Butter is one of the most universally used foods in the world, and figures into a large part of our everyday lives. A butter dish will add both form as an eye-catching feature, and function as a place to store your butter safely. These little dishes can go a long way to make your kitchen more convenient.
Why do I need to buy a butter dish?
If just left out in the refrigerator, butter can take on the tastes and smells of other foods or the general smell of the refrigerator and may become completely ruined. If left unprotected on the counter, it can pick up unsavory things floating about the house. A butter dish keeps your butter fresh at room temperature, or coldin the refrigerator, while also protecting it from soaking up flavors, dust or other airborne particles.
What materials are butter dishes available in?
Butter dishes come in a veritable rainbow of colors, styles and materials to fit in with your needs whether it's for counter use or to match your formal dining set.
Earthenware/Stoneware are beautiful options that you can match with your marble counters. They will also add a homey feel to a posh stainless-steel kitchen. Stoneware is verydurable and unlikely to break easily.
Plastic/Acrylic are inexpensive and versatile options to fits just about any kitchen style. Plasticcomes in many colors and is easy to maintain. Acrylic is stronger and more heat and weather resistant. It is great for that picnic you've been meaning to take, or any time you will be dining away from your dining table.
Both are light-weight, impact-resistant and dishwasher safe. They are perfect for the little kids' table so they can feel fancy, and you won't have to worry about cuts from a broken dish if it falls.
What size or shape will best go with my kitchen setup?
The size of the butter to go in your butter dish should be a determining factor in making your choice. It will largely be decided by which of the three types of butter you most often use.
East Coast and West Coast will come down to the height and width of your favorite butter. A 4-ounce stick of butter is going to be the same amount on either coast, be that as it may, an East Coast stick of butter is going to be longer and slenderer, whereas a West Coast stick is going to be shorter, and thicker in shape. The best butter dishes will be wide and tall enough to accommodate either.
If you love the richer taste of European-style butter, then you will need to accommodate the larger, wide 8-ounce stick, which is twice the American size of butter.
