DailyDirt: Butter. Mmm. Butter.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Butter is an awesome addition to nearly any breakfast food (except for cereal, but who knows, have you tried it on cereal?). One of the only problems with butter is that sometimes it's not as spreadable as you'd like it to be. Sure, you can buy special tubs of butter-like substances that are more spreadable, but sometimes you just want a cold pat of real butter on your toast. Here are a few suggestions that could make your life with butter everything you've ever dreamed. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
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Filed Under: butter, butter knife, cutlery, food, spreadable
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  • icon
    djl47 (profile), 22 Aug 2014 @ 5:41pm

    Terracotta Butter Cooler

    The butter grater is a clever idea. An alternative is a terracotta butter cooler. Soak the cover in cold water and fill the rim with water. The water evaporates and keeps your butter cool enough that you'll finish a cube before it goes rancid while it remains soft enough to spread.
    https://www.google.com/search?q=terracotta+butter+cooler

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    WDS (profile), 22 Aug 2014 @ 6:16pm

    butter keeper

    There are butter keepers, that use a water seal to keep the butter from exposure to air. They will keep butter for a long time without it going rancid. It is a two part device, where the part with the butter goes upside down into the part that holds the water for the seal. You can get them a most high end kitchen supply stores. I think most are from France.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2014 @ 7:06pm

    Butter on hot oatmeal! With a bit of maple syrup or some sharp cheddar.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 22 Aug 2014 @ 7:16pm

    My Fridge Has A Butter Conditioner

    My fridge is nearly 25 years old, and has a heated compartment, with 3 temperature settings, for keeping the butter nice and soft.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Andrew D. Todd, 23 Aug 2014 @ 1:47am

    But... the Dogs?

    Well, my relevant anecdote involves, on the one hand, a border collie, bearing the nickname "garbage disposal," on account of her enthusiastic attendance at the dinner table; and, other hand, a stick of butter, incautiously left in a butter dish on an elegant glass-topped coffee table. As Alexandre Dumas Pere expressed it in a similar case, we had (past tense) a border collie. We had had (past perfect tense) a stick of butter. As Dumas went on to observe, no further explanations are needed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Jake, 23 Aug 2014 @ 5:07am

      Re: But... the Dogs?

      Solution: Keep the butter dish on a high shelf.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 23 Aug 2014 @ 7:33pm

      Re: But... the Dogs?

      Some friends of mine own a couple of dogs who operate very efficiently as a similar clean-up squad. But they know that only stuff that falls on the floor* is theirs, the table is off limits.

      *Well, technically, looks like it will hit the floor, or at best makes only momentary contact with the floor before disappearing down a canine gullet. Their speed is amazing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    John Fenderson (profile), 23 Aug 2014 @ 8:20am

    It lasts that long?

    I never refrigerate butter unless I'm making pie crust. Cold butter is evil. I've also never had butter go rancid. Maybe it's because I eat it too fast. Mmm, butter.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 24 Aug 2014 @ 5:31pm

      Re: It lasts that long?

      I live in a mediterranean climate, so I have to refrigerate my butter in the summer to stop it melting, but I usually remember to get it out again before I want to use it.

      Failing that, I just microwave it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        John Fenderson (profile), 25 Aug 2014 @ 8:20am

        Re: Re: It lasts that long?

        During the summer here, things get warm enough to melt the butter. I just put it in a bowl instead of a butter dish during the hot season.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    JM Hanes (profile), 23 Aug 2014 @ 11:21am

    Exactly!

    When you care enough to leave your butter on the counter, it will be long gone before it has a chance to spoil. In high summer, it may melt into a formless blob that's easier to scoop up with a spoon, but there's nothing wrong with it. Why even bother with a butter dish cover, when it just gets in the way?

    I'm not sure most people realize how much time it actually takes for butter to go bad. They'd also be surprised to learn that the extra flavor associated with "Country Butter" comes from allowing it to go slightly rancid in the churn.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 24 Aug 2014 @ 5:35pm

      Re: Exactly!

      In high summer, it may melt into a formless blob that's easier to scoop up with a spoon, but there's nothing wrong with it.


      That depends how high your summers get :)

      Here, it isn't unheard of for it to exceed 40C every day for a week, and even at 35C it is hot enough to melt completely and separate into layers (and that doesn't taste so good).

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        JM Hanes (profile), 24 Aug 2014 @ 7:06pm

        Re: Re: Exactly!

        Don't know where you are, but in my neck of the southeast, it's certainly not unusual to push past 35C for a week to 10 days running. It's only marginally cooler inside my house, because I don't turn on the air conditioning unless my kids come home to visit. Nothing wrong with the separating butter blobs here!

        Maybe you need to try a different brand…. or just consume it faster! ;-)

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Nicci Stevens (profile), 25 Aug 2014 @ 8:19am

    Butter on cereal: chex party mix! FTW!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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