The butter bell is pure genius. I haven’t punctured a piece of toast in months. Prior to the Butter bell however, I was a slicer. I’m sorry but you scrapers are savages. Have you no respect for those that come after you?
Does butter have to be refrigerated? My grandma doesn’t refrigerate hers, and I’ve never gotten sick on it. I started out leaving mine on the counter, and then my girlfriend asked what the hell I was doing, and into the fridge it went.
I slice, but with cold butter, you get little hard butter shavings that fly everywhere, so it’s not very efficient. And if whatever you’re putting it on isn’t warm, then you end up having to eat a big chunk of cold butter in one bite, which really isn’t fun. Moreover, the butter in the fridge tastes weird.
Can I leave it out? Pleeeease? Tell me I won’t get sick and die. (The bread I bought at the store already tried to kill me - on its “best by” date, it was covered with mold, and I hadn’t even taken it out of the package. Back to the store it went. It was partially-baked bread, by the way - the sort you stick in the oven for 8 minutes at 425º. Looked like someone sneezed on it. I still don’t feel well, and all I did was pick it up.)
I’m a slicer.
I don’t think you will get sick and die if you leave the stick of butter out. My French class got into a discussion about this once. The teacher said that leaving it out was a “Canadian” thing, and that she thought that out custom of putting it in the refrigerator was silly.
Chalk me up as another butter bell convert. Slicing and scraping, especially to add butter to the morning toast, are both barbaric customs which result in horrors too dreadful to discuss in polite company.
Butter bells, people. Find, buy, use, embrace, love.
Ooooh… must get Butter Bell!
Regarding unrefrigerated butter, it will spoil and become rancid in time, but until it develops a strong odor (the rancid stage, indicating free butyric acid), it doesn’t appear to have any health consequences. The reason for refrigeration is primarily to preserve quality; the butter bell and similar devices keep the butter from spoiling by eliminating exposure to air, so there is very little oxygen available for oxidation. For more, see this food safety page from the University of Wisconsin.
Neither. I eat the stick whole.
What!??! I’m from Wisconsin!
Scraping the butter across the top is an abomination unto the lord; besides which, it leaves the stick looking like the cat’s been at it.
I wish this post wasn’t so old because this is such an intriguing topic for me. I’m going to repost this question in my own format because I’m genuinely interested in other peoples’ preferences when it comes to butter usage.
Personally I slice and scrap. 80% of the time I slice but once in a while I will scrap a stick of butter, particularly if its cold. I don’t like to warm it in the microwave because that can lead to a bad situation if you’re not careful. I’m very particular about butter (margarine), and I only like to use sticks. I don’t use butter in a lot of things, usually just toast, but I like the sensation of spreading it.
Throw some butter in the frying pan and fry the bread. I am pretty sure that any variety of fried bread, used for any purpose is simply better than toast.
I keep sticks in the fridge so one must scrape across the top or sometimes I’ll rub the stick itself across the hot toast but scraping up thin curls is my preference.
I don’t eat butter except for the occasional corn on the cob, and then it’s a slice. But this thread got me to thinking about what I observe others do and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone scrape along the length of the the stick. However, I think I’ve seen most people scrape the end of the stick (as opposed to cutting of a slice).
Hi screech-owl, I know that you started this forum 18 years ago but I hope that you’re still active on here and will read my posts. I was fascinated by your post and loved your description of what a stick of butter that has been scraped resembles (a big swayback valley in the middle of the stick). My parents used both slicing and scraping methods when using butter as I was growing up and I learned from them even though I usually slice. I scrape once in a while but when I do I keep going until only the bottommost layers of the stick remain and then I put a fresh stick in on top of it in the butter dish. I really never liked butter that much and only use it on toast and maybe a couple other applications, but I only use sticks.
I hope to get a response from you, I’d love to read more of your insight.
Try using a French butter keeper. It’s basically a crock that you keep on the countertop. Part of it contains the butter and part of it contains water, which remains cool; and the butter stays fresh but it soft enough to spread.
My husband scrapes. I slice.
I just gouge what I need.
I melt the butter in the MW then use a basting brush to apply it to the bread or whatever else.
Melted butter + toast + garlic salt for quick and easy garlic bread. Yum!
I just spoon it into my mouf.