How Long Can Butter Sit Out On The Counter?

Whether you're using butter to bake cookies or spread on a piece of toast, it's much easier to use if it's soft. If you usually keep it in the fridge, though, this means you'll need to add extra time to your baking (or breakfast) prep since chilled butter can take nearly an hour to soften. For years (or rather, millennia, since butter predates the invention of the refrigerator by a few thousand years), people have been circumventing the wait time by the simple expedient of keeping butter in the pantry. This begs the question, though: Is it okay to leave butter unrefrigerated? 

The truth is, butter should never be kept at room temperature for longer than four hours. But that short amount of time isn't health-related. More importantly (depending on your worldview), leaving butter at room temperature for any longer will adversely affect the butter's color and flavor. It doesn't matter whether or not you use a butter keeper, either, your butter quality will start to drop off after that four-hour mark.

Like we said: This approach to butter management is dictated by quality and isn't strictly necessary from a food safety standpoint. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says you should be safe eating butter left at room temperature for two days, while some food experts endorse leaving it out for up to a week. One study found that butter stored between 77 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit had a shelf life of almost four months and the Food and Drug Administration points out that butter has a long history of being consumed without the safety net of carefully-controlled temperatures. (As a purely anecdotal aside, I regularly eat butter that's been kept at room temperature for weeks at a time.)

The reason why room temperature butter is relatively safe is that the product isn't conducive to bacterial growth due to its high fat content and low moisture. Salted butter, in particular, is an especially bacteria-hostile environment. This means that consuming not-so-fresh butter probably won't make you ill, which is true even if it's gone rancid. In this case, though, the unpleasant odor and flavor will likely put you off eating it anyway. If you really want to play it safe, one way to ensure that your butter stays soft and spreadable while remaining safe from prowling cats and bacteria alike is to purchase a gadget like the Butter Bell. This style of container uses a saucer of cold water to keep butter below room temperature.