Making soft spread butter from hard butter?

[OzFreeBird]

I am reluctant to buy butter in plastic containers (hate buying plastic) but by the same token I also dislike buying butter in blocks wrapped in paper, as it is never soft enough to spread on your toast unless its been out all night. Has anyone tried mixing block butter with a little canola or olive oil in the blender or food processor and then storing it in a (recycled) plastic butter container? Will this work, or make it go off?

Thanks

[Jenna]

I did a basic web search "butter soft" and came across butter pots.

Anyone ever use one of those?

[ohsandohs]

After my stepdad had a heart attack, my mom was spending a fortune on those little tubs of Land o' Lakes Light Butter (with canola oil). She finally started making her own, using her hand mixer to blend one part butter with one part olive oil. She stores it in a recycled tub in the refrigerator. It seems to spread well enough and tastes just fine. Just put it in the fridge right after you mix it so that it doesn't separate.

Blessings,

Michelle

[Darlene]

I use my kitchenaid (look ma, no hands)& it works great.

[ChristineLynne]

You can use a butter pot, which allows you to store butter at room temperature without it going rancid (the butter is submerged in water which you change daily, which keeps it out of contact with oxygen).

You can also put a cold stick of butter in the microwave for, IIRC, about 10-15 seconds on high, and it will be soft but not melted. You might have to experiment with your microwave to get it right.

[brainyblonde]

I love my butter crock. It was less that $10, and well worth it.

[peanut]

All I eat is homemade margarine - a mixture of half butter and half olive oil. I whip the butter, add the olive oil bit by bit (in a drizzle), while whipping it at high speed. It will be really liquidy and you will panic. Don't worry. Pour it into a plastic tub and put in the fridge to harden. It will stay hard in the fridge, be easy to spread, and, if you leave it out too long, it will revert to liquid state. So always be sure to stick it back in the fridge as soon as you're done with it.

My family's opinion is that they do not like the olive oil margarine. they preferred it when I made it with canola oil. So if you have picky eaters, I'd try the canola oil first. Then the olive oil if you like more flavour, as I do.

[Nada.Leona]

There was a tip in the Tightwad Gazette that went like this:

Dear Amy: Today all the margarine brands have added a reduced-fat product -- 1/3 less fat or "lite." Instead I take a pound of regular margarine... usually store brand or whatever is on sale. After softening it slightly I gradually add skim milk as I beat it with my electric mixer. Adding the milk slowly, I can add about 1/3 c. of milk to a pound of margarine. The result is a light spreadable product that has increaded in quantity by 50%, stays soft in the refridgerator, tastes the same, and has fewer calories.

I also have a bread maker that churns butter! I've never tried it, as I calculated that to buy the cream and make the butter, it costs the same as buying the butter already made. But it might be worth it to try it out!

[ironmaiden]

We leave the butter out all the time and have never had a problem with the stick of butter sitting in a covered butter dish that's out all week long going bad. We've been doing this for years.

[geckoace]

i believe you can leave salted butter out without it going rancid (for a reasonable period) but unsalted im not sure about. then its always ready for spreading

[lottaLove]

We always do 1/2 olive oil 1/2 butter. This cuts the saturated fat in half, makes it wonderfully spreadable, and doesn't fill your body with the "mystery" ingredients holding non-hydrogenated margarine together. You can experiment with the amount of oil you blend into the butter, until you find the proportion that is right for you. Just remember that it will be a lot more liquidy at room temperature than it is once it is cold.

[acidcookie]

i believe you can leave salted butter out without it going rancid (for a reasonable period) but unsalted im not sure about. then its always ready for spreading

Just to follow up on this: I grew up with only unsalted butter and we ate a lot of bread so the butter was just always out on the table/counter in a dish. It never got bad either.

[acidcookie]

I do something similar to this with cream cheese. I really like whipped cream cheese, or even softened cream cheese from a tub, but I'd rather eat the 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese which I only see in bars. I buy the (store brand) bar and whip it with my mixer in a recycled cream cheese tub. It's not quite as fluffy as buying it whipped, but it's soft and very spreadable.

[halloweenfreak]

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/soft_butter_spread has one thats basically the same as lottalove posted.

[kaykwilts]

It's called better butter. Here is a website http://www.realfoodliving.com/butter.htm that has some useful information on making it.