# butter keeper



## Tilly (Oct 16, 2007)

Our first milk cow is due to freshen in Jan, so I'm accumulating all the needed (and not so needed, but cool!) stuff for our little home dairy. I found a butter keeper that you pack full of butter and then turn upside down into a dish of water. Does anyone use something like this?


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

I had one about 25 years ago. The butter always fell out of the bell into the water in the summer. And it was a bear to wash. But other that that...


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## Fla Gal (Jul 14, 2003)

It's called a butter bell and I have one. Like Julia said, in the summertime the butter falls out. In the cooler months it works real well. In the next day or two I'll be taking mine out of storage for cooler temperature use.


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## NWoods_Hippie (Nov 16, 2006)

I used one for about two weeks, more trouble than it was worth.

Margie


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## Runswithsheep (Oct 20, 2007)

I have one too and I think it's a lot of trouble too. My butter always falls into the water. The funny thing is that it is in the summer that I would like to use it to keep butter from going bad (and yet still have it soft) but it doesn't work well in the summer. They say that it is an old fashioned technique and used a lot in European countries...are we doing something wrong? Isn't the air in the bell supposed to somehow weight down the butter? (you remember the experiments with tissue paper in a paper cup put in water, the tissue doesn't get wet because of the air...) Josie :shrug:


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## Tilly (Oct 16, 2007)

Soooo, the bell is not worth it. What do you use to keep it from going bad when it's hot? I been told( by people who don't have their own milk cows, btw) that the butter will go rancid very fast unlike the store bought stuff which seems to last forever. Any problems with bad butter?


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## Runswithsheep (Oct 20, 2007)

My homemade butter does seem to "go bad" faster than storebought. Although, it's really just souring. Some people actually like soured butter better. One thing that makes the butter go bad faster is if you don't get all the whey out. You have to rinse and rinse the butter until it runs clear. I just keep a little bit of butter out at a time, say three day's worth, and refrigerate or freeze the rest.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

My butter fell out of the butter bell also. Someone told me that it was setting in too hot an area.


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## prairiegirl (Nov 2, 2004)

We've been using a butter bell for about a month. We found that when filling it we need to really pack it down into the bell. I use some of the wax paper that the butter was wrapped in to push hard on the butter to pack it. This seems to be working well. 
Our temps have reached 80 a couple of days and the kitchen has heated up a couple of times when canning and it stays put.
Next summer will be the true test. Or...........when we start using the woodburner.LOL

prairiegirl


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

NWoods_Hippie said:


> I used one for about two weeks, more trouble than it was worth.
> 
> Margie



 
Agreed !
File this under, "Wish I had known what I know now ".
Had mine made by a local potter in '50's pink to match my kitchen for the express reason that my '50's butter dish always had melted butter leaking out the sides in warm weather. 
So since I paid $25 we're using it with some modifcations - change the water out using very cold every morning, and throw a wet dish cloth over the whole thing for evaporation cooling effect. 
~~ pelenaka ~~
http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/06/thoughly-modern-millie.html


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## Jillis (Sep 11, 2005)

Someone bought me an inexpensive one from a catalog like Miles Kimball or something like that. It was a pain in the neck. I leave a stick of butter out on the counter because I like some spreadable butter. This just bugged dh very much, even though _he_ didn't have to use it. One of those marriage things like which was you hang the tp. He was always putting my butter in the fridge, and when I was ready to butter my bagel, I would get aggravated. The butter bell was bought by a friend as a solution. I used it while she was visiting us, but now it is cluttering my cabinet. Ugh. I would just freeze my excess butter if I were you.


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## Tilly (Oct 16, 2007)

The freezer it is , then!! Thanks everyone..


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