Techniques

Freezing Butter

Freeze butter for longer-term storage.

Freezing is a very good way to preserve butter, make sure you have it on hand, and to take advantage of promotions or sales. The fresher the butter is, the greater the potential storage time. Frozen butter, divided into small pieces, is especially useful for cutting into pie pastries, making for an extremely tender, flaky crust.

Challenge packages suggest butter may be kept frozen for up to 4 months, but very fresh butter has been frozen successfully for up to 12 months at 20°-30°F. Although freezing will prolong shelf life, gradual flavor and texture changes will occur over time. For the best results, freeze fresh butter in its original carton inside a plastic freezer bag.

Spreadable butters can also be frozen for storage and works well for cutting into pie pastries or other similar applications. To use it as “spreadable” butter, however, it must be thawed before use.

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