Butter best when it's in, out or on?

by jodi marneris

January 2023--Who knew there are such conflicted opinions when it comes to butter? Where should it be stored? Is it considered a condiment? Is salted bad for you? “Fake” vs real?

What started out as a casual conversation with a good friend turned into a desire to learn not just what the experts think about butter storage but also what us everyday folks think. And then of course, I knew I had to write about it.

I know I’m not going to be solving the age-old conundrum, but I thought I’d look into it since it got me wondering if taking up fridge space was necessary. So, I asked about 30 people how they store their butter and why.

The number one answer: In the fridge.

Sandy O. stores hers in the fridge. “It’s in the refrigerated section at the store, so yes, I keep mine in the refrigerator. My parents didn’t when I was a kid but did in later years.”

“I refrigerate butter as well,” said Mary N. “My mom did, and I followed suit. Leaving it out doesn’t seem the healthiest”

Sharon L., follows what her mother did, too, and that’s to leave it on the counter in a butter dish. “My mom always kept her butter out so I never knew any different until friends would come over and really freak out about it. I’m going to be 70 years old, and I’ve eaten soft butter my whole life and I’m still here!” She’s all about spreadable butter. “It’s the best. No torn bread or toast and it’s so nice melting butter on a warm roll. So gooooood.” She also has a collection of butter dishes, including the one below.

Anne M. keeps hers cold. “I keep it in the freezer until I need it and then one stick goes in the dish in the fridge. I really don’t use that much butter. Only for fried eggs and with mashed potatoes.” Janet W. keeps hers on the counter, and Margie M. keeps it in the freezer until she needs it, except when baking, then she leaves it out to get to room temperature.

Sue G. keeps her butter refrigerated. "Growing up it was always on the butter dish, covered of course, and in the cabinet! Funny thing is only my dad ate the butter.. Óleo (haha) was for everyone else. I never liked either until I was an adult so it didn’t matter to me. Today I love butter, and I dislike when restaurants give you cold hard butter with warm buns. If I know I am going to use butter as a spread I take it out ahead of time. Trying to spread cold butter on toast is frustrating.. cold lumps in some places and no butter at all in others. So, if I were a big user of butter I would probably follow in my mother’s footsteps! Since I am not, I try to think ahead. And the debate will go on!"

Lisa F. also keeps hers cold, following the tradition of her mother and grandmother. “Quite honestly, I loved my grandmother’s no salt, sweet butter and she would always make the best recipes with it! I can remember having just a slice of bread with that sweet butter on top and it was cold and sweet!!! I fell in love with it then and have never forgotten how a slice of bread with her cold sweet butter tasted.”

Butter at Renee F.’s house is only on the counter for not more than two days when she is making several batches of Christmas cookies. “I only use the sticks of butter for baking. Other than that, I keep it in the fridge in the original packaging. And I use the tubs of butter for toast, pancakes, English muffins and waffles. It’s so much easier to spread. I remember my mom keeping butter only in the fridge. Never on the counter. “

Rosemarie L. is all about the taste. She can’t go back to “fake” and always keeps her butter I the fridge. “We use sticks of real butter, not the tub of margarine. Yes, this was something I had to get used to when we got married because my family always purchased the large Tupperware size crock of soft, spreadable butter and my husband’s family always used the real butter. Now I would not go back to the fake margarine. Nothing like real butter on a fresh piece of Italian bread-- but you have to get used to the hardness of refrigerator butter.”

Mary Kay B. was used to butter softened on the counter. “Growing up, we kept our cubed butter out on just a plate. As long as it wasn’t hot in the house, it didn’t melt - but was just soft, which is how we liked it to be to spread. I believe when margarine became popular, our family was eating margarine.” Today, she keeps hers in the fridge. “Most recently, I see these fancy butter dishes with covers and you’re supposed to put water in the bottom and you can keep them out on your counter—which leads me to believe that maybe when my mom was keeping butter on the counter and it wasn’t in a fancy dish with water, we were maybe eating bad butter?”

Sue A. didn’t have refrigerated butter when she was growing up but does now.

“We didn’t put it in the fridge as a kid but later I thought that with 8 of us it didn’t last long enough. We do refrigerate it in a butter dish, but I would love to leave it out!”

Another who keeps it cool is Pam S. “I do refrigerate butter, in a butter dish. My parents did also. The only reason I keep it out is when baking to soften. Why keep it out to get all mushy?”

But Barb P. stores her butter both in and out of the fridge. “I am from Wisconsin, and I love butter. My mom was the best cook and baker, and she kept her butter on the counter ALL THE TIME!!! I have done both. I tend to refrigerate. I do leave it out if I need butter softened for recipes and sometimes it sits out for days. We have gone through the “healthy butter” phases, margarine, spreads, unsalted. Right now, we use salted and refrigerated. I find I use salted even in recipes that call for unsalted. All I know is when you want butter spread on something and it’s soft and easy to manage, that is the best. Here’s to butter!”

Bernie P. keeps hers on the counter. “You do not have to put butter in fridge unless you need to prevent it from melting. I learned this just recently because my son and daughter-in-law needed a butter dish to store their opened butter stick.” She bought them the “Butterie—a flip-top butter dish for Christmas.

Butter and spreads are kept in the fridge at Nancy B.’s house. “I buy the Land-O-Lakes tub and it softens pretty quick, so we keep it refrigerated. We used to leave stick butter on the counter to soften.”

Sue B. always refrigerates her butter. “Seems like the right thing to do—I am sure bacteria must love butter and that is why it always goes in the refrigerator in my house—( I don’t know if science supports it ,though). Grandma and Grandpa use to keep butter on the counter — they both lived to be 88 years old, so I guess it was ok. They also used to keep colored hard boiled Easter eggs on the kitchen table for at least a week so that must have been ok, too!! ( eww!!)”

And last, but certainly not least, is Elise E., also an advocate of keeping butter in the refrigerator. “I was told butter can get rancid. Of course, in the summer if left out it would be a puddle. In the winter it would just go bad after a while unless, like Sue’s family and mine growing up (7), a stick of butter would only last a day or two. We always had bread and butter at dinner as well. Only took out for recipes calling for softened butter.”

Elise’s sister-in-law found a tub of “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter” under an upholstered chair she was disposing of and knew it was put there by their dog who stole food. “She couldn’t remember the last time she bought that. It had been months. She opened it and it looked like new. Pretty disgusting. Pretty plastic.”

The good news for everyone is that there is no wrong answer—well no totally-wrong answer. According to my research butter can be safely stored in the refrigerator, freezer and on the counter. But there are some conditions. I’ve read through pages and pages and pages of articles about butter. Here are some highlights.

• Salted butter is less prone to going bad if left on the counter. However, it’s best to play it safe by not leaving out for more than a few days. (U.S. Dairy)

• Unsalted—best to be kept in the fridge. Same for whipped butter. (U.S. Dairy)

• Butter can turn rancid and cause off flavors. USDA recommends no more than a few days on the counter.

• Butter is considered a dairy product, but because it has a high fat content and relatively low water contest, it’s less likely to support bacterial growth than other types of dairy products. (Healthline website)

• Regular, salted butter has a low risk of bacterial contamination, even when kept at room temperature. In fact, butter is actually produced with the expectation consumers will not keep it in the fridge. (Trusted Source website)

• Butter’s composition discourages bacterial growth, even at room temperature, BUT exposure to light, heat and oxygen can cause rancidity. (Trusted Source website)

• You can store larger amounts of butter in your freezer, which will keep it fresh for up to one year. (USDA)

• If you’re going to store on the counter, keep it covered and only do so if room temp stays below 70-77 degrees Fahrenheit. (USDA)

Bottom line—store it where you will—but don’t give it up! Butter has a lot of nutrients and health benefits.

If you’d like to share your thoughts—would love to see them! Scroll down and leave a note in the comment section.

Now---where do you keep your ketchup?

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