“My two roommates have been locked in a butter war all week,” our submitter in Oregon reports. “One will pull out the butter to let it soften, and as soon as she walks away, the other will put it back in the fridge.”
Although our submitter says she’s made a point of staying out the debate, she spotted this note on her way out the door this morning…
By the time she returned home from class, a second note had appeared as well.
Adds our submitter: “I’m pretty sure the butter won’t actually kill me as the pink note says, but I also wonder how long the other roommate spent picking out a font for the printed note. Also: one roommate is a comm major and the other studies history. See if you can guess which is which.”
related: Live and not-so-active roommate culture
189 responses so far ↓
#1
Mishee
That clarified butter fact really clarified things for me.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:18 pm rating: 90
#2
[dave]
yeah … butter doesn’t spoil.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:18 pm rating: 90
#3
Seanette
I’d be inclined to solve this with separate butter containers, but that’s probably too practical to produce the desired level of drama.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:18 pm rating: 90
#4
1tennisplyr
That butter was fucking delicious.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:20 pm rating: 90
#5
James
That butter was much more fucking delicious when it was left out of the fridge.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:20 pm rating: 90
#6
Nathan
butter which hasn’t sat out is useless for spreading on bread. my family *always* keeps a stick of butter on the counter and have never once been sick from it.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:22 pm rating: 90
#7
Ugh
Please…. clarified butter has the milk solids taken OUT so it won’t spoil as quickly. And you can totally leave butter out on the side for a day or so, it will be room temp so won’t keep as long. But it’s not going to go off in 24 hours. Geebs.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:23 pm rating: 90
#8
LOL
It does last longer without going bad in the fridge. If you’re going to USE it it’s ok to leave it out. If not put it back in the fridge.
Once again I have saved the day here at PA!
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:25 pm rating: 90
#9
Jennifer
Judging from the handwriting, the pink one appears to be written by my 11 year old and the other by an educated person.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:29 pm rating: 90
#10
elangomatt
Maybe this apartment should buy a butter bell. You put the butter in the top and water in the bottom and it is supposed to keep the air away from the butter. According to the best eva source on the internet (wikipedia) butter can be kept for up to a month at room temperature with a butter bell.
Oh and if the butter is in stick form, would it actually be clarified butter? I’ve never seen clarified butter sold in stick form, but I suppose it could exist.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:40 pm rating: 90
#11
rtuko
As far as I know butter DOESN’T go bad all that quickly, given that you eat it within a reasonable time.
And it’s pretty funny to see how two notes can demonstrate such different personalities/educations.
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:47 pm rating: 90
#12
Yar
College dweebs of the world:
STOP spelling it “roomie” … it is NOT “roomie” !!!
Oct 11, 2011 at 6:49 pm rating: 90
#13
Jon
Dairy: “a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk”.
Nope. Butter is not “a dairy.” Unless this is some British English crap I’m not aware of. Is it?
Oct 11, 2011 at 7:23 pm rating: 90
#14
southerngirl
Ooooh I would be mad if someone kept sticking my soft butter back in the fridge. I leave my butter out for days, and I have never had a problem with it.
Oct 11, 2011 at 7:28 pm rating: 90
#15
tuqoa
Bahaha. Oh paranoid people are so cute. I’ve been eating left-out butter for 30 years, and I’m not dead yet, nor do I suffer digestive or abnormal health issues.
Fun compromise: Buy a 2nd butter dish. 1 stick of butter gets left out, and another stick of butter gets left in the fridge. Happiness for everyone.
Oct 11, 2011 at 7:56 pm rating: 90
#16
AZB
I happen to be a food writer and many of the recipes I use need softened butter. I’m afraid Miss Food Nazi has her panties in a wad over nothing. Butter will spoil but it takes a long, long time. In fact, I keep some some in a ceramic crock on my counter for quick use. I’ve yet to find it spoiled before I use it up. What a whiny little moron. I’d probably have to beat her about her head and neck if she kept replacing butter I had out to use in a recipe!
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:07 pm rating: 90
#17
mandy
Tell them to get a butter bell! Problem solved!
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm rating: 90
#18
Jen
I’m pretty sure spreading cold butter onto bread is one of the things they make you do in hell. How does the first note-writer even enjoy life?
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:15 pm rating: 90
#19
K
Life is enjoyed by mutilating the slices of bread and making holes in the helpless, unsuspecting bread by thick chunks of butter. Ugh! Did that make anyone gag by the thought of putting that in your mouth?
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:35 pm rating: 90
#20
FeRD
Holy shit you’d make a great poster-child for birth control!
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:37 pm rating: 90
#21
Palomon
Whoever bought the butter wins the argument. But still:
Team Softened Butter! Comm Majors FTW!
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:37 pm rating: 90
#22
kelbelz
ahhaahahah, yeah…the com major is the sane, well spoken one. not.
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:43 pm rating: 90
#23
Sue
Why not just get your own butter and keep it wherever you like.
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:47 pm rating: 90
#24
jmc
Besides, clarified butter and stick butter aren’t the same thing. Clarified butter is known as drawn butter here in the US; I’ve heard it called ghee as well. Made it once, from stick butter. Melt it, it separates, the clear bit is what you want.
Oct 11, 2011 at 8:48 pm rating: 90
#25
litchic
I feel like you people know entirely too much about butter. I mean, of course we all knew how much it was enjoyed in 12th century Scandinavia — that’s just common knowledge …
Oct 11, 2011 at 9:44 pm rating: 90
#26
Quite Contrary
Is it a safe guess that the two warring roomies are also girls?
Oct 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm rating: 90
#27
Stefan
Apparently journalism and other writing classes are not part of roomie #1′s comm curriculum, like they were at my college. “Butter is A dairy”? Seriously?
Oct 11, 2011 at 11:41 pm rating: 90
#28
pony girl
What the hell is clarified butter? I’ve only seen salted and unsalted.
Is it really butter? or is it that plastic-y margarine crap?
Oct 12, 2011 at 6:54 am rating: 90
#29
Heather
Stick butter isn’t clarified. And it doesn’t contain preservatives. Still won’t spoil on the counter though…
Oct 12, 2011 at 7:28 am rating: 90
#30
The Elf
On the last day of summer, ten hours before Fall…
my Roommate took me out to the wall.
For a while he stood silent. Then finally he said, with a very sad shake of his very large head, “As you know, on this side of the Wall we are Yooks. On the far other side of this Wall live the Zooks.”
Then my Roommate said, “It’s high time that you knew of the terribly horrible thing that Zooks do. In every Zook house and in every Zook hold every Zook eats his bread with the butter kept cold!”
“But we Yooks, as you know, whether below or aloft, spread our bread,” Roomie said, “with butter that is soft. That’s the right, honest way!” Roomie then told. “So you can’t trust a Zook who spreads bread that is cold! Every Zook must be watched! He has kinks in his soul! That’s why, as a youth, I made watching my goal, watching Zooks for the Zook-Watching Border Patrol!
Oct 12, 2011 at 7:31 am rating: 90
#31
Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff
Team Butter-Leaver-Outer,
Butter is fine at room temperature, and if it’s kept in the fridge it’s too hard to spread. Butter keeps just fine for weeks, and so the chances of it going bad before it gets used up are slim.
Oct 12, 2011 at 8:09 am rating: 90
#32
Michele
http://www.chow.com/food-news/89074/is-it-safe-to-leave-butter-out-at-room-temperature/
The FDA has dealt this debate and says it’s perfectly safe to leave butter out, so long as it’s well wrapped or in a butter dish. Cold butter should be reserved for making pie crusts and other pastries.
Oct 12, 2011 at 8:38 am rating: 90
#33
PANs_Labyrinth
Well, I do have to give some credit to roomie #1; thank god she at least didn’t try to write the note from the butter’s point of view:
“Dear Roomie; are you aware that I’m a dairy? If you leave me out I will quickly soften and spoil, and then I may have to kill you all.”
Oct 12, 2011 at 9:11 am rating: 90
#34
Whit
I would buy them each their own stick of butter to stop the insanity.
Oct 12, 2011 at 11:44 am rating: 90
#35
Kate
Am I the only non American here who is amazed at the amount of butter being eaten?
I don’t think I know anyone who uses butter for spreading on bread or toast. In cooking maybe but not for just regular eating.
I have Utterly Butterly or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.
However when I have had butter in the past I had a thermal butter dish. It kept it slightly cool but soft enough to spread. It never went in the fridge.
Oct 12, 2011 at 12:09 pm rating: 90
#36
KJS
Growing up, my parents kept the butter out on the counter. I used to walk by and swipe chunks of it with my fingers and lick them clean. In hindsight, that was pretty gross. But my parents must have been firm believers of soft butter because they never did put it out of my reach and into the fridge.
Oct 12, 2011 at 9:24 pm rating: 90
#37
Rae
As far as which is the communications major and which is the history major, I actually almost don’t want to pick which is which.
Although it would seem obvious that the second roommate, who wrote about 12th century Scandinavians, is the history major; I am hesitant to give those labels out that way, because I actually think the typed note is written better. The Scandinavians almost seem like a non-sequitur on the first read through, but it actually is a well composed note.
I think it is a little sad that three words, “12th century Scandinavia”, are the only things that give it away that the typed note is written by the history major, not the communications major.
Oct 13, 2011 at 7:34 am rating: 90
#38
Kim
While I am Team Counter Butter, the second note writer has no clue what clarified butter means.
Oct 13, 2011 at 7:41 am rating: 90
#39
charmaine
I like how the submitter threw in a fun fact of their own.
Oct 13, 2011 at 10:38 am rating: 90
#40
kes
Couldn’t they just… buy two butters? One to leave inside the fridge and one to leave outside? So one group could choose to follow the “keep in refrigeration” note in the back and the other could follow XII century Scandinavian wisdom.
Oct 13, 2011 at 1:04 pm rating: 90
#41
Heather
Butter can sit out for several days before going rancid. How long it lasts varies with temperature, humidity, exposure to light, and whether it’s wrapped. Most people keep their butter on a “butter dish” or crock, which is advisable. It is best to use one that is ceramic as opposed to one that is glass as the glass ones allow in more light and heat.
Oct 13, 2011 at 5:24 pm rating: 90
#42
katie k
I keep my butter on the counter in a butter dish specifically designed for this purpose. I wonder if the roommate thinks those dishes are so your butter looks pretty in the fridge.
Oct 13, 2011 at 8:10 pm rating: 90
#43
Eileen
There’s nothing worse than spreading cold butter on (or rather, through) soft bread. I microwave mine for five seconds if it’s straight out of the fridge. Just enough to soften it a bit, not melt it completely.
Oct 13, 2011 at 10:55 pm rating: 90
#44
redheadwglasses
You don’t get clarified butter just by letting it sit out and get too soft. You have to actually do stuff, like remove the milk fat solids yourself. There are centrifuges just for this purpose.
One word for clarified butter is “ghee,” which I think is a neat word!
Also: I bake cookies 1-3 times per week, so I always have sticks of butter on a plate on the counter so they’re soft and ready to go. Sometimes for days. I’ve never had a problem.
Oct 14, 2011 at 12:14 pm rating: 90
#45
redheadwglasses
And the MATURE solution is for each of those two roommates to own their own butter for their own use.
Oct 14, 2011 at 12:15 pm rating: 90
#46
PANs_Labyrinth
12th century Scandinavia is a really poor example anyway, as the ambient temperature there was close to what is found inside a modern refrigerator.
Oct 15, 2011 at 7:48 am rating: 90
#47
Tony
Yeeeah, salted butter will last at least a couple weeks at room temperature. Even unsalted butter will last a couple days.
Oct 15, 2011 at 3:05 pm rating: 90
#48
Amy
That’s not clarified butter. Clarified butter has had all the milk solids removed and is in fact… clear!
Oct 15, 2011 at 3:07 pm rating: 90
#49
Emily
If it were not ok to leave butter out at room temperature, I doubt there would be so many butter holders/keepers available for sale. I always have a stick of softened butter in the butter keeper on my counter and if someone put that shit in the refrigerator I would choke a bitch. Americans are so refrigeration-happy, it’s ridiculous. We refrigerate so many things in this country that do not need it! My room temperature butter hasn’t killed me yet….
Oct 16, 2011 at 3:43 pm rating: 90
#50
Kreaper
I’m Team Butter-Leaver-Outter all the way. Cold butter is horrible for making garlic breaded chicken, you got to have the warm butter to properly attach the garlic bread crumbs. Also, I have no clue who would actually eat Crisco; I use mine as hair styling gel, works like a charm.
Oct 16, 2011 at 9:13 pm rating: 90
#51
Lauren
my ex-roommate used to complain about this same thing.
but yet he took out the trash a total of twice the year I lived there. and never once cleaned.
priorities!
Oct 18, 2011 at 12:37 am rating: 90
#52
Michelle
I live in NZ and the majority of people here use Margarine. Most of the products are trans-fat free and have the Heart Foundation’s approval, so I’m unsure why everyone is so against it unless it’s different in the Northern Hemisphere?
As for nationality making a difference, I think it kinda does. Different countries have different products available and different ‘norms’.
I think the typed author is the comms major simply because of the grammar and sentence structure. Not sure what comm majors learn over there, but down here they are taught to write with good sentence structures and to always have examples to back up statements.
Just my humble opinion.
Oct 19, 2011 at 12:58 am rating: 90
#53
Woman
Such fond memories of college pettiness, I miss it so! PEOPLE, get a grip and stop with the power struggles and just get your own GDm’d butter!
Oct 19, 2011 at 5:32 am rating: 90
#54
xanthina
Interestingly enough… in Plimoth Plantation, the milk from cows was too vital for the calves to be consumed by the Pilgrims, for quite a while. Their butter was shipped over from England, so it took months to reach them.
What we consider “rancid” they considered normal. Fresh butter wasn’t eaten, but aged first.
Oct 27, 2011 at 3:33 am rating: 90
#55
Alex
We always leave one stick of butter on the counter in a covered butter dish and keep the rest in the fridge or freezer until we need another one. The butter on the counter is nice and soft and spreadable, it takes us weeks to use up one stick, and it’s never spoiled or made us sick. It is regular salted butter.
Oct 29, 2011 at 6:12 pm rating: 90
#56
liz
While I agree that leaving the butter out for a little bit won’t kill anyone, both of these roomates are incorrect.
Clarified butter does not mean it has preservatives. It means that the butter has been heated to remove the milk solids so that the butter is completely clear.
Butter is dairy, (not A dairy), and will spoil if left out too long, but unles these two live in a hot climate, the butter is likely fine.
Nov 1, 2011 at 10:05 am rating: 90
#57
Krystle
Easy. The idiot with the “pink” note is the COMM major, because that’s not a legit course of study and she is a moron if she thinks butter goes bad over night (what do you think butter dishes were invented for genius).
Nov 4, 2011 at 1:28 pm rating: 90
#58
kristina
in response to the Margarine haters and people who use sweeping transfat arguements. It’s hardly ever true as long as you buy decent margarine. IN fact Margarine has been shown to reduce cholesterol while butter increases it.
Nov 7, 2011 at 7:57 am rating: 90
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