daftest question of the day...how do YOU keep butter cool?

tom_and_barbara_good · 20 June 2005 at 8:31AM

We haven't bought butter for over 20 years but what with all the recent talk about hydrogenated oils etc we decided to go back to basic un-messed about-with butter. This last few days has reminded me why I stopped buying butter in the first place - it's too hard in the fridge and too soft in the kitchen.

I keep it in a cupboard out of the sun but the heat just finds it anyhow, I tried just bringing the butter out of the fridge at mealtimes but a:; it gets forgotten till too late - b; the kids want to have sandwiches at random times - c; tried microwave warming it and that wasn't too good either

I bought spreadable butter yesterday but that doesn't spread too readily from the fridge (it isn't too cold, I checked) and we didn't like the taste too much either.

So, does anyone have any good ideas?, ice packs maybe? I said that it was a daft question because I really don't think that there is an answer.....

catznine · 20 June 2005 at 8:36AM

Not a daft question at all! Years ago (when I was a lot smaller - in all dimensions lol) my friends Mum managed very well without a fridge and I can remember that she kept her butter dish in a bowl of cold water on a shelf in the larder.

squeaky · 20 June 2005 at 8:37AM

My microwave has a "warm" settintg - it's the very lowest heat setting. One minute on that level makes a full block spreadable without melting any, and I reduce the time by guesstimate as I use up my butter.

Even so, finding the right setting and time was just trial and error.

Chris25 · 20 June 2005 at 8:41AM

You can get those insulated butter dishes but don't know if they're any good. One of these days I might get aroung to buying one although not very MSE-wise if I have to give it away :rolleyes:

Still I'm sure somebody would find use for it.

We have a terracotta dish that is forever being taken out of/ back into the fridge and I'd be interested too, to see how other people keep it cool:cool:

bugs · 20 June 2005 at 10:15AM

We keep ours in the fridge most of the time - if I'm careful I can take the butter from the fridge 1st thing, scrape off "curls" with the knife and leave them on the sliced bread (either a warm kitchen or in the sun) and then get ready for work, by the time I'm done the butter is usually soft enough to spread.

If it isn't too warm then I might leave it out, or especially, leave out a small amount so that the block doesn't go funny before I can use it up.

It's not "convenient" but it's not that much trouble - then I don't have a hoard of teenagers to feed!

You can make your own spread, perhaps you could experiment with that to make a tastier one? I believe I've read of one with milk and butter, although oil is more usual.

For making cakes etc, if you put the cold butter in to your glass mixing bowl and put a glass lid on top to keep out bugs (!) you can leave it in the sun, even outdoors, to soften really quickly.

Loadsabob · 20 June 2005 at 2:16PM

I don't actually try much to keep the butter cool. I have a ceramic butter dish, and try and keep it in a shadey part of the kitchen. It's not liquid, but on days like the last few, it IS very soft!! Still, makes it easy to scrape on and off for sandwiches (I don't like much butter on those). I do prefer it to the manufactured-ness of margarines, though, and these days only use butter.

Bennifred · 20 June 2005 at 6:52PM

It might be worth trying a different brand of spreadable butter - I've found that they do vary in taste, and you might find one you like. We use Lurpak Spreadable (not the "light" version, though, that's horrible!). Didn't like Anchor Spreadable.......

Baglady_2 · 20 June 2005 at 9:58PM

A few years ago on the teatime local news, some schoolkids were making their own version of spreadable butter using butter and water in a food processor, but they'd had to use trial and error as to how much water to use. It was part of their science lesson or something. This isn't much help to you, but at least it shows it can be done if you can be faffed.
I think a double layer insulated dish as posted earlier is the way to go. I know Lakeland do one in stainless steel, (sorry, I don't know how to do the link thing), it's pricey, but their stuff is usually good, and lasts.

ravenlooney · 20 June 2005 at 10:45PM

Baglady wrote:

I know Lakeland do one in stainless steel, (sorry, I don't know how to do the link thing), it's pricey, but their stuff is usually good, and lasts.

I got a stainless steel butter dish (not insulated tho) from a charity shop for 50p. Its not really that good. Im the winter it holds the cold and in just now it seems to hold the heat:( I tend to just cut bits off the block that i'll use up before it goes funny like Bugs does. I did used to heat it up in the microwave in the winter, but then got it into my head that constantly reheating the same block could encourage bacteria growth as its a dairy product so I stopped that. I do think that its worth the extra hassle using butter - Id never allow myself or my children to eat margarine WHIW

Debt_Free_Chick · 20 June 2005 at 11:16PM

I keep mine in the fridge, but each morning take a small amount off the block - enough for the day - and pop it in a ramekin dish, which I leave out, ready for use. Horribly organised, I know ... I must keep taking the pills

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

daftest question of the day...how do YOU keep butter cool?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free