According to this post on Gizmodo, which validates what most French already know, the answer is a overwhelmingly — NO!
And if you are worried about butter
going bad on the kitchen bench – the stats say that because butter is made from pasteurized milk, it takes a long time for it to go bad.
So in the meantime, you should enjoy the best of butter – spreadable, and yummy tasting. The Gizmodo post covers this topic in great detail and you should definately read it.
In the meantime, tell us if you keep your butter in the fridge or out on the bench in room temperature?
I use a butter keeper – sometimes referred to as a french butter keeper, or butter bell.
My butter is in the fridge until I get the stick out and then I keep it on the counter,if it is melting on the counter I will put it in the fridge for a while. With A/C that doesn’t happen much anymore.
I keep mine in the freezer or refrigerator for the long term but put it on the counter in a butter bell for easy spreading. A butter bell or butter keeper is a small crock with a dome/bell shaped lid. a stick of soft butter is pressed into the lid & & inverted into the crock which has a small amount of water in the bottom. The water makes a seal from the outside air & keeps the butter fresh for quite a while. I simply dump & refresh the water every 2 or 3 days. If I go off for a long time, I just put the entire crock in the refrigerator until I return. They’re available at Amazon or kitchen stores.
Same as above, Ruth Evans. I keep it in a covered dish on the counter, only refrigerate for a bit when it gets too mushy.
The grass fed butter tends to hold up much better than the “regular” butter.
I never use marg., havent for almost 30 years.
I always have a stick in the butter dish and put in the cupboard
I have never put my butter, that was being used, in the fridge. Now to store it until it is time to use it is a different story.
prob 125 grams worth of butter at a time in a container on the bench, but the rest is kept in the fridge, especially in summer here (AU) its too hot for butter to sit on the bench for long periods of time, infact it goes tooooo soft at times ;).
I use whipped butter (because it’s lower in fat & calories) & have kept it in the container on the counter for years.
With exception of very hot weather, we refridgerate butter until we need more to use. Then it goes into a small plastic box with lid on the counter …until its gone. In hot weather we put it in the fridge after dinner..til morning. The plastic box keeps the dog and his hair out!
I keep a stick out on the counter in the butter dish for spreading on toast, bagels and such. I do keep the remaining butter in the fridge and use this for cooking, etc.
I keep my butter in a glass covered butter dish on the counter. I use less when it’s spreadable than when it’s solid. Great post!
Because we live in Australia we alway have to store it in the fridge, due to the heat in summer time, we dont get much of a winter where we live, its still in the fridge in winter as well.
Leave mine in a butter dish on the counter, always have….I am 64, healthy and a nurse….so it doesn’t harm u
I’m not a butter eater but my aunt is. I was always getting on her for even eating it. And then recent news has reported butter isn’t as bad as originally thought. For as long as I can remember she also has kept a stick of butter in a covered butter dish on her kitchen table. I used to annoy her with my lectures on food safety. Seems I’ve been wrong about that too! I now know auntie knows best 🙂 P.S. I also learned my lesson discussing the benefits of rinsing off chicken with her. You can probably guess which side I took!
in a butter bell (with the water seal) like the others mentioned above!!
For years and years, I have kept my butter out on the counter. Don’t like trying to spread hard butter. So far no problems.