Butter

Butter is a unique and indispensable food product. The product is truly unique in its composition and benefits. Sandwiches, cereals, and baked goods in classic recipes certainly include this ingredient. This product is stored in every refrigerator. The question constantly arises - how long can butter be stored, what is the shelf life of butter, how to store it correctly?

It is worth considering these issues in more detail, from different angles and from different sides. We will find out all the conditions that ensure quality for the entire shelf life of butter.

Quality oil - criteria for selection

• Fat content is no less than 72.5% and no more than 82.5%. The maximum fat content is 99% for ghee;
• Compliance with GOSTs: 52253–2004 and 32261–2013;
• Taste – creamy, delicate, without impurities;
• Color – uniform, light yellow;
• When cooked, it melts easily without forming clots;
• Solid consistency - should not crumble when cutting;
• Quite a high cost. It takes an average of 20 liters of milk to produce one kilogram!;
• When you press the bar, droplets of water are released.

Conditions

The shelf life of products is affected by the conditions in which they are stored. First of all, in addition to the tightness of the packaging, you need to remember such factors as:

• temperature regime;
• humidity;
• light;
• smells in the storage.

From oil storage facilities, where the oil is stored by the manufacturer, it is transported to factories where it is packaged for consumers. Transportation is carried out by specialized transport, which is prepared for the safety of the transported products, and where the goods are protected from external sources, such as:

• dirt;
• dust;
• heating;
• moisture;
• smells.

There are requirements for seasonal transportation. In summer, it is better to carry out transportation in cool weather. When the goods are delivered to their destination, they are immediately unloaded from the transport and sent to refrigerators.

Attention! The suitability of the oil is directly related to the oxidation processes that occur in it. Therefore, storage conditions are crucial for preserving the consumer properties of the product.

How do conditions affect storage time?

Domestic GOST standards establish the following shelf life for oil:

• 10 days in parchment.
• 20 days, in foil.
• 15 days for oils with various fillers.

For consumer storage, opening the package does not have a significant impact on the shelf life if stored in the refrigerator.

To increase shelf life and slow down oxidation processes, the product can be placed in the freezer. In this case, it can retain its properties for up to 12 months without compromising quality. But this is provided that it was placed there in untouched original packaging. If the product has been opened, its shelf life without loss of consumer properties is reduced, since oxidation processes have already begun when the packaging was opened.

Where else can you store these products besides refrigerators and freezers?

The following methods are recommended for storing oil at home:

• Factory wrapper.
• Food foil.
• Food parchment in 2 layers.
• Oil can or container tightly closed.

Although the main storage place for oil is the refrigerator or freezer, there are storage methods that make it possible to use the oil without losing its consumer properties without the use of cold.

Reference. It is generally not recommended to store oil at room temperature. Because within a day it becomes unfit for consumption, regardless of whether it remains in the original packaging or has been opened.

You can extend the shelf life of oil in conditions where there is no refrigerator using traditional methods, for example, by placing the packaged oil under pressure in salt water. You can also increase the shelf life of the oil in the summer if you place the packaging with it in a weak vinegar solution.

Shelf life

Production technologies and shelf life, according to which the storage of butter lasts no more than a month, are strictly prescribed by GOSTs. A product of imported origin may have a longer shelf life due to the addition of appropriate, by no means useful, additives to its composition. Preservatives added to the product can extend the shelf life by up to a year, but you hardly want to add such oil to your baby’s porridge.

The optimal shelf life of butter, without fear for health: in parchment - 10 days, in foil - 20 days.

When choosing and buying butter in the store, focus on the date of manufacture. It is no secret that a “discount” product is almost always a product with an expiration date approaching the critical one. Please note that oil produced in summer has a shelf life longer than in winter.

Results

At home, it’s enough to simply keep butter fresh - you need to store it in a refrigerator (temperature up to +6 ̊C) or freezer (-18 ̊C and below). The product also needs protection from direct sunlight, which can be ensured by wrapping the briquette in foil or opaque parchment paper, and high humidity. It is permissible to keep a product made from natural cream without refrigeration - in brine. If the product sits for more than one day, but for 2-5 days at room temperature +18...+25 ̊C or more, then it will spoil and you can no longer eat such oil - there is an increased risk of developing digestive problems.

Video: how to keep oil fresh for a long time

How to keep butter fresh for a long time / Storing butter

Watch this video on YouTube

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Container and packaging

How long butter will be stored in the refrigerator depends on the packaging. The best packaging is capped foil. This material does not transmit light, which means the product is protected from oxidation. Parchment is also good, especially opaque!

When choosing oil in a store, you should not take a deformed briquette - it is possible that this oil has already been thawed. The packaging should not peel off from the briquette itself, for the same reason.

At home, the ideal storage container is an oil can with an opaque lid. It is best to use ceramic, wooden or food-grade plastic containers. The oil can itself should be on the refrigerator shelf, where the lowest temperature is maintained.

Protect the oil from foreign odors so as not to spoil its delicate taste.

If after two weeks you transfer the oil to a new package, it can be stored in the refrigerator for at least another 2 weeks.

How can you tell if the oil has gone bad?

It is worth focusing on the shelf life of butter if the storage conditions are observed. There are no guarantees that they were not violated during transportation, in a warehouse, on store shelves, or in a market.

How to identify a spoiled product:

1. Inspect the packaging . Set aside packages with damaged foil and parchment. In places where there were ruptures, the piece was in contact with air. Microbes are concentrated there and spoilage processes are started.
2. Inspect the piece . Uneven pigmentation, dark plaque, gray spots, changes in structure and consistency are a bad sign.
3. Smell . Spoiled butter has a sour, musty odor. You can smell mold in the distance. Try it. A sour taste with hints of bitterness signals spoilage and expiration.

If, despite the normal taste, the oil still raises doubts, there is no need to use it fresh for sandwiches or cream. Like cottage cheese or milk, cheese, you can use it to make baked goods, casseroles, and other heat-treated foods.

Freezer storage

Butter can be frozen. At temperatures down to minus 18 degrees, maintained by the freezer, you can store supplies of the product for up to one year.

When you take the entire briquette of butter out of the freezer in order to cut off a piece, you will have to defrost the butter. To prevent repeated freezing, before placing in the freezer, divide the briquette into smaller portions and remove frozen pieces as needed.

Portion freezing is a key principle of this storage method and is used for almost all products that are frozen for a long time.

Please note that natural oil, unlike its substitutes, defrosts within half an hour.

Dependence on fat content

Let's consider shelf life depending on fat content, analyze regular butter of different fat content, as well as ghee and butter paste. We analyze products that are stored in unsealed polymer containers at temperatures from -30C to -60C. The data is presented in the table.

The table shows that the higher the fat content, the longer the sales and storage time.

Storage without refrigeration

Oil can be stored without refrigeration at room temperature, but the period is reduced to a maximum of two weeks. These methods can be useful for those who want to preserve the product in the absence of a refrigerator or during power outages.

First way

• Prepare brine - 20 grams of salt per liter of water.
• Cut the butter into pieces weighing 200 grams and wrap each in parchment.
• Place the briquettes in an enamel container, fill with brine and press with a heavy object.
• It is best to store the pan in a cellar or closet (any cool place).

You can also put the pieces in a glass container (for example, in a three-liter jar), or fill it with brine or two spoons of five percent vinegar.

Second way

You can simply store butter on a shelf or countertop for no longer than 2 weeks . But in order for it to remain fresh, tasty and healthy all this time, you need to follow only two rules: place the oil in an airtight container and make sure that the air temperature in the room does not exceed 21 ° C. Good butter is 80% fat. Fats are less attractive to bacteria than foods with a high water content.

Third way

And this method was known in those days when there were no refrigerators at all.

• Pour cooled boiled water into a simple jar or lid.
• Add salt (1 tbsp per 1 liter of water).
• Cut the butter into pieces and place them in water.
• Close the container with a plastic lid.

The oil will be stored in salted water for up to 10 days.

Bakery

Bread, cookies, cakes, pies, whatever! Your freezer can handle all of these products. Freezing is a great way to prepare for a party ahead of time or stash away extra treats. Once cooled, wrap each cookie in plastic wrap and place in a vacuum sealed container. This way they can be stored for up to a month. Uncut cakes or brownies can also be wrapped in film and placed in the freezer for three months, and they need to be thawed at room temperature. Store-bought bread or muffins should be cooled in the refrigerator without opening the packaging, and then transferred to the freezer, where they can stay for up to two months. You can use the microwave for quick defrosting. You can also freeze the raw dough and then quickly defrost it to bake something.

Shelf life of butter according to GOST

Like any product, butter has standards established by current GOSTs:

• Federal Law No. 90 “Technical Regulations for Oil and Fat Products”;
• GOST 32261 “Butter”;
• GOST 32188 “Margarines”;
• GOST 52100 “Refined spreads and mixtures”;
• GOST 1129 “Sunflower oil”;
• technical regulations of the Customs Union “For oil and fat products”.

You can find out the shelf life of butter according to GOST in this article

Is it safe to eat after the expiration date?

It is strictly forbidden - both in raw form and as part of dishes. Delay can cause irreparable harm to the body in the form of severe food poisoning. If there is any sign of expiration, you must throw it away immediately and do not give it to animals.

Checking the expiration date of a pack of butter is easy - just turn it over and look for the information on the back of the package, it must be there by law. Follow simple rules for storing the product and throw away spoiled ones - it is harmful to health.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl+Enter.

Spoiled oil

Spoiled oil emits an unpleasant odor, has a bitter taste and is yellow in color. When the top layer of the product is dehydrated, an oxidation process occurs, the surface turns dark yellow, the smell acquires putrid shades, and the taste becomes bitter and cloying. This phenomenon is called staff.

Resuscitation of spoiled oil

If the oil has deteriorated, for example, gone rancid, then it is not recommended to use the product. But there are still several ways to bring it back to life:

• Place the butter in the milk, knead it, and then rinse under running water;
• Melt, and during the melting process, add a crust of white bread. You can add chopped apple. The oil needs to be filtered and the process repeated again;
• Just rinse the product in running water, then add salt and add some freshly squeezed carrot juice;
• Treat with a soda solution (1 teaspoon of soda per glass of liquid), then rinse and add salt.

How can you tell if a product is fresh at the time of purchase and at home?

The natural product should be slightly yellowish (not perfectly white), greasy to the touch and soft. If this is not the case, then the consumer is most likely faced with a spread or margarine mixture. Such products are much cheaper and have no relation to the present.

It is important to know that there are two types - sour cream and sweet cream. The first has a special taste and smell, so it may not be suitable for all culinary purposes.

How to identify spoiled real oil:

1. Smell . Spoiled butter emits the typical smell of expired milk, but not so strong. You can catch one by simply holding the pack to your nose.
2. Darker color . The product should be equally light both inside and outside.
3. Taste . If possible, you should try a small piece (in no case should you do this in a supermarket or store where everything is packaged).

If you find expired food at home, throw it away immediately - you can’t eat it anymore. If you find it in a store, notify the seller. If you carelessly purchased expired oil, take it back to the store. If you have a saved receipt, you can prove that the purchase was made here, and you will get your money back. With a market purchase, this is only possible if the seller turns out to be decent.

We invite you to watch a video on how to determine the freshness of butter:

Selection of butter in the store

Be sure to read the information on the packaging - composition, shelf life, production date and nutritional value. Real butter contains only cream and milk. You may read that it contains salt, but real oil does not contain any other ingredients.

The vegetable fats indicated in the composition indicate that you have not chosen natural oil. They say the same thing: low price, non-compliance with oil GOSTs, transparent packaging.

You should pay attention to the color of the oil. Too saturated yellow color indicates tinting. When choosing between sweet cream (based on pasteurized cream) and sour cream (based on fermented cream), keep in mind that fermented cream has a longer shelf life.

There are standards for storing oil at points of sale. An important condition is air humidity. It should not exceed 80% to prevent molding.

Also, you need to know that storing butter in stores for more than 5 days is not recommended; ghee can be stored for 15 days.

What are these periods?

Shelf life and shelf life are two different concepts.

• The first means the maximum period during which the product must be consumed by any means.
• Shelf life is the period during which the manufacturer guarantees that the oil will retain its taste, nutritional and other properties, provided that the buyer follows the storage rules.

Both concepts strongly depend on how exactly the oil is stored - for example, the timing for the product in the refrigerator and in the freezer varies greatly. According to PP No. 720 of June 16, 1997, the expiration date must be indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging of perishable goods, which after this period may be dangerous to the life and health of the consumer. The period is set in accordance with the law.

The expiration date starts from the date of packaging if it is factory-produced oil. For a home, the period is more difficult to determine; it is considered the first day of sending for storage.

Checking for naturalness

Simple tips will help you check whether butter is natural. There are not many such facts, but they are the simplest and accessible to every product lover.

• Real butter freezes in the freezer;
• It does not leave greasy marks on the packaging;
• And when dissolved in water, it does not form a precipitate. The water acquires an even milky color.

Harm and benefit

The benefits of eating butter are undeniable. This product contains 150 fatty acids. Most of them are saturated, which is what increases cholesterol levels in the blood, but along with them there are also unsaturated acids that remove cholesterol from the body.

In nature, everything is balanced, and if you follow the correct diet, thoughtfully including certain foods in your diet, including oils, then you don’t have to worry about the risk of heart attacks and strokes. How many kilograms of butter do you have to eat to give yourself a heart attack?

It's a matter of staying healthy. It needs to be approached comprehensively and its solution does not depend on the consumption or exclusion of butter from the menu. It is a fact that cholesterol is necessary to maintain normal digestion and the production of sex hormones. Moreover, butter holds the record for the content of fat-soluble vitamins - A, D, E, K.

Cow butter is indicated for children. The vitamins and minerals contained in it are the building blocks for their hormonal system.

Until the age of forty, oil is only beneficial in moderation. Without the fats contained in butter, cells are not renewed and skin elasticity is not maintained.

After forty years, it is necessary to reduce the consumption of all products containing animal fats, including lard and sausage. The calculated physiological norm for a healthy person is from 10 to 30 grams per day.

In any case, the consumption rate, expiration date and storage conditions should be observed. If you are creating stocks for future use, you need to select and use quality products. They will always benefit your health! After all, this is the main thing - why we eat!

May 21, 2022 Guardian 5522

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How to properly store fresh rosemary

Rosemary will retain its unique aroma even when cooked. And its fresh leaves, elastic to the touch, can be stored for a long time. But it is still better to use this herb as soon as it is picked.

If you can’t use everything, you can store the spice in the refrigerator. The leaves of this plant should not be washed before storing. This is done later, before use. Next we will learn how to store rosemary.

First storage method:

the tips of the branches are cut off in the same way as flowers; place the grass in small portions in a container with water; I cover the upper part of the plants with cling film or a bag

Several small holes are made in the film or bag; fresh water is poured several times a week; carefully remove moisture from the leaves with a napkin

You can store rosemary in this form for a week.

Second way:

• stems with leaves are wrapped in paper or cloth;
• From a spray bottle, spray the bag with the spice well with water until the paper is completely wet.
• The wet paper bundle is placed in a plastic bag and sent to the refrigerator.

Third way:

• Rosemary branches are wrapped in a slightly damp waffle towel;
• then the towel with the grass is placed in a plastic bag;
• the towel is periodically moistened with water from a spray bottle.

With this storage method, you can enjoy fresh spices for a month.

This spice is placed in a place in the refrigerator where it is not too cool, for example, on the door. These tips will help keep rosemary fresh for about one month. Further, the leaves may become dark and mold fungi may appear on them. In this case, even if you wash the seasoning, it will still remain unsuitable for consumption.

We can say that the optimal storage conditions for this plant are high humidity and a temperature not higher than +5°C. Those. the freshness area or refrigerator door are ideal. You also need to unwrap the bag several times a week and check the branches for darkening and mold. If you remove leaves that have begun to deteriorate, you can keep the spice fresh for up to 4 weeks.

Characteristics of a quality product

Real butter is characterized by a pleasant smell, sweet taste with a delicate aftertaste. As a rule, this product cannot be viewed or tried, so you should carefully examine the packaging before purchasing the product. It is recommended to give preference exclusively to domestic manufacturers. In addition, there should be no variations in names, for example, “butter”, etc. It is likely that in this case the manufacturer used a vegetable-cream composition.

Natural oil does not lose its plasticity during storage in the refrigerator, which is why its packaging may not be perfectly even. The most important thing is the integrity of the packaging. And, of course, before choosing a particular product, you need to familiarize yourself with its expiration dates.