Going out to bulk buy tomorrow and stock up on a few things Butter being one of many. How long can butter be stored in the refrigerator? We want to maximize our stock but not waste anything.
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It should have an expiry date printed, unless you mean you're buying it unpackaged. – rumtscho Sep 20 '15 at 11:59
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We store all butter other that what's currently in use in the freezer, where the shelf life closely approximates "forever." Can't recall ever having a bad or rancid stick from the freezer. Many folks in moderate climates keep the currently in use butter on the counter, not in the fridge (spreads easy, spoils a bit faster, don't try in hot climates.)
Depending what you are using your butter for, you can also increase effective storage life considerably by making it into clarified butter (or ghee, same thing, different names in different parts of the world.)
Ecnerwal
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Butter, like all fats, spoils very, very slowly. It oxidates, which is not a bacterial process so it does not progress exponential over time, but it is still affected by temperature. Expect a storage time of 4 - 12 weeks, depending on the expire date. You can also freeze butter for 6 - 9 months.
Basically, reducing the temperature by 10 degrees doubles the lifetime, so you could also set the refrigerator temperature to lowest, if you are really, really worried.
John Hammond
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