# Will butter soften if set out in your kitchen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-butter-soften-if-set-out-in-your-kitchen/1011676 "2024-12-15T16:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-butter-soften-if-set-out-in-your-kitchen/1011676/41 "2024-12-16T19:01:28Z")
I tried a french butter dish but in summer the butter goes rancid (we do not have A/C) and in winter the butter stays fine in a regular butter dish, as the kitchen is only heated to about 55F. I haven’t kept butter on the counter without a heavy cover on it for forty years. Pets. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-butter-soften-if-set-out-in-your-kitchen/1011676/42 "2024-12-16T19:31:40Z")
We have a baseboard heater and a space heater in our kitchen, but we only turn one or the other (or, on rare occasions) both on for the coldest of cold days (think: daytime highs of 20F or below). Further, we hung up a curtain in the little archway separating the kitchen from the rest of the house in order to keep the warm air in the living room from moving into the kitchen (pour one out for energy efficiency, am I right?). HOWEVER, winters here are somewhat forgiving, and winter days with a high of 50-60F aren’t unheard of. All of this is to say that, on our “warmer” winter days, it’s not out of the question that our butter will spread on a winter day. Or, conversely, if we felt like heating the kitchen routinely during the winter (it gets warm enough in there when we cook), it could easily spread on any day during the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-butter-soften-if-set-out-in-your-kitchen/1011676/43 "2024-12-16T20:33:32Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Butter in Europe seems to sometimes have something added so that it is spreadable even right out of the fridge. Not the butter in Switzerland. Especially at a restaurant where the butter is sometimes served on a bed of ice. 🧊 Butter, if left out of the fridge, is spreadable. If it’s left in the fridge, it needs about 30 minutes to reach spreading temperature. We only leave butter out if there’s bread or rolls for buttering. Otherwise it stays in the fridge. Depending on the bread, we might go for olive oil and salt instead of butter. And the butter needs salt as well, as unsalted butter is the default. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-butter-soften-if-set-out-in-your-kitchen/1011676/44 "2024-12-17T10:10:18Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Butter in Europe seems to sometimes have something added so that it is spreadable even right out of the fridge. I don’t like it, I prefer my butter on my bread to have some texture. I do like it, a lot. I use Lurpak Spreadable Butter, which is 23% canola, and I keep it in the fridge. In fact, I keep anything even remotely perishable in the refrigerator, because I live in a place where… let’s just say that it’s December 17 and I’m waiting for winter to start. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-butter-soften-if-set-out-in-your-kitchen/1011676.md?page=2)