Is it OK to leave butter out of the fridge in a covered dish?

Question

I always leave my butter in a covered butter dish and not in the fridge as my Gran always used to do it.

I am wondering if it is safe to do? How long should it be kept and will I end up poisoning myself?

I mean out of the fridge always - as in never put it away!

Answer 1

You need to be guided by the weather on this one. If it's not too hot, then it's fine to leave it out as long as it's in a covered dish and away from direct sunlight. (Too hard to spread if kept in the fridge!). If, on the other hand, the weather is unusually hot, you would need to put it into the fridge in order to stop it 'running away'! 40 years ago, when I was first married, many people didn't own a fridge (including us), so in hot weather the butter could only be kept in the coolest place possible, which was usually on a cold slab in the larder; I never experienced butter going 'off'.

Answer 2

It's all according which country you live in - here in the UK during winter you need never put it in the fridge as long as it's covered, - but in a hot climate that would be different. All of these people who are saying only leave it out for half an hour etc. - we didn't have a fridge till I was about eight but we always had good butter in the house - it was kept covered in the larder/pantry, and during the summer we used to keep bottles of milk in a bowl of cold water as well to stop them going off.

Answer 3

Well it's what our Grans used to do way before everybody had fridges and they didn't come to any harm.. My Mum still does it now as she prefers hard block butter to commercial spreads. If it's in the fridge all the time it is just far to hard to spread and you end up ripping your bread apart. She just leaves it somewhere cool and in a covered butter dish.

Answer 4

Well, leaving the butter (also if it is covered) isn't very good choice because some matters contained in butter can be damage to your health (for some days). The butter should be kept in temperature to 10-13 degrees.
P.S.: Maybe your Gran is little bit immune from "small posions".

Answer 5

Yeah, i always leave butter on the table just in case i have a piece of toast, I never put it back in the fridge

But the only time i do is when its summer time because the butter always melts.

i dont cover the top because its already in a container!

Answer 6

It needs to be a proper butter dish that does not allow it to get soft or runny.

You will know when it is off because it will taste rancid.

The dangers are when it gets really warm and runny and then sets again when it gets colder, and back again.

How long this will take depends on the temperatures.

Answer 7

Yes, the only thing it's that it'll get rancid quicker. When rancid butter tastes like a blue cheese, so that tells you it's gone off. Still, I eat it when rancid too as I love that blue cheese taste, is it safe? Nothing has ever happened to me, but wouldn't like to risk it on a child, pregnant woman or elderly person.

Answer 8

I always leave one stick of butter on the counter. I have done this for 20 years and never got sick.

Answer 9

Just make sure to put it on the top level so that nothing drips down on top of it or else it will get contaminated which will result in you getting sick.

EDIT: Okay, I totally misunderstood your question but heck this is still a good warning anyway.

Answer 10

I',m still alive and healthy. It's how I grew up and how I continue today with my family. It's just too hard from the fridge to spread.