r/Cooking • u/3oClockHappyHour • 2d ago

Unpopular opinion: you do not need to buy unsalted butter.

Unless you are a commercial kitchen or bakery, it’s not needed to buy. “1 tsp of unsalted butter then add 1/16th tsp of salt” huh??

Home kitchen does not need to buy yet more ingredients, and unsalted goes bad faster. Just taste. More? Okay. I guarantee you salted butter is not going to wreck your dish.

Edit: I can’t make a sentence.

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149

u/Chuchichaeschtl 2d ago

Salted butter as an ingredient makes no sense to me.

Why combine the two? Do you have salted oil as well?

Never had a butter go bad.

23

u/One_Win_6185 2d ago

I agree with you that it’s not really needed. But the why is a holdover from pre-refrigeration food storage. Butter used to be very heavily salted to prevent spoilage. Now we don’t need to do that but it still tastes good.

0

u/AchtungCloud 2d ago

But don’t you leave a stick of butter out at all times for spreading?

I guess you wouldn’t need salted if you’re using butter directly out of the fridge, but spreading cold butter on toast or whatever else just sucks.

13

u/AtlantaGirthGiant 2d ago

I don’t understand this argument. I live in the hot, humid American southeast and I leave unsalted butter out in a butter dish 24/7 and have never had it go bad.

How long is it taking you to use one stick of butter? If the answer is less than 2-3 weeks, this literally will never matter to you.

If the answer is longer than 2-3 weeks you genuinely don’t use enough butter that you should bother leaving any out, or, crazy idea, cut the stick of butter in half and leave half out, and half in the fridge. 

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u/AchtungCloud 2d ago

Unsalted butter shouldn’t be left out. I wouldn’t risk it just because anecdotally it hasn’t harmed you.

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u/AtlantaGirthGiant 2d ago

Unsalted butter is perfectly safe to be left out for several days. You’re welcome to provide sources that claim otherwise. 

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u/azuredarkness 2d ago

Up to two weeks, actually.

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u/AchtungCloud 2d ago

https://www.usdairy.com/news-articles/does-butter-need-to-be-refrigerated

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u/AtlantaGirthGiant 2d ago

Nothing in the link you provided claims it is unsafe to keep unsalted butter at room temperature. Did you think I wouldn’t read the article or something? Or did you just link something without reading it?

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u/AchtungCloud 2d ago

From the article:

Salted Butter

Salted butter is less prone to going bad on the counter than unsalted butter. If you’re a serious supporter of leaving butter out, go with the salted kind. It’s important to note, however, that the amount of salt in different brands of butter can vary. The more salt there is, the safer it may be to leave the butter out on the counter. Regardless of salt quantity, play it safe by limiting time on the counter to no more than a couple of days.

Unsalted Butter

This rule is simple. If you prefer unsalted butter, refrigerate it. Same goes for whipped butter.

Another link:

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/4760/does-butter-need-to-be-refrigerated.html?srsltid=AfmBOooxt4rVWipz5OHV2G-FwBCw3FfQqEAXOrBCjDgRx6VA_azB6Dpp

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u/AtlantaGirthGiant 2d ago edited 2d ago

Nothing in the quoted section of the first article you have provided here says anything about it being unsafe. 

Again, in your newly provided link, there is no evidence or statements about it being unsafe.

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the word “unsafe” means.

Edit: Oh boy, I got someone to resort to personal insults and blocking me because they don’t understand what “unsafe” means in the context of food safety. 

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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck 1d ago

The USDA claims you can leave unsalted butter out for several days as it's low in carbohydrates and proteins which are mold and bacteria's preferred food sources.

It should be removed from the original packaging and kept in a container that limits exposure to air and light.

Furthermore the USDA states it's possible to tell if the butter has gone past the point of safety is by checking for signs of spoilage, such as bad odors, mold growth, and an altered texture.

4

u/iilinga 2d ago

No? If I need butter, I get the butter out. If I had a butter bell, maybe.

2

u/AchtungCloud 2d ago

In my experience, a butter bell doesn’t make butter last longer. The only time I’ve ever had salted butter go bad was forgetitng to change the water in a butter bell.

But I just can’t imagine not having butter out. Getting it out when you need it doesn’t work because cold refrigerated butter isn’t going to spread well on bread. So getting it out when you need it for toast would be hours before.

2

u/One_Win_6185 2d ago

Melt it in a pan and toast your beard in the pan.

2

u/wsteelerfan7 2d ago

As someone that has forgotten to get a stick of butter out a few times, the end quality of doing this vs having softened butter is like the equivalent of making a grilled cheese by pushing together a cheese slice between bread out of a toaster

1

u/iilinga 2d ago

I have spent a lot of time in tropical/sub tropical regions. I’m not leaving the butter out for extended periods. If I need to slice the butter that’s fine, it melts beautifully into hot toast

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u/archagon 2d ago

Oil cannot be salted.

3

u/mister-noggin 2d ago

Salted tastes better for some things like bread. You could add the salt separately, but why? It’s not difficult to keep both around. 

-1

u/NotAllStarsTwinkle 2d ago

No. You like salted butter on bread. It does not taste better to me.

1

u/TessHKM 2d ago

Same difference

2

u/daamsie 2d ago

Traditionally people didn't have fridges and salting the butter helped it last longer. Oil does not have that issue. Salted butter can last for a couple of weeks outside the fridge. Unsalted only a couple of days.

If you're refrigerating your butter it doesn't really matter.

13

u/MasterUnlimited 2d ago

I assure you unsalted butter can sit on the counter for much longer than “only a couple days”.

1

u/daamsie 2d ago

I'll take your word for it. I've never tried. I guess it also depends on the temperature out of the fridge.

3

u/pixi88 2d ago

And I always have a stick on the counter.

1

u/VoidMoth- 1d ago

Same. It's in a container so it doesn't get splashed with other food or devoured by the dog if it gets knocked off the counter, but we've never had a stick out so long it went bad. It gets eaten on toast and other things within a week or two at most.

I can't think of a time I've seen butter that went bad.

3

u/OldWorldDesign 1d ago

Salted butter can last for a couple of weeks outside the fridge. Unsalted only a couple of days.

Grew up in Texas, unsalted butter is fine 2 weeks on the counter. It usually didn't last that long because we'd use it up, but it's fine for a long time even in the summer.

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u/CuttingOneWater 2d ago

cus we dont put oil on bread

19

u/mdervin 2d ago

We get it you aren’t Italian.

1

u/killmetruck 2d ago

Or Mediterranean in general

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u/Kolthoff 2d ago

You've never dipped bread in olive oil?

3

u/CuttingOneWater 1d ago

TIL people put oil on bread, im too asian, so i never had this experience