Butter Crocks Vs Butter Dishes: What's The Difference?

Butter has always had different storage methods than most foods. There's an entire section of the refrigerator door dedicated to housing this ingredient — though it's actually not the best place to store it — and while you can technically store it at room temperature, you never leave it out and exposed the way you would certain fruits or vegetables. In the end, whether you store it softened or cold, there are two main containers: a butter crock and a butter dish.

A butter dish is simply a vessel that holds butter. Butter dishes are often rectangular in shape, similar to a stick of butter, and usually have a lid that protects them from bugs, dust, or anything else that might be floating around the kitchen. Butter dishes fit better on those refrigerator shelves than cylindrical-shaped butter crocks, and they also make for a pretty presentation when you want softened butter on the table at brunch. You can store butter at room temperature in a butter dish, but it might go rancid in a couple of days. Ultimately, the key spot where a butter dish lacks compared to a butter crock is food safety and texture.

Butter crocks have more science behind them than just a nice-looking place to store butter on the table or counter. Butter crocks — sometimes called butter bells — are circular in shape, and they store the butter upside down. Add the butter to the cone-shaped "bell" portion of the crock, then turn it over and store it inside the "cup" filled with water. The water creates a seal that prevents oxygen from accessing the butter, giving it a longer shelf life than if it just sat out on the counter in a butter dish. Butter crocks offer the same protection as butter dishes from dust, bugs, and butter lovers' hands, but that oxygen-proof seal is what makes the crock unique for room temperature butter storage.

Whether you use a butter crock or a butter dish comes down to how long you plan to have it sit out. A butter crock can keep butter soft and fresh at room temperature for about a month, while a butter dish might only keep the butter fresh for one or two days. If your household goes through a stick of butter in 48 hours, then a dish is fine, otherwise stick with a butter crock. If you don't know how long it takes you to get through a stick of butter, it's best to keep it refrigerated for maximum freshness.