Hey there Internet.
Seems like you maybe were a bit… erm… grossed out by my admission the other day.
You know. The one where I said RANCID BUTTER had been reclining behind my toaster oven for at least a week.
Listen, I get it. It was a poor choice of words. I know the word “rancid” is kind of barf-inducing. But let me tell you… Rancid butter doesn’t even have an aroma. And rest assured there were no bugs involved. Nor was there any mold or discoloration of any kind.
And that brings me to a question…
Isn’t butter that’s been sitting outside of a fridge always rancid?
I mean, as long as it’s been sitting outside of the fridge for a few days?
That was my impression, although ADMITTEDLY I might be mistaken, considering I couldn’t find anything to that effect on the Internets.
Although ADMITTEDLY I didn’t search for very long. Turns out I have limited patience for looking up facts about butter and its spoiling point.
My belief in the Rancidity of Non-Refrigerated Butter is rooted in a comment made by the bespectacled Christopher Kimball on either Cook’s Country or America’s Test Kitchen. (Which our DVR records every week, by the way. If you aren’t watching these shows, you are missing out on much deliciousness and mildly lame cookery-related banter!) If Christopher Kimball says something about food, I believe him. He could tell me that eggs are alien tracking devices and sugar is unicorn skin and I would be like, “Yes, I agree.” And if he told me that porpoise blubber was better than olive oil for sautéing mushrooms, I would immediately seek out my closest local porpoise blubber purveyor. (HUMANE porpoise blubber purveyor, people. I am not into senselessly hurting beautiful marine animals.)
Although… hmmm… Now that I think about it, maybe my belief in the Rancidity of Non-Refrigerated Butter comes from my mother-in-law, who refrigerates her butter with great vigor. And is, I’m pretty sure, quite creeped out by the fact that my husband and I leave our butter out on the counter forever and ever amen. Or at least until all the butter is gone. (Note: It doesn’t last all that long around here. Because I like me some butter. Also, the other day I made macarons with butter cream and chocolate ganache filling [more on that to come if anyone cares] and I kept effing things up so I used LITERALLY a pound and a half of butter. I am not someone who uses the word “literally” liberally. So yeah.)
Okay, so I’m not 100% sure where my belief in the Rancidity of Non-Refrigerated Butter comes from. I could have dreamt it for all I remember.
But it matters not, for I have always been a butter-leaver-outer. I have little patience for cold slabs of butter that refuse to spread on toast or English muffins.
Rancid or not, that’s the way I like my butter. And I’m not dead yet.
P.S. Since I KNOW that my mother-in-law gets the heebie jeebies from the unrefrigerated butter, I make sure to serve her fresh, cold butter when she comes to visit. Just in case you were worried about her. I CARE, Internet.
P.P.S. Doubtless, some readers are feeling a little surprised that I would be so. very. picky. about so. many. things. and yet be perfectly fine with the Rancid Butter. To you I say, I am COMPLICATED. And also, I never pretended not to have Serious Double Standards That Make Little Sense to Anyone Not Inhabiting My Strange and Messed Up Brain Space.
P.P.P.S. I’m not the only one who does this, right? Not “has weird and cracked out double standards” – but “leaves the butter out on the counter.” I mean, that’s the sole reason butter dishes EXIST, right?
P.P.P.P.S. I am not really sure why I’m writing this post as though it’s a letter. I realize that, in reality, it’s just ME writing to MYSELF on the Internet. If someone chooses, out of the goodness of her heart, to RESPOND to my rantings, well then that only makes me LESS crazy, not NOT-crazy.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P. Oh screw it.
I am suddenly realizing that MAYBE you were grossed out not by the Rancid Butter Factor, but by the fact that I didn’t clean behind my toaster oven in so long that there was BUTTER back there. UNNOTICED.
Well. I don’t really have a defense for that. BUT I actually DO clean behind the toaster oven more often than never. Otherwise I wouldn’t have FOUND the butter in the first place.
Other places I clean more often than never:
– The DVDs on our TV stand
– The wine glasses hanging upside-down in our wine “bar”
– The little-used electric piano
– The faucets
– The floor under the couches, dining table, and coffee table
– The door handles
– The wall adjacent to the stove
– The inside of the freezer
– The bathroom scale
Places I am (newly) afraid to clean:
– The guest bathroom bathtub, which has become The Place Where Spiders Go to Die (I’m afraid to look behind the shower curtain. Mainly because the last time I looked behind it [usually, I check behind there periodically to make sure no murderers are waiting there to pounce on me] [I wish I were joking] there were two crispy spider corpses in the bathtub. At least, I assume they were crispy. The thing is, I can’t remember if I actually DISPOSED OF the spider corpses or if I just tried to nudge my husband into doing it for me by leaving the shower curtain open… And if I did the latter, which is more likely, I don’t know if he actually took the bait or just closed the shower curtain without even noticing the arachnid corpses. [Or if he DID spot them but decided to overlook them. Like I did.] So now I am afraid to open the shower curtain lest I come face-to-face with MORE spider corpses… Or, worse, LIVE spiders. I mean, the dead ones have to come from SOMEWHERE, right? The thought of a Spider Death Trap in my guest bathroom gives me some serious willies. I never thought that “bathtub spider death trap” would trump “murderers,” but so be it.)
Well. That took an unexpected turn.
Anyway. Butter. Turns out to be a more convoluted subject than meets the eye.
You have no idea how excited this post on rancid butter made me. I’m not weird, I promise.
I’m working on my Masters in Food Science. And since most people hear this and think it’s a glamorized version of the home economics class you took in 9th grade, it’s not. It means I can answer your question. 🙂
The best place for your butter is in an airtight container… in your freezer. No one actually stores it there, though. Your butter, being left out on the counter, is probably rancid if it’s not in an airtight container – which few butter dishes are. (Although I’m not up on the latest and greatest of butter dishes – I don’t have one. That’s what the wedding registry is for.) Rancidity is caused by lipid (fat, ie, butter) oxidation, which is caused by (surprise!) oxygen. The reason people get grossed out is because they think rancid equals spoiled. It doesn’t. Rancidity happens when fatty foods is exposed to light or air (also why you should never keep your pretty bottles of olive oil where anyone can see them – when they go rancid they smell like paint, yum.) Spoiled foods have a high microbial count – and can make you sick. Rancid foods won’t make you sick, unless the “off” taste or smell turns your stomach.
I’m not sure why your rancid butter doesn’t have a bad smell or taste to it, maybe that particular brand is pumped full of antioxidants so it’s just not going rancid that fast. Or maybe you go through it quickly, like you said. Or maybe rancid butter doesn’t really have a smell. I’m not sure on that one; part of me wants to leave a stick of butter out for a few days and then sniff/taste it.
OK… maybe I am a little weird.
I have heard/seen other people leave their butter on the counter or in the pantry. And it is safe, as long as it’s made from pasteurized milk, which unless you’re purchasing from the Amish, it most likely is.
Hope that helps! 🙂
I KNEW IT!
Thank you for enlightening me. 🙂
We leave our butter on the counter too. No troubles with unpleasant tastes or smells—just nice soft butter.
I don’t have butter on toast or anything, but if you use it to bake cookies and stuff you almost always need it at room temperature, so I try to leave it on the counter too.
Also, macarons?? I’d love to see pictures!
I don’t typically leave my butter out (but then again I don’t use a lot of butter), but I HAVE been the kind of person to obsessively check behind shower curtains. I don’t do it in my own home anymore, but in anyone else’s home I do. I, too, want to ensure there are no creepy murderers behind the curtain (or dudes that want to listen to me pee, because… just as creepy, no?).
I totally leave my butter out! How the hell else are you supposed to spread it? If it’s real butter, it has to be left out. 😀 I use butter daily on pancakes, oatmeal, etc, and it has to be spreadable. I also got this from my mom, as she is a butter leaver outer. You are not alone!`
I never encountered butter on the counter until spending more time in my (woah this is my first time saying this) future mother in law’s kitchen. They have both cold and not-cold butter and you know what? I actually enjoyed the convienience of having butter at room temperature. With that being said, I still haven’t been able to muster up the courage to leave out butter at our house.
My butter hangs out in the fridge. I just can’t deal with leaving it out 🙂
I broke up with a guy in high school and the sole reason behind my heartbreaking ways was that he and his mother left the butter out on the counter. I was repulsed and grossed out, never ate over there again, and that’s the end of the story. I’ll leave butter out to soften to make cookies and other baked goods, but the butter thing brings out strong emotions in me. (What I’m learning from the comments I leave on your site is that I have strong opinions about everything you write about…)
I was actually HOPING you would have strong feelings on this! And you did not disappoint!
(Seriously. I thought long and hard about leaving you a comment on your blog that said, “So… How do ya feel about BUTTER?”)
See, now I’M confused about how one should or should not keep their butter! I always kept it in a butter dish, on the counter, and when it’s gone I wash the dish and add a new stick from the fridge.
AND NOW I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS BAD!
But, I too hate cold butter. It just doesn’t smear! So seeing as Adam and I are still alive, and I’ve ALWAYS kept my butter in a butter dish on the counter, I’m ok, right?
This is a surprisingly confusing topic.
God, I love your blog. I am captivated by a post on rancid butter. Even the comments are great – a food scientist weighs in? Fabulous! I love it.
I myself am a butter in the fridge sort of gal, but I don’t really use it for anything other than baking. Also, that’s where my parents kept it growing up. I’m a firm believer in learned behaviors. You get comfortable with what you know. At least that’s the crutch I use to explain to my husband why THE TOASTER DOES NOT BELONG ON THE COUNTER, IT BELONGS IN THE CUPBOARD FOR THE LOVE. That’s the way my mother did it, that’s the way it shall be done. I find this excuse, ahem..reason, works for nearly anything.
You are absolutely fantastically hilarious. I’m pretty sure I got tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at this: ‘He could tell me that eggs are alien tracking devices and sugar is unicorn skin and I would be like, “Yes, I agree.”’ Awesome.
As for the “rancid butter” issue, my mom always left our butter in a dish on the counter and I grew up just fine (although “fine” might be a debatable term). I leave ours in the fridge because we hardly ever use butter on toast/bread/whatnot but if we did, I would totally leave it on the counter. Nothing worse than trying to scrape hardened butter on your bread and causing a bunch of holes.
Best comment ever, thanks, podiatrist’s girlfriend, for clearing that up. Now OccDoc and I won’t be so worried about our butter killing us when we accidently leave it out. Butter is a luxury in this household and we use it very sparingly. That’s what happens when two fatties get married. Sigh, butter.
This made me laugh out loud. I am an in-the-fridge kind of girl, only b/c that’s how my parents did it, and I always assumed it would go bad on the counter. But the thought of having soft, spreadable butter for toast is appealing…leave it to you to make me think long and hard about butter. 🙂
1. You are not alone. I have debated this with several of my friends. Seriously.
2. Turns out, we’re about evenly split: Half embrace the rancid butter and leave it out; half refrigate theirs. I, for one, choose chilled butter. But I don’t judge those that leave it out. We’re a divided world, and I’m OK with that;)
I.AM.DYING.
I should take a picture of my current rancid stick of butter sitting out on the counter on an orange kids plate… I ran out of margarine (which I usually use) and now the butter sits getting all rancid-y but I can’t stand cold butter because it doesn’t spread on the bread properly. It rips it up!!
So I am there with you. With nasty butter on my counter.
Forever and ever. Amen.
I have always thought that it is perfectly safe and acceptable to leave your butter out on the counter. My uncle actually left his out on the counter on a plate for years. Until he kept finding little scratches on it. He was perplexed. Then, a week later, he found mouse poop on the counter next to the butter with little scratches on it. So now he keeps his butter in the fridge.
Now, I’ve always kept my butter in the fridge, but that is just because I like my counters clear. Since I keep my butter in the fridge, I buy the spreadable butter. It’s Land O Lakes, I think, and it has a little bit of canola oil mixed in so that you can spread it from the fridge.
Is your butter dish a regular butter dish or is it one of those fancy upside down ones that keep the butter in water?
Most awesomest post ever.
I will not, under any circumstance, leave the butter out. But my husband does. He says it tastes better that way. But he also loves margerine. So yeah, don’t trust him.
I’m a big fan of soft butter. Spreadable, soft, room temperature butter. Mmmm. My husband, on the other hand, is very much like you MIL – he belongs to the cold butter camp and refuses to understand the pure genius of soft spreadable butter. One day I’ll convert him!!
I leave my butter out! Otherwise, as you said, it’s unspreadable.
Also, while I’m not afraid of spiders, I do always think Jeffrey Dahmer is hiding in the corners of my bedroom when I get up to pee in the middle of the night. It’s…unpleasant.
Hilarious post.
And I, too, prefer “rancid” butter. I like my butter soft. We used to keep it outside the fridge when I was growing up. Now that I’m married to C though the butter is cold. All the time. And it’s most frequently not even butter, but Smart Balance. Sigh. I miss soft butter.
I’m impartial on the butter subject (probably because I can’t eat dairy). But I did want to state that I believe our brains may work in an eerily similar fashion…It’s always so easy to jump aboard your [crazy] train and nod along in agreement!
I don’t know if I should be glad or terrified that my particular brand of crazy is, apparently, contagious.
I used to always leave my butter out in a butter dish. But I don’t use butter very often. I mean, really not very often. About 2 years ago, I made myself some cinnamon toast with butter that had been out for who knows how long, and, let me tell you, you KNOW when the butter actually is rancid. I am surprised the one bite of my cinnamon toast that I took did not kill me, or at least make me sick, despite the fact that I spit it out immediately.
So, now my butter stays in the fridge.
I don’t own a toaster or a toaster oven, so you can imagine that there aren’t many times where I am wishing I could spread butter on something more easily. And when I am, to the microwave it goes.
That said, I do not think it is gross in the least to leave butter out.
i have never in my 55 years ever had butter anywhere except the kitchen counter or cupboard.. it is not rancid or spoiled or anything else. i think people are just being panty waists.. or at the very least getting their panties in a wad…
I think the whole point of butter bells is that you’re SUPPOSED to leave butter out (although, I admit, I don’t). Anyway, they’re specially made to have the airtight seal that podiatrist’s girlfriend talked about, so kudos to the Food Science lady for enlightening us all 🙂
Research done for you!:
http://www.ltremain.com//page_display.php/how-it-works?url=how-it-works
Wow, you can even write a post about butter and keep it interesting, and, shall I say, even exciting. I’m very impressed – and also somewhat enlightened on the subject. Thanks.
Our butter stays out as well. I hate cold, unspreadable butter.
I have always been a fridge girl. Now that I live in Australia, I feel that’s definitely the right decision for this climate. I think it would get really sweaty and gross on the counter. I’m not opposed to trying it, though. Hmm.
Might I add a suggestion. Although it is not as attractive as a butter dish, the light butter (not margarine) that land o lakes light butter in the tub is good and it is soft even though it stays in the fridge haha.
Hilarious butter banter.
p.s. I love that bow tie guy on America’s test kitchen too!
a) I love the way you Capitalize for Emphasis. 🙂
b) No one in Germany refrigerates butter. I think Germany still has a population. So obviously it’s not that bad.
c) My favorite thing about Germany is that they use butter instead of mayo on sandwiches. And no, it’s not refrigerated, but yes it is delicious.
We have always left the butter on the counter in our house and we’re still alive. Covered of course otherwise the dog’s tongue would find it! Yuck. I always figure if my mom does something then it must be the “right way” so there you have it 🙂
I’ve always had butter in the fridge. I love baking so I will leave it out to soften. I once went to a friends house and I was weirded/grossed out by the butter she had on a little saucer in the cuppard. I just quickly closed the door and didn’t use it for my roll. Lol I’m really weird about weird stuff. And I watch Americas Test Kitchen and Cooks Country almost everyweekend.
Our butter stays in the fridge mostly because we have no counterspace. I’m pretty sure butter is OK to stay out on the counter all the time.
Well YOU HAVE TOUCHED A SUBJECT! I grew up with margarine on the table and THEN butter once transfats and hydroginated stuff starting making the news. I LOVE soft butter. I don’t like my toast ripping apart… BUT I married a FrenchMan. Ahem. HE INSISTS that the butter be IN THE FRIDGE. And you don’t use a knife on the butter, you use a special BUTTER KNIFE. So now I use cold butter because I CAN cut little slivers so it doesn’t rip the bread and since this is a HUGE deal to my love, this is one area where I give…
LOL you crack me up. Seriously. Why are you so funny?
My butter is out of the fridge because it doesn’t get rancid.
When I was a teen it was frequent to listen to:
“Did I forget the butter out of the fridge?” “OMG! The butter is rancid! Who forgot to put the butter on the fridge yesterday?”
“Go check of the butter is on the fridge.”
It was an obsession because, yes, butter without all these additives get rancid and it smells and tastes terrible.
During winter it took two days to the butter get rancid. In the summer one day.
But now you can leave the butter out of the fridge without any problem.
It never, I said NEVER, gets rancid. OK?
Free your butter! Poor baby having cold and suffering without a coat in the fridge. This is inhuman.
🙂