my Grandma Kinsman was around, until I finally put it together that it wasn't some sort of old-world nana mojo, but rather that my dad would eschew our regular Parkay or Imperial and spring for the real stuff when his mom would come to visit. The woman had grown up kneading a dye packet into lumps of oleo to make the whole mess a more appetizing yellow rather than a pallid, unappetizing white, and she deserved a gentle, sunny spread.
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I texted my dad about it just now, and he explained that his father, a milkman, used to deliver butter, so that was all they would ever use, save for during the war years and a little after. "During the war butter was in limited supply for domestic use and people used margarine," my dad explained. "The butter producers were worried about getting the domestic market back post-war and got several legislations passed to retard margarine sales. One was that margarine couldn't be colored at the production facility."
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With the slow, patient force of her hands, my grandmother wrought gold from white fat, but the moment she could, she ran back into the soft, supple arms of her first love. "My mother always left the butter out," my dad wrote. "In the summer and when they cranked up the heat in the winter, it was close to being a liquid, which was good for spreading. I always thought it would go rancid, but it never did."
Young, thrifty, and with two daughters to feed, my parents opted for margarine sticks, hard and chilled in the fridge door. (My dad just admitted to me that his concerns are not health-based, but rather that of flies and ambitious cats.) Further into the health-fad '80s, those bars became crocks of spreads, chemically calibrated to remain softish in their refrigerated tubs with a fraction of the calories of real-deal butter. Flavor, too. Not that I knew it at the time; carved into my memory is a moment in my adulthood when I got to fulfill a yearslong dream of finally getting a paycheck that allowed me to, at least once, feel financially stable enough to walk into a grocery store and fill my cart without scrutinizing the cost down to the cent per ounce. I grabbed butter — probably the store brand because I'm an eternally anxious recovering Catholic with bone-deep guilt and terror around pleasure and frivolity — but nonetheless, butter.
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But again with the anxiety, the sticks remained fridged until the day I learned about "house butter." Huh? I'd never heard the term until my husband told me about the West Village diner he frequented in the late '90s, when his two-egg special cost $2.90 and felt like something of a splurge. One day another regular plopped down and preemptively announced to the waiter, "Don't gimmie none of those packets; gimmie the house buttah." My husband watched as the short-order cook swiped off a hunk from the softened block next to the grill and slathered it onto the man's toast as easy as you please. House butter, I'm home.
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I aspire to be a meticulous, fancypants cook with the wherewithal to swap out the water from my Le Creuset butter keeper and keep the stuff fresh like a French lady would, but I'm just not. My baking butter stays chilled or even frozen, but the stuff I slather onto bread and English muffins, dab into my popcorn, smear onto radishes, and just generally luxuriate in — that stays nestled into its wrapper, high up enough that even my most dedicated butter hounds can't make a leap for it. OK, one did recently, and I found the foil licked clean and flattened in the hallway, but can I blame him? Having softened butter at the ready feels like a minor opulence. I just needed to warm up to it.
FAQs
Should You Leave Butter on the Counter? According to the USDA, butter is safe at room temperature. But if it's left out for several days at room temperature, it can turn rancid causing off flavors. The USDA does not recommend leaving it out more than one to two days.
Should you keep butter on the counter or fridge? ›
The USDA's FoodKeeper app offers this guidance for storing butter: "May be left at room temperature for one to two days; one to two months when stored in refrigerator; six to nine months if stored frozen." After that, the taste can turn rancid or sour, says the USDA.
What is the best way to store butter? ›
The Best Way to Store Butter
Although many like to leave their butter out on the counter, Land O' Lakes says it's best to keep it in the fridge if you don't plan to use it within a few hours.
Can you take some butter and place it outside the refrigerator? ›
The Benefits of Storing Butter Outside of the Fridge
- When stored at room temperature, butter remains soft, creamy, and spreadable.
- It's easier to use in baking and cooking.
- It's at the perfect temperature for spreading on bread and crackers, or for making an impromptu butter board.
According to The National Peanut Board, an unopened jar of peanut butter can last six to nine months at room temperature. Once opened, they say that it can last two to three months in the pantry before you should move it to the fridge, where it can maintain quality for another three to four months.
Why doesn't real butter need to be refrigerated? ›
It contains a small amount of water (16–17 percent), and a very small amount of protein, somewhere in the range of 3–4 percent. Not enough to promote significant bacteria growth. This is especially the case with salted butter, since salt inhibits the growth of bacteria.
Do you need to refrigerate eggs? ›
Freshly laid eggs need to be refrigerated immediately. Fresh eggs purchased from a farmers market need to be refrigerated as soon as you get home. Per USDA guidelines, eggs should be stored at 40 degrees F or below to help minimize the risk of Salmonella.
Can you store butter in a Ziploc bag? ›
Ziploc bags and water-sealed butter dishes work great too — just make sure to release the air inside of the Ziploc bag before sealing it. That's how you ensure longer-lasting freshness. If you're wondering whether butter can spoil in the fridge, FoodSafety says that it can last up to two months.
What are the rules for storing butter? ›
Butter, like all food products, will spoil eventually. There is still a debate as to how long butter can sit on the counter before going bad. For best quality, keep butter in a covered dish and use it within two days. You can also refrigerate or freeze butter to extend its shelf life.
Can you put butter back in the fridge after leaving it out? ›
Can you put softened butter back in the fridge? You sure can! But as with any dairy product, there are always precautions to take. The USDA recommends keeping butter at room temperature for no more than two days to prevent spoilage.
Salted butter is less prone to going bad on the counter than unsalted butter. If you're a serious supporter of leaving butter out, go with the salted kind. It's important to note, however, that the amount of salt in different brands of butter can vary.
How to tell if butter is bad? ›
How do you tell if butter is bad? Check for changes in the butter's look, feel, smell, and taste. Any visible discoloration, change in texture, bad smell, or bitter or sour taste indicates bad butter.
How long can butter sit in a butter bell? ›
How long does the butter stay fresh in a butter bell. If you change the water in the butter crock every 2-3 days, your butter will stay fresh for up to one month. However, I would like to think that will be going through your butter faster than that!
Are you supposed to refrigerate ketchup? ›
Even Heinz weighed in on the subject a few years ago, stating that “because of its natural acidity, Heinz® Ketchup is shelf-stable. However, its stability after opening can be affected by storage conditions. We recommend that this product, like any processed food, be refrigerated after opening.
Does mayonnaise need refrigeration? ›
Mayonnaise Storage Considerations
Typically, unopened mayonnaise should be stored at room temperature. Once opened, it should go in the refrigerator to preserve shelf-life and quality.
Does mustard need to be refrigerated? ›
Mustard. No matter the kind of mustard (Dijon, yellow, or whole grain), best practice is to store it in fridge. Refrigerated mustard will last up to a year after opening in the fridge, according to the USDA. Now dried mustard powder is another story—it can be stored in the pantry with all your other spices.
Should butter be cold or room temperature? ›
While cold butter, or even frozen butter is ideal where flakiness is required—like this Actually Perfect Pie Crust—soft or room-temperature butter is vital for the success of cakes and cookies.
Why do you keep butter in the fridge? ›
The primary component of butter is fat (at least 80 percent). High fat combined with low water content make for a less-suitable environment for bacterial growth. The other concern is that butter left out for too long will eventually go rancid. This won't, however, happen overnight, or even in a few days time.
Is it better to freeze or refrigerate butter? ›
The answer is yes! Freezing butter is a great way to make it last even longer. Butter has a pretty long shelf life in the fridge already (about 4 months for unsalted and 6 months for salted) but you can extend that time even further by freezing your sticks of butter when you get home from the grocery store!
