How long can you keep opened butter in the fridge?

Whether molded, churned, semi-salted or soft, butter is one of the flagship products of French gastronomy, particularly in the northern part of France. It is used as much for buttering toast for breakfast as for cooking meat or preparing a lemon cake or making a homemade sauce. Packaged in packaging between 250 and 500 g, butter is found in all French refrigerators. But problem: this dairy product does not have an unlimited lifespan. In fact, butter, like any product made from cow’s milk, must be stored for a maximum time. Here’s what you need to know to preserve butter and avoid health risks.

Like any dairy product, butter can expire. The latter being made from cow’s milk, it sometimes tends to turn, particularly when it is opened and in more direct contact with the ambient air. Each plate of butter has an expiration date, but we consider that this product, even once opened, is consumable between 2 and 3 weeks.

But how can we guarantee this lifespan? Store the butter well! So remember to close the product correctly after use and avoid putting it in a hot or very bright place. Butter is a fragile food that must be kept in the refrigerator in its original packaging as much as possible!

To ensure that you can eat opened butter without risk, your first instinct is to look at the packaging. In fact, the expiry date indicated on the package will allow you to initially estimate whether it is possible to consume this dairy product without problem.

Then, use your 5 senses! Indeed, to avoid disappointment, nothing beats human verification. If you notice that the butter has a crumbly texture or a different color, more intense for example, or if whitish traces are visible on the surface, it is probably past the expiration date. Likewise, if you notice an unpleasant, pungent scent when you smell it, we advise you to avoid using it. Finally, if when you taste a small piece of butter, you find it has a rancid and/or unusual flavor, head to the trash!