Real butter is just milkfat and maybe some salt so it makes sense that it would be fine at room temperature. Crisco doesn't go bad if you keep it in the cupboard after opening it, same thing with cooking oil and lard.

Butter does pick up flavors from other stuff in the fridge and if you keep it around too long it will get a stale flavor. Fresh, good butter has a very light, slightly sweet taste that is quite nice.

I was on a team in college that judged dairy products so now I'm VERY picky about the flavor of milk, butter, vanilla ice cream and cheddar cheese(we also judged cottage cheese and strawberry yogurt but I think both of those things are nasty no matter how good they are) so I'm careful about how I store those things. I keep butter in the fridge because I have 2 bad cats who would get at it if I left it out, but I do keep it in an air tight container.


Back on the OT, I NEVER put opened peanut butter or pancake syrup in the fridge. All other condiment type things go in the fridge once opened.

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