How to Store Homemade Butter

One of the questions I often get asked when I share my butter making over on Instagram is how do you store it? I have 3 different ways and it depends on a variety of factors so here you go how to store your homemade butter.

Storing Homemade Butter

Once you have made your own butter it’s important that you store it as butter can go rancid very quickly.

Read This First: How to Make Your Own Butter

It’s really important to finish off the butter you’ve made with the rinsing as this will remove the buttermilk. Leaving the buttermilk in shortens the life of the butter and it will turn much quicker than otherwise.

Salting the Butter

One of the best ways to extend the life of your butter is to salt it. This is great if you will be using the butter in savoury recipes. Just sprinkle some salt over the butter and mix it in with your hands. Then store as you will need using one of the 3 methods below.

Room Temperature Storage

A lot of recipes I make call for softened butter so if I know that I am going to be making one of these recipes within the next 2 to 3 days I will leave the butter I’ve made in my butter dish on the side and use as needed.

In the summer when my kitchen gets very warm I keep the dish in the fridge and remove a few hours before hand to soften the butter as necessary.

Storing in the Fridge

Storing in the fridge is ideal if you are going to be using the butter within a week or two and especially if your recipe calls for cubed cold butter (scones, pastry and crumbles especially).

Read Next: All-Butter Easy Homemade Cherry Scones

Keep the butter wrapped in the parchment paper and you may want to use a beeswax wrap or similar around it.

Then use as required.

Freezing Homemade Butter

It really surprised me the first time I discovered that you could easily freeze butter. In fact, I freeze both my butter and lard so that I always know that I have some especially as in recent years it’s become difficult to find.

Like the fridge wrap in the parchment paper and then place in the fridge. I don’t further wrap with a beeswax wrap as frozen beeswax wraps are not good trust me!

Then when you need bring out and let it defrost before storing as you would fresh butter on your counter in a butter dish or in the fridge.