Butter Bells...anyone use one?

Cafe Society
1

I just ordered this butter bell and I’m eagerly looking forward to always having butter available at a spreadable temperature without having to microwave it. I find it odd that such a practical item isn’t more widely available here in the States. In all the years I’ve been considering buying one, I’ve only seen one in a retail store, and that was the Viking store in Chicago (I can never get to the Viking store here in Cleveland). I’ve searched at Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table, every kitchenware store I can find to no avail…so I finally decided to treat myself.

So who else uses one? And how do you like it? The only problem I can anticipate is forgetting to refresh the water, but if I put Grandma in charge of that (since she uses the butter everyday) she’ll make out a calendar chart!

2

“Refresh the water”?

We use a butter dish – a glass container sized to fit a pound of butter, with a lid. We use a lot of butter (er, margarine) so we’re able to leave it out of the fridge without worrying about spoilage.

It’s a very pretty dish!

3

How is it different than using a glass or ceramic butter dish? Those also allow you to have spreadable butter…unless I’m confused and it’s not meant to be left out of the fridge.

4

The water is supposed to keep the butter fresher by creating a seal that keeps out any air so the butter can last weeks at room temperature, and the ceramic keeps it cooler so it doesn’t melt, though they do recommend not keeping it out on the counter if it is over 90’ in your kitchen. I don’t use enough butter on a regular basis that a traditional butter dish (the kind that holds a rectangular stick, or as you said, a whole pound) would work…I have lots of those kind of dishes laying about in cupboards! My friend who lives in England says the water-type beurrier is very common around his area…he was surprised that most Americans kept their butter in the fridge.

Judging from comments by people grumbling about the butter ripping their bread because it is too cold, I think there is a vast. number of Americans who think leaving butter out at room temperature is a Bad Thing. They probably think they need to keep eggs cold all the time too. Some people fear germs a lot.

In my case, my parents always kept the butter in the fridge, my husband would always put it back in the fridge if I left it out, and when I leave butter out to soften, it seems to take forever nd a day…and the people helping me bake freak out

5

A pound? 4 sticks?

6

It is a very attractive butter dish, Kittenblue.
I am one of the strange ones who actually does leave the butter out.
I keep a stick of it in a white ceramic butter dish with a small sculpture of a cow on top.
(Nicer-looking than it sounds.)
We don’t use enough butter to need anything larger than that, but that butter bell is pretty cool.

7

Wow, there’s a lot of butter talk on the Dope lately.
We always have a half stick of butter in a butter dish on the counter. Always soft and friendly. It stays out all the time and wehave never had it go bad. You guys worry about butter way too much…

8

Yep. The dish will hold that much, but we usually have just two sticks in the dish, unless it’s a holiday/family dinner.

We luvs our butter.

9

Another user of the rectangular covered butter dish. It fits my rectangular butter.

I’ve never put water on the butter though. It seems to keep well enough without it.

10

So I’ve wasted a ton of money, then?

11

I agree with the ceramic covered butter dish. Butter always stayed out when I was growing up, and I keep it out now. Don’t like margarine -I like butter. My husband starting using that spray stuff after his heart attack and I probably should, too.

12

Well, I could have found a cheaper one for you. I think that yours looks nicer, though, so perhaps you didn’t waste your money.

I keep most of my butter in the freezer, and keep just one stick in the fridge, though.

13

Here’s an explanatory image for those who don’t know how these are supposed to work.

14

No way! Butter bells are super cool and that one’s really pretty.

15

I looked at that style, though not as reasonably priced, and one of the reasons I went with the one I did was that it holds almost twice as much butter, and since when you lift the lid off to serve the butter the lid becomes the serving vessel, the flatter top seemed less tippy when it is set down on the table. Plus, I admit, the cobalt blue sucked me in! We also freeze all our butter…I buy pounds when they go on sale, since I do a huge amount of baking throughout the year.

16

Pretty jar! I like the look of that much better than my standard covered butter dish.

That said, I leave the butter out too, even in its boring old covered dish.

17

I am eyeing the cobalt blue garlic keeper on that same site.

I do a lot of baking in fall/winter, and during that time of year, I too keep butter in the freezer.

18

Thanks for that, I was confused. So, the butter stays under water…when you pull it up to use it, isn’t it all drippy and wet? Seem simpler to just leave a butter dish out on the counter–I’ve never had butter go bad that way. But it is a pretty little dish.

edit: Another question: It looks like you have to soften the butter then shove it into the bell before you submerge it. Correct?

19

Butter is fat, repels water. You could do a quick wipe with a towel on the outside for any drips. Or a quick shake.

20

According to the directions, you have to soften it a tad…one commenter says he does 8 seconds in the microwave…but you have to pack it in there, so you don’t want it too soft to start.

My problem is that in the winter, my kitchen is so cold that even if I left the butter out for a few hours, it doesn’t soften enough! And then I tend to zap it too long in the microwave and it gets TOO soft.