Earlier today around 1030am i took out a completely frozen block of unsalted butter and put it on the counter with plans to make some cookie dough this afternoon. At 2:00 it was still pretty frozen so i left it there. Then thats when i got busy and ended up going out for dinner etc.. So just now i realized it was up there. It feels cool, the house has been around 69degrees all day. Is the unsalted butter still ok to use or should i ditch it? I don't want to make anyone sick.

Suzanne

Oh its fine, here i leave butter out on the counter all the time. Unless its so hot that it will melt, its nice to have softened butter handy.

. . . ditto as above . . .

I have done the same thing.. I refridgerated the butter and actually used it a couple of days later with no ill effects.

I always leave a stick of butter on the counter so it is soft. Never been sick from it.

My husband stores real butter in the cabinet all the time. We have never had a problem. I keep the cooking butter in the fridge and soften as needed.

Room temperature butter never hurt anyone (that I know). I always leave some out just to have it available (toast, quick icing, etc) except in the middle of summer.

yep, its fine

I always leave my butter at room temp. I have a cabinet just for my cake stuff and I keep my butter in there. Even when I was growing up my mom alwasy kept a stick of butter in a butter dish on the counter.

whew, thanks everyone..i feel better now. ;0) It's so expensive i hate to waste it. I guess i will be making some dough tommorrow.

Oh, yeah! Glad to know I'm not the only one. There's always a stick of butter on the counter and some in the butter dish.

I saw a shoe were they said if you could try to leave the butter out over night so it was completly @ room temp.



Blanca

oh goodness yes it's still ok. like everyone else, growing up there was a stick of butter on the counter (in a butter dish lol ) mom keeps it in the cupboard all the time. she found out that butter doesn't really go bad. it's one molecule away from plastic. even flies won't touch it!! but the cat will....

Glad I found this topic...I left two sticks out since yesterday and was just wondering if I could use them tonight. Now I know.

Thanks.

Yeah.. it's not butter that is almost plastic.. it's margarine.

I leave butter out too. I have it in the freezer until I need it and then I take it out and I also keep a stick in the cupboard in a butter dish since I like soft butter for toast and things like that.

WHEW!! I am glad to hear I am not in the minority with the whole butter thing. I have always left my butter out .... also grew up that way.. but here lately I have been catching flack from some health nuts saying it is wrong

Just to add this straight from the mouth of the 2nd in charge of the local health dept. :

Plain butter is not potentially hazardous and is fine left at room temperature.

So, I leave mine out a lot too!

I intentionally take my butter out the night before I make cake or icing so that it is super soft and ready to go. As everyone else has stated, I haven't killed anyone yet!

I intentionally take my butter out the night before I make cake or icing so that it is super soft and ready to go. As everyone else has stated, I haven't killed anyone yet!

I ALWAYS LEAVE MY BUTTER OUT, NO PROBLEM

this just made me laugh......not because of the original posters question, but two years ago when i first started making cakes I bought like 8 lbs. of butter (there was a killer sale) and I left them in the grocery bag on the counter (didn't see it) over night and the next morning I opened it up and was like oh shooot!!!!!!!!!1 I threw away all 8 lbs. of butter.......then the NEXT day I was making toast adn reached for my stick of butter in my butter container ON MY COUNTER that had been there for like a week and was like oooooooohhhhh noooooooooooooooooooooo.........what did I do??????? LOL

. . . some light reading . . . the margarine molecule thing . . . http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp

it takes a long time for butter to go rancid. My butter is always on the counter (in a butter dish). sometimes we don't use as much and it stays there for weeks. It has never gone bad. Nor will it go bad in the summer when the house is warmer. seriously, butter lasts for ever at all temperatures! (frozen, cold in fridge and room temp on the counter).

If you take a look at the box there is o where on it that says must be kept refrigerated or refrigerate after opening. Also my health inspector told me it doesn't need to be in there.
Sugar is also a natural preservative so I never put cakes that are finished in the fridge

We cut up pounds upon pounds of butter at the bakery and leave it overnight to soften. It's never gone bad and we don't have air-conditioning in the summer.

I've read that the salt preserves the butter, so unsalted butter might be another story. Not sure though.

my bad. it is margarine im thinking of lol.