Fridge Butter

[Shawn W]

A while ago I accidentally switched my table butter to unsalted butter when I bought some by mistake. I thought it was fine after I finally realized it by looking at the package so I continued to use unsalted.

In the heat of this summer though I've found the unsalted butter moldy several times already, even though I only put half a stick out at a time. Part of it is due to not getting used, but I'm sure less salt is a factor too. Never seen salted butter mold when keeping any amount on the counter in a butter keeper.

I recalled seeing spreadable butter in the store, but nearly 3 times the price of normal butter so I did a little digging. I looked at a few recipes then tried something that turned out pretty darn good. Here is my recipe, notes follow.

*Fridge Butter*
1 lb butter (2C)
1 1/3C Safflower oil
salt to taste

Allow butter to fully reach room temp on the counter.

Combine butter and oil and blend together with an immersion blender, food processor, mixer or a whisk if feeling energetic.

Add salt to taste then give it another brief mix. I am using 1/2t of salt when starting with unsalted butter.

Place in a container and refrigerate.
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Most recipes I looked at called for Olive Oil, EVOO, or Canola oil at, near or above half oil to half butter which sounded pretty unappealing to me.

I chose safflower oil because it is super healthy, has a very light flavor and mouth-feel compared to the others and won't become solid in the fridge like olive oil ... which is what we are trying to get away from. Safflower oil also has a really high smoke point so the end product should be pretty good for pan frying etc.

My first attempt was with 1C safflower oil to 1lb of butter. Tasty, but still a little too hard for spreading on toast. I let it get to room temp again and added another 1/3C of safflower oil then chilled again. It turned out still a bit firm but ok. Also, the amount your butter knife will carry softens in a real hurry at room temp.

Thanks for hanging in there through a long post. I'd love to hear other's thoughts or recipes on this topic  

[Cajunate]

I have never heard of butter molding before. Do you leave it out covered or uncovered?
We leave ours out in a covered dish on the counter. How long does a stick of butter last out at your house?

I'm cooking lunch for about a dozen people that work at the Parish center of our church for tomorrow. I took a pound of butter out last night to come to room temperature for me to whip today for homemade dinner rolls. I'll consider adding safflower oil depending on how it goes.

[Shawn W]

I have never heard of butter molding before. Do you leave it out covered or uncovered?
We leave ours out in a covered dish on the counter. How long does a stick of butter last out at your house?

I'm cooking lunch for about a dozen people that work at the Parish center of our church for tomorrow. I took a pound of butter out last night to come to room temperature for me to whip today for homemade dinner rolls. I'll consider adding safflower oil depending on how it goes.

We keep our butter covered. We might use a stick in 3 days or maybe 3 weeks. Regardless, I always used to put it out half pound or a pound at a time. Sometimes it would rancidify if it got old but never mold (mold appears as inexplicable black areas in the butter in my case). The unsalted butter is going moldy on me in under a week.

The  idea of adding oil to the butter is to be able to keep the butter in the fridge AND keep it spreadable at the same time.

For the party 'whipped butter' I would not be opposed to adding a bit of safflower oil just for taste and effect I was really surprised how much I liked it.

Note: I had to throw out a very old bottle of safflower oil from my pantry that had gone off and bought a new one.

[Cajunate]

The  idea of adding oil to the butter is to be able to keep the butter in the fridge AND keep it spreadable at the same time.

For the party 'whipped butter' I would not be opposed to adding a bit of safflower oil just for taste and effect I was really surprised how much I liked it.

I like the idea of it being more easily spreadable and if there is any leftover it can be stuck back in the fridge and still be easy to use later.