Who has not experienced the frustration of trying to scrape stones out of solid, cold butter in the fridge and spread it out, then break your toast? Or are you struggling to grease a baking pan with stiff, cracked butter? You can leave your butter over the counter to keep it soft and spreadable, but when the butter is exposed to light and air, it can become rancid in just a few days. Fortunately, a solution to this problem exists, and it is not a new kitchen gadget, but rather an invention of the 19th century. Butter crock is a cleverly designed container, first made in France with ceramic, designed to keep your butter soft but fresh for a few weeks at room temperature. Here are 10 butter keepers-
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DOWAN Porcelain Butter Dish
Whether you prefer to keep your butter in the refrigerator or at room temperature at the table, the DOWAN Porcelain Butter Dish is tuned to keep the maximum amount of butter fresh as long as possible. This porcelain bathtub offers plenty of storage space, consisting of two West Coast (short) sticks or East Coast sticks (full), or an 8-ounce cube of European butter. When stored at room temperature, the butter remains completely spread out, and the meal provides plenty of space if you need to cut a spoon for baking purposes. It is light in appearance but very refined in its construction, it incorporates a silicone ring around the beechwood lid – it does not close to shutting off real air, but will keep the butter fresh for at least two weeks at room temperature.
Although porcelain is resistant to scratches, it is not proof of a fall – something to consider if you are prone to injury. For those who want to keep their butter in the fridge to avoid any problems, this dish is safe in the microwave, so you can heat your butter easily. We even thought about how fun it would be to use the flexible DOWAN Dish as a small baking dish (though remember that the lid is not safe in the oven!)
Cool Kitchen Modern Bamboo Butter Container
For those of us who are prone to accidents, the incredible durability of the Cooler Kitchen Modern Bamboo Butter Dish can only add to its already impressive value. Using natural fibers that combine bamboo and maize fibers, Cold Kitchen designers have developed stone artifacts or porcelain pottery to create an almost indestructible dish. Although we naturally began to use it as a bathtub, it was designed to be used as a lid; depending on the popularity of the storage, it works well in any way. Like many other tubes we have tested, this also kept our butter spread well for at least a few weeks at room temperature.
Even if this dish can accommodate the West Coast, East Coast, and European cuts of butter, a limited dose means it can hold only one stick. The material is also ultra-lightweight and annoyingly tends to slide over the table when trying to cut or pick up butter – indicating the value of the item, even on such a simple device.
Butter Bell Crock
Our leading inspector is self-proclaimed Francophile, and if he had done it his way, Butter Bell Crock would have been at the top of the list. Taking a modern French “beurrier”, this special design requires you to pack soft butter on the lid, pour cold water on the base, and place the lid (butter side down) in the water. This helps keep the butter-like Goldilocks – not too strong, not too soft – and can keep the butter completely fresh for an amazing time (many say they keep butter at room temperature for these seniors all year round). The thick, heavy ceramic creates a better mark than the others we have tested, which appear to be in perfect harmony keeping the butter.
This style of meal requires little care – groundwater should be changed from time to time.
OXO Good Grips Butter Dish
The OXO Good Grips Butter Dish is a well-designed one-rod container designed for a modern kitchen. Like all OXO products we have tested, this simple foundation is built with good mental performance. A few design highlights improve it and set it apart from most other dishes we have explored: the side lids prevent the butter from slipping on the inside, and the foam lids on the base prevent it from slipping on the table. There are also labels on the bottom of the bowl, which is especially helpful for those who like to bake.
While bakers may enjoy the convenience of standardized butter and butter consistency, all of us who want full coverage is lacking. The butter is not only extremely durable at room temperature, but a clear plastic lid does not protect it from melting in the sun when it is left outside on the kitchen counter.
Rubbermaid Standard Butter Dish
Sometimes, there is a benefit to using plastic products over their all-natural alternatives. With a rugged, transportable design — and the only one we tested with a snap-tight lid — the Rubbermaid Standard Butter Dish is the perfect dish to add to your camping kitchen or picnic basket. There is plenty of space for the lid to snap shut without sticking to your butter, regardless of whether you are using a West or East Coast stick, and the secure lid means you don’t need to worry about rogue butter in your cooler or camp kitchen setup.
Although the airtight seal keeps your butter fresher for longer than other models we tested, the butter from the Rubbermaid Standard was simply too firm at room temperature to be easily spreadable.
Le Creuset Stoneware Butter Dish
Matching the acclaimed quality of their classic, enameled Dutch ovens, the Le Creuset Stoneware Butter Dish can equally stand up to the test of time. This is the largest dish we tested, easily accommodating European blocks and up to three West Coast sticks side-by-side. The manufacturer claims that the “dense stoneware blocks moisture absorption to prevent cracking, crazing, and rippling” of butter. We can vouch — despite a bit of oxidation, this dish held butter at a velvety consistency for two weeks without issue.
Even though this dish was one of the highest-scoring in our review, it is hard to justify the price based on the modest difference in butter quality — it costs more than double the price of our highest-rated tub.
Sweese Large Porcelain Butter Keeper
Similar in nearly every way, the Sweese Large Porcelain Butter Keeper is a nice alternative to the award-winning DOWAN tub. Like the other, this large-capacity tub offers enough space to fit two West or East Coast sticks side-by-side or a single European block. A comparable beechwood lid can double as a petite cutting board for cheese or other bread toppings. The porcelain construction is more chip-resistant than stoneware, and the high-gloss exterior is available in many stylish colorways to brighten up any kitchen.
Despite the similarities, the Sweese dish doesn’t quite match the keeping quality of its direct competitor. Namely, we found that without a silicone seal around the lid, the butter oxidized slightly faster.
Buttery Flip-Top with Matching Spreader
With a look straight out of the Jetsons, the Butterie Flip-Top is an overhauled vision of a classic plastic dish. Although the recognizable flip-top design doesn’t approach airtight, we were happily surprised by the consistency and freshness of the butter after our two-week trial at room temperature. A non-slip pad on the base also keeps the dish in place on the table as you cut away with the matching spreader.
The inclusion of a spreader is a nice addition, but we wish the designers of the Butterie had fashioned the cradle in a different place, as the spreader tends to slide out. Although our western locale kept us from getting our hands on East Coast-style butter to test, it is important to note that this dish will not fit two West Coast sticks side-by-side. Unlike its other plastic competitors, this dish is microwave-safe in case you’d rather keep your butter in the refrigerator and soften it up when needed.
Norpro Stoneware Butter Keeper
A French butter keeper doesn’t have to be a fancy addition to your kitchen — it can be simple, practical, and inexpensive. The Norpro Stoneware Butter Keeper fills that role perfectly, as a cost-effective option to pin against significantly more expensive butter crocks. The glazed stoneware sports a clean design that will surely complement any kitchen countertop — and like all bell crocks, you can expect perfectly spreadable butter throughout the seasons. This is not one of the larger dishes we tested, nor is it one of the larger crocks on the market — its cup only fits one stick (¼-pound) of butter at a time. Most importantly, make sure that your butter is already warmed up to room temperature before filling the cup — temperature appears to have a major effect on the butter adhering to the interior glaze.
Kangaroo Glass Butter Dish
The Kangaroo Glass Butter Dish is almost as basic as we get it. This is a plain dish, with nothing more than a clear glass cover to keep the butter out of the package. If you choose to keep it in the fridge, this dish is also safe in the microwave if you want to use that process to cool it.No matter which side of the country you live in, the Kangaroo lid is too short to fit any size of butter. The butter will crush and smash the surface of the glass, and, in some extreme cases, will stick to the top and bottom together as you try to remove the excess – we expect this to finally end with a broken glass disaster. But if all you want is simple glassware, this is certainly a less expensive option.
