Refrigerator door was open for 9 hours

[GB]

Let the lurking continue. Whats up BT and Hoot?

Bucky, have you ever seen those butter bells (Google it if not). It is a bell shaped container in 2 pieces. The vutter goes in the top of the bell and then you turn it upside down (right side up?) and place that in the 2nd piece which is a little dish you fill with water. You change the water every few days. The bell lets you keep the butter out for a long time. I am too forgetful to deal with changing water every few days so I don't use one myself, but I love the idea.

 

[GotGarlic]

I always leave the butter out in a glass butter dish with a lid. Until it gets too hot and it starts to melt. We probably use a stick of butter within a week, and it's always fine.

Freak-out time! I lived aboard a sailboat with my uncle and his girlfriend for a five-week trip down the Intracoastal Waterway. He had just finished a trip around the world with no refrigeration. She made a big pot of soup and boiled it for a few minutes every day - no problems. We ate sandwiches with unrefrigerated mayonnaise most days - no problems. People are way too worried about these things, imo.

 

[GotGarlic]

Let the lurking continue. Whats up BT and Hoot?

Bucky, have you ever seen those butter bells (Google it if not). It is a bell shaped container in 2 pieces. The vutter goes in the top of the bell and then you turn it upside down (right side up?) and place that in the 2nd piece which is a little dish you fill with water. You change the water every few days. The bell lets you keep the butter out for a long time. I am too forgetful to deal with changing water every few days so I don't use one myself, but I love the idea.

I also have a butter bell, but the butter doesn't stay in it very well. The dish works better for me.

 

[pacanis]

What is the purpose of the water in the butter bell?

 

[GB]

I always assumed it was to create a barrier to keep air out.

 

[pacanis]

Interesting. I guess the water is supposed to keep the butter cool, too.
Although I can't imagine it would take long to reach room temp.
How to Use Butter Bell & Crock: ButterBell Butter Keeper

 

[GotGarlic]

What is the purpose of the water in the butter bell?

Butter absorbs off odors and flavors easily from other foods, so the water helps to prevent that.

 

[Alix]

BT, I leave butter on the counter too. Often for a LOT longer than 5 days. However, it is next to the outside wall so unless I move it away from the wall it can be as hard as if it had been in the fridge.

 

[Barbara L]

In California we always left a stick of butter in a glass butter dish on the dining room table. We kept the rest of it in the refrigerator (and some in the freezer if we had a lot). Here in South Carolina I can't leave butter out very long during the warmer months. I hate having to deal with hard butter out of the refrigerator, especially if I want to spread it on bread or anything kind of delicate.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Butter never sees refrigeration until it hits the groshreee store. Same with eggs.

 

[Dawgluver]

I remember Mom and Grandma leaving their butter out all the time. And in Mexico, eggs are on huge pallets in the middle of the store, no refrigeration.

Hmm. I always hate tearing my toast with cold butter, may start leaving butter out too.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I think that butter and cheddar cheese both improve when left out.

IMO American sweet cream butter does not have much flavor. If you leave it out to ripen for a few days it begins to taste more like the imported butter made with cream that has been allowed to age and slightly sour.

Growing up we always had a small glass dome with a 1/2 pound of sharp cheddar cheese under it and a butter dish with a stick of butter. Today I don't use much of either and I usually forget to set it out ahead of time.

 

[Andy M.]

Eggs stored at room temperature deteriorate seven times faster than refrigerated eggs. That's OK unless you buy a lot of eggs and don't use them before they spoil.

The supermarkets in Aruba used to stack cartons of eggs on the floor in front of the chilled display cases. They didn't bother to put them into the cases until tourists complained.

 

[pacanis]

I love cold butter. Especially on toast, though spreading it can be difficult. I love taking a bite of warm toast with cold butter on it. Heaven.
I really don't butter enough things to warrant keeping some out, even though I know you can.

 

[Kylie1969]

Cold butter is the best!

 

[Dawgluver]

All right, I'll put it back in the fridge. Sheesh.

 

[buckytom]

cold butter has it's merits.

jammed onto the heel of a loaf of crusty italian bread, then dipped into a simmering pot of sunday gravy so the tomato "gravy" partially melts the butter into the bread. you then bite into the rhapsody of nutty crust, cold and melted sweet and salty butter, and rich, savory gravy, all at the same time.




i need a cigarette.

 

[pacanis]

Oh yeah.
Smooshing some into the heel of Italian bread and dunking it into some red gravy rocks

 

[Hoot]

I recall when I was young, we depended on our farm for many things. The menfolk would go out to the fields, and work....hard. The womenfolk tended to household duties including preparing the mid-day meal...Lunch was called dinner, back then....dinner was called supper. After the noon meal, the leftovers sat right there on the table, covered with a linen cloth...all day. The butter was in a dish right there on the table as well. When I got home from school, I made myself a snack before gong out to do my chores. At the end of the day, those leftovers were reheated (no microwaves in those days) and another pan of biscuits was made. There was not much left after supper and what was left was collected to augment the feed for the hogs the next day.. This routine was followed for as long as I can remember (I am nigh on to 60 now) until most of my aunts and uncles passed away (BTW, they all lived to see their 90th birthday or more.) There was never, that I can recall, a single incident of trouble with the leftovers.
Now, I am certainly not espousing this as the best way.. I am just saying that that is the way things were done back then. I miss those days.


Hang on BT, I will join you for that cigarette.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I recall when I was young, we depended on our farm for many things. The menfolk would go out to the fields, and work....hard. The womenfolk tended to household duties including preparing the mid-day meal...Lunch was called dinner, back then....dinner was called supper. After the noon meal, the leftovers sat right there on the table, covered with a linen cloth...all day. The butter was in a dish right there on the table as well. When I got home from school, I made myself a snack before gong out to do my chores. At the end of the day, those leftovers were reheated (no microwaves in those days) and another pan of biscuits was made. There was not much left after supper and what was left was collected to augment the feed for the hogs the next day.. This routine was followed for as long as I can remember (I am nigh on to 60 now) until most of my aunts and uncles passed away (BTW, they all lived to see their 90th birthday or more.) There was never, that I can recall, a single incident of trouble with the leftovers.
Now, I am certainly not espousing this as the best way.. I am just saying that that is the way things were done back then. I miss those days.


Hang on BT, I will join you for that cigarette.

I agree with you Hoot!

American's have traded plain old common sense for some pretty strong phobias against dirt, germs etc...