Do You Refrigerate Butter? What You Must Know

Should you refrigerate my butter? – This is one of the statements you would constantly make as a cook trying to be the best in what you do. To clear this out, you should have in mind that butter can be refrigerated. It does not matter if it is salted or not; all butter should be kept in the refrigerator. And yes refrigerating your butter has no effect whatsoever on the taste or appearance.

However, emphasis should be on the word “no effect” because you can only achieve a perfect and original butter after refrigerating if you can abide by the tips I am gonna show you here on; how to refrigerate your butter. Let’s get to the main discussion of the day.

Can You Refrigerate Butter?

Yes, you can. You can refrigerate your butter to preserve it, solidify it, or keep it fresh. While butter lasts long opened or unopened, freezing it is one of the best ways to elongate its shelflife.

SEE: Do You Know the Foods You Can Freeze?

How to Refrigerate Butter

1. Freeze by sticks

To refrigerate your butter, you should keep them in sticks, if they do not come in containers made by the producers. Some butter brands come in containers so to freeze this type of butter; you do not need to scrape it out into sticks but rather confirm if the seal of the container is tight.  

Moreover, refrigerating food items is one of the easiest things you can ever do as a cook if you know the foods to refrigerate. For your butter, when you are done putting your butter on sticks, add foil paper to the storage bag before placing it in the bag. This is to avoid your butter smearing on the bag which will outrightly reduce the quantity of your butter.

2. Refrigerate immediately

Having used the awesome tricks and tips of shopping for your grocery I gave here, you are left with sorting out your item.

If packets of butter are included in the grocery content, sorting it out requires immediate storage in the refrigerator.

Additionally, some stores do not put their butter in the freezer; hence, if you get your butter from these types of stores storing immediately will not be an urgent option for you. This is because you are sure to have your butter safe and still tasty even till the next day. Notwithstanding, when you remember to refrigerate do not hesitate to do so.

For stores that place their butter in open stalls,  you are under compulsion to place your butter in the refrigerator immediately after you get home.

3. Keep in the original wrapper

Removing your butter from its original placement will affect its freezing rate. Besides, you are going through a stressful state when you decide to remove it and place it in another container. Butters are packed in foil papers or plastic containers. Similarly, the foil papers and containers are made specifically to keep your butter compact and safe to consume as long as you preserve it properly.  

One of the original wrappers is well made to prevent exposure to air, and bacteria infestation which can make it spoil and poisonous for you. More importantly, the original wrappers or containers of your butter will prevent other food aromas that can contaminate your butter.

SEE: Top Kitchen Safety Tips for Your Home

4. If left unwrapped, use instantly

In food preparation, getting your food items ready for use requires you to pour some of the quantity of your butter into a plate. This butter left in the open needs to be used completely. This is also why you have to measure the amount of butter needed.

Trust you know you do not necessarily need to have a measurement scale you can make perfectly make kitchen measurements with your hands.

All unwrapped butter must be used immediately when you notice such.

SEE: How Much Salt Is In Salted Butte?

5. You can place your butter in the freezer

There was once a time when I had tried placing my butter in the freezer. To my surprise, it turned out well. That day, I added to my knowledge that freezers are also good at preserving butter.

Furthermore, the only difference between storing your butter in a freezer and a refrigerator is that you need to embed extra foil paper around your butter before placing it in the freezer. Therefore, the cooling rate of freezers is a bit faster and quite complicated compared to fridges. You can find out more about the difference between a freezer and a refrigerator here.

Frozen butter takes longer hours to thaw therefore you need to remove them about an hour before your food preparation. Also, frozen butter can last as long as 6 months when wrapped properly as I have advised.

Hint:

  • Do not freeze your butter for more than  6 months. From the seventh month, it goes sour and might be bad for consumption.
  • Never refreeze a thawed butter you removed from the freeze there are chances that you can lose the original taste of the butter.

6. Use butter when needed                                                      

The nutritional component of butter makes its preservation process very complicated. Butters are best preserved longer when you remove them from the refrigerator only when they are needed. Here, you have to be careful with the extra portions you remove. Also, not using all the portion of butter means wastage. An instinct perception or eye gauge will suffice in this scenario.

7. Never leave at room temperature

Do not leave your butter at room temperature no matter the urgency. Butter left at room temperature will get worse and rancid. They are incompatible with room temperature; when they are stored at this temperature they smell bad and become harmful for human consumption.

SEE: How to Win a Gift Card at Giant Foods

How to Thaw Frozen Butter

You can thaw your butter in two different ways. The first is to thaw leaving it outside the refrigerator and the second way to thaw is to leave it in the refrigerator for about 6 to 7 hours when the temperature is changed.

Remember Betty Butter the best baker in town? Betty knows the secret of using soft butter and that is why she recommends thawing your butter before you can add it to your dough. For Betty, she claims the act of grating your refrigerated butter will make it thaw quickly.

How smart! A grated frozen butter will get thawed in minutes unlike the time-wasting idea of leaving it out to stay for approximately an hour or more.

SEE: Can You Freeze Peanut Butter?

Frequently Asked Questions

What can you cook with your refrigerated butter?

Baked foods need cold butter to make the yeast rise well and steaming a smooth process. Your cookies, cupcakes, and pie crust are great examples of food items you can use your refrigerated butter for.

Moreover, the beautiful thing about using refrigerated butter for your baking is that you could add it to the food at any time. It can come in when the flour is being mixed or when the pan is placed in the oven.

How long should you refrigerate your butter?

Salted butter can stay refrigerated for as long as 12 months and unsalted could stay for approximately six months.

What are the types of butter available at stores?

There are six main types of butter. They include:

  • Whipped butter
  • Butter like spread
  • Sorta real or spreadable butter
  • Cultured butter
  • Sweet cream butter which is also called salted butter
  • Salted butter

Conclusion

I hope have been able to clear the assumptions on if you could refrigerate your butter. However, take note of the tips and technicalities on how you can refrigerate it so your butter can last long as wish. Well not as long as over 6 months, that shouldn’t be an option.

Thanks for reading.

Learn more food safety guides here on Cheffist.