Re - defrosting butter.

Leave it in the fridge unless you're going to use it soon, say within the next 8 hours.

OK. Thanks, R1.

Why would you need to freeze butter? It lasts for a couple months in the fridge.

I'll add that most Americans refrigerate butter, but it's not necessary if your home is maintained at a comfortable temperature. In the old days, before central air, you'd have a mess on your hands if you left butter unrefrigerated, and you'd risk having it turn rancid. I have a covered butter dish that sits on the counter. It's nice to be able to spread the butter on the morning's toast. On the other hand, if you're planning to use the butter to make pastry, you definitely want it refrigerated.

R3, I freeze butter because I normally buy it at Costco, where it comes bundled-wrapped so that you're buying several pounds of butter at a time.

Sit it on the counter and watch an episode 'Coffee Talk with Linda Richman'. It's like buttah. Watch it melt.

70 views?

LOL

I always buy extra butter and freeze it when it's cheap (prices fluctuate a lot and I do a lot of baking.) What you do with it after you take it out of the freezer depends on how you're going to use it. You can soften or melt it in the microwave, or just let it come to fridge temperature in the refrigerator. Remember that unsalted butter doesn't keep as long as salted butter.

Salted butter doesn't need to be refrigerated. That was the original purpose of salting the butter, to presrve it. Unless you use a pat of it only once a month, that stick of butter can sit in your butter dish for a week or so.

Who goes though a stick of butter in a week?

There was a great bit on Everybody loves Raymond where Ray and Debra are at a restaurant and they’re looking for anything to talk about....finally they start talking about the bread and butter, and how the butter is the perfect temperature slash density. Cool (so you know it’s not rancid) yet spreadable. Butter is almost always too fucking frozen in restaurants.

R9 Is that you Jeffery?

Me R9. I go through two at least.

A butter crock (beurrier) keeps butter fresh longer at room temperature. It's designed to keep butter submerged in water while sitting on your counter.

I don't use a whole lot of butter, but occasionally, I make Hollandaise sauce, or bake a quiche, and then I use plenty of butter. For Hollandaise, I melt the butter in the microwave, but for a quiche crust, I keep it refrigerated until right before I create the dough, and then put the dough back into the refrigerator after rolling out the dough, to let it rest. If you want soft, spreadable butter, but you're afraid to leave it out on the counter, you can bring it to room temperature, put it in a mixing bowl, and whisk an equal amount of olive oil into it, then put it in a covered container, and put it in the fridge. It will remain soft and spreadable. BTW, that 'butter flavor' they add to microwave popcorn actually comes from rancid butter, not fresh butter. When I have access to plenty of nice vegetables, I do use quite a bit of butter, since it makes vegetables like fresh peas, steamed broccoli and braised lettuce especially delicious.

That butter I posted a pic of "President" - comes in that plastic container which seems to keep the butter perfectly for easy spreading straight from the fridge.

[quote]A butter crock (beurrier) keeps butter fresh longer at room temperature. It's designed to keep butter submerged in water while sitting on your counter.

I used to use one of those, but the butter kept falling into the water.

Never had that happen to me, r16, and I've had one for many years. Maybe your butter wasn't soft enough when you slapped it on, or maybe it wasn't packed well enough.

If you're going to spread butter on toast, bagel, etc, please use good salted European butter. Life is too short to use ordinary butter.

R18 I love Kerri butter, I think better than President.