Why does milk, cream, yogurt, etc. become rancid if left unrefrigerated, but butter can just freeball in a butter dish for-seemingly-ever and still be safe and edible?

Question

I just don’t get it. I’m sure there’s a very sciency explanation, but it makes no sense to me. I love that it can sit out to be soft and spreadable, but you try that with cream and you’re on the way to a stinky cheese, milk or yogurt you’ve just got a curdled surprise.

So why can butter just sit out and not start to stink or become dangerous to eat?

In: 122

Answer 1

Is it salted butter? That will slow spoilage.

Answer 2

Butter goes rancid too. Maybe you can’t tell the difference for some reason, but actual butter does go rancid.

So do nuts and seeds.

Answer 3

So a little bacteria growth is yummy, but slightly more and the food is sickening? Our stomachs can only handle a little quantity of the bacteria or does a new type grow at that “too long” threshold?

Answer 4

Fat to sugar and water ratio. Same reason butter keeps longer than whole milk and whole milk keeps longer than skim milk. The fattier it is, the less it harbors bacteria.

Answer 5

Butter will eventually go rancid.

You remove a majority of the water from butter when you make it. Makes it shelf stable since it’s basically pure fat

Answer 6

I’m not sure if anyone else mentioned it yet, but how long butter lasts outside the fridge is different depending where you are and how it’s made. When I was in Switzerland the butter stayed in the fridge because it would go moldy in 3 days.

But the eggs sat on the counter because they were not processed the same way and didn’t need to be refrigerated lol