If I have access to cream (to make butter) or actual butter...how do I keep it fresh without refrigeration? Is keeping it submerged in water and out of sunlight sufficient? How long will it last this way? What is the preferred method? Will salted or unsalted last longer?

Thanks for your tips.

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), October 31, 1999

Answers

When I was a child, I lived with my grandma, out in the boonies. We had no refrigeration. She had a water pump in the house, and always kept a pailful of water under it. She used to keep her homemade butter in a quart jar,leaving it submerged in the pailful of cold water. I would guess it would keep a long time, that way. I think she even made an occasional batch of gelatin, and kept it in a quart jar, under the cold water.

-- Jo Ann (MaJo@Michiana.com), October 31, 1999.

IN 1975 I worked at site in Cape Newenham Alaska.It was part of the Distant Early Warning system.The DEW line.It was also known as White Alice.Along the shore line were bunkers and fortifications left over from World War 2.In one storage bunker was found a wooden keg with lettering which said Butter, 60 lbs, packed in Brine.Thats how it was done back then.No reason why it would'nt work now.

-- Dan Newsome (BOONSTAR1@webnet.tv), October 31, 1999.

Another option is to can the butter that you do not need immediately. This way it will keep for well over a year. Look in the food preservation or storage archive and there are several threads about canning butter and several different methods are suggested. I have done it and it works fine.p#k

-- smfdoc (smfdoc@aol.com), October 31, 1999.

If you live in an area which is cold during the winter, you can save small, medium, and large soda bottles. Fill them with water and set them outside. Rotate them into a cooler containing your butter. If you do not live where the winter is cold, use the bucket trick mentioned earlier in this thread, except put some clothe around the entire outstide of the bucket. Then put some clothe around the inside of the bucket which hangs down into to water, but is draped over the edge. The evaporation of the water will cool the bucket. Keep it in the coolest place around, and in the shade. A small breeze will help evaporate the water. Finally, dig a hole as deep as is safe for you to stand in, depending upon the soil in your area. As you get down past a couple of feet, you should feel a difference in temp. Dig a shelf into the side of the pit and use boards or what ever might be handy to make a shelf to set your bucket on. Or just dig a circular hole a few feet deep and use a rope to remove the bucket. Find the cool spots and use them. Hope this helps.

-- Bullit Bob (Elsie'smilk@farm.org), October 31, 1999.

My grandmother kept butter on a stone shelf built into the foundation of the house in the cellar. Caves, and foundations made of stone or concrete will stay around 55 F if not heated from a furnace and insulated from heat and cold on top.

Of course, she had an icehouse, too, and an icebox, but butter we generally went down the stairs for.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), November 01, 1999.

There is an item called a butter bell that will keep butter fresh. It works the same as the water bucket, but will hold a lb or so for table use. http://www.butterbell.com/

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), November 01, 1999.

i bought odell's clarified butter. needs no refrigeration and has a one year shelf life. www.clarifiedbutter.com

-- tt (cuddluppy@yahoo.com), November 01, 1999.

tt-- Didn't see any prices on their page or S&H info. Would you know the details? I also didn't see whether you needed refrigeration after the tub is opened.

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), November 02, 1999.

Butter seemed so complicated that I bought butter-flavored Crisco instead. I'll add a little salt just before serving it, and it will have to do.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), November 02, 1999.

See the thread "Need help with ghee" from 10/28. Make your butter into ghee. You can can the ghee for even better storage. (Less oxygen getting at it.)

-- Shivani Arjuna (SArjuna@aol.com), November 02, 1999.