How is it that every dairy product goes bad outside fridge but butter is meant to be stored in butter dish outside fridge?
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unsalted butter lasts only a day or two, and wiill melt rapidly at room temperature. SALTED butter will last a week or more kept covered. First hand experience. I switched to a low sodium diet and unsalted butter will only last in the fridge. I put a stick in a butter dish, as usual, and went to work. When I got home, there was a buttery, oily mess to clean up.
It is all about the ratio of fat to moisture and sugars. Butter is high fat and low moisture and sugars. The same goes for some types of cheese. Milk, Cream…etc have high moisture and high sugars.
All the things we made out of milk were attempts at making milk last longer. Yogurt, cheese, butter, all last longer than strait up raw milk.
It is all about the ratio of fat to moisture and sugars. Butter is high fat and low moisture and sugars. The same goes for some types of cheese. Milk, Cream…etc have high moisture and high sugars.
All the things we made out of milk were attempts at making milk last longer. Yogurt, cheese, butter, all last longer than strait up raw milk.
It is all about the ratio of fat to moisture and sugars. Butter is high fat and low moisture and sugars. The same goes for some types of cheese. Milk, Cream…etc have high moisture and high sugars.
All the things we made out of milk were attempts at making milk last longer. Yogurt, cheese, butter, all last longer than strait up raw milk.
It helps if you remember what it means for something to “go bad.” It’s not just that it naturally breaks down. It’s that microorganisms like mold, fungus, and bacteria are eating it, multiplying, and excreting other (bad) substances in its place.
So the question really is: why do these things eat dairy when left out, but not eat butter?
Most of these creatures need three things to grow: water, specific nutrients, and warmth. Dairy is full of the first two, but by keeping it in the fridge, you are denying them warmth.
Butter has very little water, and the high fat content is not the nutrients they want. Most butter also has salt, which is toxic to them. So the fact it’s warm doesn’t really matter as much. It will still go bad eventually, but pretty slowly.
As a similar example, honey never goes bad, because it has practically zero water content. So the fact all that sugar is super nutritious, and it’s kept warm, doesn’t really matter.
(Edit: I have been corrected that there actually is some water in honey. Issue is, it’s less than the water content in the bacteria themselves, so it’s functionally zero for their purposes.)
It helps if you remember what it means for something to “go bad.” It’s not just that it naturally breaks down. It’s that microorganisms like mold, fungus, and bacteria are eating it, multiplying, and excreting other (bad) substances in its place.
So the question really is: why do these things eat dairy when left out, but not eat butter?
Most of these creatures need three things to grow: water, specific nutrients, and warmth. Dairy is full of the first two, but by keeping it in the fridge, you are denying them warmth.
Butter has very little water, and the high fat content is not the nutrients they want. Most butter also has salt, which is toxic to them. So the fact it’s warm doesn’t really matter as much. It will still go bad eventually, but pretty slowly.
As a similar example, honey never goes bad, because it has practically zero water content. So the fact all that sugar is super nutritious, and it’s kept warm, doesn’t really matter.
(Edit: I have been corrected that there actually is some water in honey. Issue is, it’s less than the water content in the bacteria themselves, so it’s functionally zero for their purposes.)
It helps if you remember what it means for something to “go bad.” It’s not just that it naturally breaks down. It’s that microorganisms like mold, fungus, and bacteria are eating it, multiplying, and excreting other (bad) substances in its place.
So the question really is: why do these things eat dairy when left out, but not eat butter?
Most of these creatures need three things to grow: water, specific nutrients, and warmth. Dairy is full of the first two, but by keeping it in the fridge, you are denying them warmth.
Butter has very little water, and the high fat content is not the nutrients they want. Most butter also has salt, which is toxic to them. So the fact it’s warm doesn’t really matter as much. It will still go bad eventually, but pretty slowly.
As a similar example, honey never goes bad, because it has practically zero water content. So the fact all that sugar is super nutritious, and it’s kept warm, doesn’t really matter.
(Edit: I have been corrected that there actually is some water in honey. Issue is, it’s less than the water content in the bacteria themselves, so it’s functionally zero for their purposes.)
WAIT, you can keep your butter in the dish UNREFRIGERATED?!
WAIT, you can keep your butter in the dish UNREFRIGERATED?!
WAIT, you can keep your butter in the dish UNREFRIGERATED?!
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