Can you leave unsalted butter out of the fridge

Like many people, Joelle Mertzel, a mom and resident in Los Angeles, California, always thought butter should be kept in the fridge. Seeing how it's a dairy product and, two, the label says "keep refrigerated." Plus, it's refrigerated in cases in the store. The logic follows. This reasoning was followed until one day, several years ago, when she left a stick out on the counter, only to find it significantly more enjoyable at room temperature. (If you've ever spread refrigerated butter on toast, you know the unique frustration and rage accompanying it.)

So this problem piques Mertzel's interest. Then, she found out a close friend kept hers on the counter. (Because her mother did, of course!) So she started keeping hers on the counter, which led to her next big ah-ha. There was an extremely narrow selection when it came to butter dish options. And unfortunately, most leave your counters, hands, and pretty much everything in a several-foot radius greasy and butter-covered by the end of the day. She wanted a mess-free way to keep the butter as accessible as possible on the counter without the mess. She started seriously wondering, "what's everyone else doing?"

So Mertzel launched a small investigation into America's butter habits. Here's what she found out. Most people naturally did whatever they grew up doing regarding butter placement. This investigation reveals that 46 percent of Americans have "no idea" you can store butter on the counter. That's almost half the country! And 22 percent of America currently keeps it on the counter.

So next, she decided to prove that butter does not require refrigeration scientifically. She had a food safety lab in California run some (well, many) tests, and found out that butter kept at room temperature can stay on the counter, no problem, for three weeks without refrigeration. (And if you have a stick that sits on the counter longer than three weeks, you're probably not making enough Southern Living recipes.)

So if you like butter ready to spread on warm bread (or steamed veggies, if you're into that kind of thing), consider keeping it on the counter. Science says you certainly can and won't have to buy any of what Mertzel calls "gimmicky fake stuff" just for its spreadability.

Once she knew keeping butter out was something other people did and could do safely, Mertzel went on to invent a new butter dish—the Butterie. Thanks to its flip-top lid and no-skid bottom, it prevents many greasy messes found in traditional dishes. Good butter and clean counters are something we can always get behind.

Years ago I wrote about the cult of the Food52 French Butter Keeper. That little stoneware container sells consistently year after year. It promises smooth, creamy, spreadable butter so your toast never has to suffer cold butter violence again. It also looks cute.

At the time I lived in an apartment with winter temperatures determined by a blasting radiator and summer heat that I dealt with by taking off more clothes because I’m an A/C martyr. In any season the butter on the counter melted or molded in days. It was never gonna work out for us.

Now, in a normal temperature home kept around 67° F in the winter, I’ve perfected the art of room temperature butter. It makes my toast life so much better. Every few days I add a new stick to the dregs of the old. I look after my butter like a low-maintenance pet. And I didn’t need to buy anything.

Step 1: Don’t worry

Almost all butter sold in this country is pasteurized—as in it’s cooked. That kills bacteria. Butter is also so high in fat, around 80 percent, that it’s a fortress against most bacteria.* Sitting out for a week on your counter will be FINE. Even the FDA says so. (Well, they’d add “probably fine” because they’re very, very careful.)

*Not all bacteria, and the longer the same stick of butter sits out—the more it’s exposed to air—the more it’ll degrade and potentially taste rancid (sour-funky-bad). Maybe you should eat more toast??

Step 2: Identify your kitchen temperature

Your kitchen needs to be at a pretty steady room temperature, around 67–72° F, in order to have countertop butter success. In her guide to softening butter for baking, Claire Saffitz wrote that the temperature of softened butter—ready for whipping into a cake—is 68 to 70° F. My kitchen gets so cold at night in the winter that my counter butter is too cold—63 today!, but that’s still easier to spread than straight-out-of-the-crisper butter, which I measured at 43°.

If you have a heater or A/C running, that temperature is easy to regulate. But if you’ve got the windows open on a warm Texas summer afternoon, or a blasting radiator in Brooklyn, it’s probably not ideal butter conditions, sorry. Keep your butter in the door of the fridge (that’s the warmest part), and take it out an hour or so before you need to spread it.

Step 3: Think about how frequently you use butter

I go through a stick of butter every three days on average, which means that any container will work (see step 4). If you don’t use butter that often, you’ll need a container with an air-tight seal so the butter doesn’t pick up any off-flavors floating about the kitchen. My heroes at Cook’s Illustrated explain that the high fat content in butter makes it susceptible to taking those on; this $5 keeper was their winner. That said, I haven’t noticed any off-flavors in butter in my less-than airtight container left out for a week. I think it’s pretty dependent on a few factors (what you’re cooking, where the butter is relative to the stove, how much of a supertaster you are…).

Step 4: Pick a container

Calder Dairy near me sells these cow-printed tubs overfilled with 1 pound of butter. The tub is your built-in butter keeper. Looking at it on the counter makes me happy. But that’s a LOT of butter for a week.

Usually, I use my vintage Pyrex butter dish in Crazy Daisy, thanks for asking.

If I had to make a Pinterest board of butter keepers, it would include this pink “beurre” box from Sur La Table, this minimalist butter wood-topped butter box that appears the perfect size for Trader Joe’s imported cultured butter, oOoo jadeite!, or this $350 painted porcelain dish fit for long-dead British monarchs. You have choices. But avoid metal, which Harold McGee says can “hasten fat oxidation,” (oxidation = what makes food degrade, like apples turning brown) particularly in salted butter.

So if you have a lust for commerce, go ahead, buy a hand-crafted, gorgeous little butter keeper, but remember that it’s just a container with a lid. And I bet you have a few of those.

Does unsalted butter go bad if not refrigerated?

How long does unsalted butter last out of the fridge?