Leaving butter out?

[fish demon]

Can regular, salted butter spoil if left out on the counter? All my life, my family has just taken a whole stick of butter and placed it in the butter dish to be used, leaving it on the counter with the lid on. It stays on the counter (not refrigerated) until it all gets used up, which usually takes several days.

I never started thinking about spoilage issues until a few months ago, when I read that butter should be refrigerated when it's not being used. It makes sense, since I know most other dairy products spoil fairly quickly when left out, but neither I nor anyone in my family has gotten sick from the left-out butter.

Does the salt stop the butter from spoiling? If no, am I just incredibly lucky that I've been eating butter that's been sitting out for days my entire life without getting sick? Does anyone else leave their butter out?

[jkl81]

I've never heard of anyone doing that and I'm not sure I recommend continuing for an emetophobe especially, who knew you could do it all these years and not get sick though??

[hippychick]

Do what you always have done. My friend's mum has left the butter out for years, she'll only put it in the fridge if she's going away for a few days. I wouldn't have done this but she's never got sick from it.

[SimplyMe]

I have a friend that does that, always has, never had a problem. I've always kept it in the fridge but thats just how my family has always done it. If you're really concerned check out a website like the FDA and see if it has anything but really if you've made it this far ... lol

[leann7123]

My mother and grandmother have both always left butter out for days. I eat it ALL THE TIME... never made me sick! [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]

[wackydeli]

Same here, it's usually left out, sometimes put in the frige at night, but most of the time we just keep it out until it's finished. I use it all the same and have never gotten sick from it so no worries.

[musicmaam]

I leave my butter out and we've never gotten sick from it! It's looking a bit gross right now because it's really hot, so it gets a bit melty, but I like that better than it being so hard (from the fridge) that you can't spread it on stuff!!

[emetmama]

I've never put butter in the fridge and neither have my mother or grandmother.

[lyntess]

My husband's family does that, and I'll confess, it drives me bonkers. I can't STAND something that says "keep refridgerated" being left out on the counter. AAAAGH. It SAYS it on the packaging! THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT! *tears hair*

Okay. Deep breath, Tess. I'm okay now. :-P
I use only butter-type products that are spreadable when they're cold. There will be NO butter-leave-out of any kind, while I still have breath in this body.

[musicmaam]

That's my problem, lyntess - I like butter, and I can't usually stand margarine or fake stuff!! So, real butter gets hard in the fridge - sigh!

[lyntess]

That's why God invented microwaves. :-P

If I ever have to use real butter, I just gently scrape off thin layers of it and apply them to the object, using a bit of pressure to "adhere" the condiment to the comestible, but leaving the pat mostly intact.

[fish demon]

Wow, it's good to see I'm not the only emetophobe who does this! I was beginning to worry. [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]

I used some butter last night that had been sitting out for a few days, and I'm still fine.

[twilightrose]

Yeah, my family just leaves it out and I've never once gotten sick or felt sick from it.

[musicmaam]

I'm absolutely positively sure it's fine but if it makes one feel safer, like lyntess, then go for the fridge/microwave, by all means!

[jkl81]

Hmm, in my experience it doesn't take much for cold butter to get warm enough to spread on warm bread, biscuits, potatoes etc. That holds for real butter and margarine too.

[wackydeli]

I'm not a big fan of fake butter products myself. My mom would buy them for the longest time and after a while I was like, I miss the real thing. She started buying real butter again, and seriously, it just tastes SO much better. I also prefer it to be soft a spreadable, but if it is cold I'll do the same thin-layer thing so it'll melt faster on the toast or english muffin or pancake or whatever I'm having it on.

[jkl81]

I think its better for you to use real butter or avoid it all together. And lets face it butter is just better!

[andee]

I would love to leave it out, but the emetophobe in me stops me completely. They sell those butter holders that you fill with water and put the butter in the top and it creates a seal. I still am not sure.

[fish demon]

Yeah, don't do it if it will freak you out... I think if I hadn't grown up having butter left out for days, it would terrify/disgust me.

[sage]

Even though many websites will put butter in the same class as all "dairy products" (thus needing refrigeration) in reality butter is an oil - and just like peanut butter, olive oil, etc. it does not need to be refrigerated. It WILL last longer in the fridge, of course - and if left out long enough can go "rancid" meaning the colour and taste will be off. You'd know right away.
And rancid butter, in small amounts such as the first taste of it, will not make anyone sick.

My grandparents, parents and I have all left butter out on the counter, or in the cupboard, our whole lives. That's a lot of pounds of butter. I'll leave it out in warm weather for over a week, easily!

[lyntess]

Peanut butter is one of those tricky foods for me. When I live on my own, I'll probably leave it in the fridge, as well as portion it out in 1-2 serving containers. All those knives, all those spreading sessions, all those re-dippings, all those different people... For now, I have to deal with it because I live with people who (quite rightly) don't get bothered by that kind of thing. I simply only eat it when it's a brand new (as in, sealed) container.

And then there was that thing a few years ago with the Peter Pan peanut butter contaminated with salmonella (I think that was it...). Urgh. Yeah. Maybe I'll freeze it. And then microwave it to a boil before spreading.

Hahahaha, GOD.
It's just going way too far.
I'm going to go have a peanut butter sandwich. NOW. From the 3/4s-empty jar. Enough is enough.

The butter, however, I'm LEAVING IN THE FRIDGE. :-P

[xheartsxoliviax]

We used to hve butter and wed have like a dish that allowed it to be left out so it didnt go rancidbut stayed soft! Now we dont eat butter in the house, only margerine,well we have lurpack but tht taste like butter, personally i cnt stand the taste ofbuuter!

But if i did hav butter it would be in the fridge keeping it cool i wouldnt wnt to risk it! NO matter how safe it might be because its an oil!

[sage]

Just thought of this - I used to be really REALLY health conscious and so I mixed butter 1/2 and 1/2 with olive oil, and kept it in the fridge. Then used it for everything except baking. It stays soft because of the olive oil. It has a clearly identifiable taste and is NOT as nice as butter, but it's good for you and stays soft and you can keep it in the fridge.

[lyntess]

Sage-- would using vegetable oil work? I can't stand the smell or flavour of olive oil (like olives! >.< :-P) but I like that concept. Or is it just really the health benefits of olive oil you were going for, "cutting" the butter that way, with the spreadability as a nice side perk?

[xmdslatx]

We have always refrigerated it.

They say that is contains milk and it is churned from cream so maybe it's best to keep it refrigerated just to be safe.

Just because it hasn't made anybody sick before doesn't mean it won't in the future.

[wackydeli]

On the subject of peanut butter, I can't stand when it's refrigerated. My mother's been keeping it in the fridge over the summer since it "melts" in the heat, and I HATE it. I had to take out the peanut butter a half hour before making my sandwich for work this morning or else it wouldn't spread and would just turn my bread into a crumbly mess. Ugh.

[jkl81]

Oils is oils and the only difference is temperature. You could probably get the same benefit of spreadability(though not health) with some other edible oil. I'm going to say peanut oil or canola would probably have the best taste. I got some of the peanut butter from that contaminated batch but I never got sick thank God, at least not v* or d*. Our bodies take care of it most of the time. No way I could leave butter unrefrigerated though I'd just freak out. I think I'd also just spend the extra few pennies to get my own jar. I usually use the skippy with no hydrogenated oils or trans fats. Its not any better or worse in terms of emet, but probably better on your vascular system(probably...but who really knows??)

[sage]

Yes, you could probably use some other oil - olive oil just has that "good" cholesterol...but if you don't care about that sort of thing then use something you like the taste of.

[juliab3]

my family leaves butter out all the time, after we open it it just gets put out on a dish and saved for toast. we have never gotten sick from it