How Long Can You Actually Keep Butter On The Counter?

Butter on the counter versus butter in the fridge: it's an age-old question that has divided home cooks. Those that advocate for keeping butter in a dish in the kitchen argue that cold butter is not spreadable or easy to utilize in baking. On the other hand, folks that keep their butter in the refrigerator believe that, because it is a dairy product, it needs to stay chilly. Who is right ... if there is even a right answer at all?

Turns out that the "fridge butter" crowd has the right idea. No matter which brand of butter you buy from the grocery store, it shouldn't sit out for longer than four hours. For one, leaving butter out long-term can affect not just how it looks, but how it tastes as the fats readily pick up odors. It's also playing a tricky game with food safety, as the fridge advocates will surely tell you.

Undoubtedly, this news is going to miff a contingent of consumers, namely those who want spreadable butter. What is someone who loves cooking to do without access to readily-available room temperature butter? Luckily, there are ways to warm butter in a hurry when you need it without sacrificing food safety or quality of taste.

First off, step away from the microwave. Using this appliance is simply not a reliable way to soften butter, especially for baking, because it heats the fat too quickly. The best way to get butter to room temperature is to let it sit out, but softening a whole stick of butter that way can take a long time. How do you get around that if you didn't prep properly?

One solution is to slice your butter —or, better yet, grate it — and then leave the smaller pieces to sit. Utilizing this method can cut down your softening time from one to two hours for a full stick to just 15 minutes for slices, or as little as five minutes for grated.

Another favorite hack of ours is softening butter with a rolling pin by rolling it out flat. Similar to how the slicing or grating trick works, a thin sheet of butter will soften much more easily and quickly than a solid stick. As you can see, there's really no need to leave your butter sitting out and risk it going bad. Soft butter is never more than a few minutes away if you think smart!