stories:
Nagging Question
 |
How Long Can Butter Be Kept Out Before Going Rancid?It depends on heat and light |
How long can you keep butter at room temperature before it goes rancid?
If your butter tastes stale, bitter, and has a strong smell, it’s probably rancid. Rancidity is the result of the fat oxidizing. This process is accelerated by exposure to light, heat, and contact with certain metals (for instance, in utensils).
Butter usually can be kept out for several days without going rancid (salted butter will keep longer because salt acts as a preservative). Exactly how long butter will stay fresh at room temperature depends on how much heat and light it gets and whether it’s wrapped. Ceramic butter crocks or “bells” extend butter’s life span because they keep it cool and protected. Chowhounds have discussed different butter bells.
That said, the California Milk Advisory Board recommends keeping butter wrapped and stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator for optimal freshness and flavor, and to keep it from picking up unwanted odors. Butter producer Land O’Lakes advises against storing butter in the butter keeper on the fridge door, as the temperature there may be higher than elsewhere in your refrigerator.
In a typical fridge, butter will keep for as long as four months. It can also be frozen for up to a year (longer freezing may impair flavor and texture).
Room temperature, refrigerated, and frozen butter all should be stored tightly wrapped or in a covered dish, advises Emily Luchetti, executive pastry chef at San Francisco’s Farallon restaurant. “Butter can pick up so many flavors, regardless of whether it’s in the fridge or not,” Luchetti says. “Even if you leave it out, it’s best to cover it with aluminum foil.”
If contact with utensils can cause the butter to go bad, wouldnt covering with aluminum foil be even worse - even if there is no actual contact?
That's ridiculous. Who likes trying to scrape hard butter before breakfast and ripping the toast? Microwaving it into a mush is worse.
We use about a stick of butter a week (salted), and it does just fine in the dish on the counter. Smells fine. Tastes great. I know my friends think it looks strange, but like the Europeans, I think everything is better at room temperature...
What rules apply for margarine and related spreads? I often purchase them in bulk to save money, but after awhile, I find that I have to throw out a half-full container of margarine or spread because the expiration date is at hand. Just wondering.
I've heard that there is a difference between butter wraped in foil vs. paper. Is there science on this.
Braniff, my personal rule for margarine is don't buy it, eat it or cook with it, but I don't think that's what you were looking for. ;)
Bob: I think if you go to your user profile you can change your preferences so you're not receiving whatever it is you're subscribed to.
I think that this is partly a cultural thing. My niece who was raised in North Carolina, but has a British mother (so I don't know where this comes from) thinks it's weird that I leave our butter out 24-7. I really never put it away. It stays in a covered ceramic dish on the counter. Even in the summer when it almost melts it has never "gone bad". I'm assuming this all depends on how much you use on a regular basis. There's nothing I hate more than trying to spread hard butter.
A friend of a friend's family also leave the Thanksgiving turkey out until the bones have been totally picked clean. They cover it but leave it at room temp. This is super crazy to me, but everyone does things differently and if no one is getting sick then I guess it's all good.
Room temp butter is the best, nothing beats it. I'm super picky about my butter and leave it out all the time, and have never had a problem. Plus if you bake a lot, it's just that much easier to already have room temp butter.
I have to 2nd the no margarine rule :)
Found an article in Washington Post - interesting
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
I've left butter out on the counter in the dish for weeks and I've never had a problem with it-- sounds disgusting, but it really wasn't.