Sour butter from freezer?

Sour butter from freezer? - Top view of halves of fresh juicy lemon composed on pink background in sunbeams

Earlier today, I defrosted two different sticks of butter from my freezer. Both tasted sour. Neither had expired. The manufacturers were different, so it wasn't the same batch. Has anybody run into this before? Is my freezer a frothing cesspit of bacteria or something?

food-safetybutter


Best Answer

OK, so I left one of the butters (the Kerrygold) out for a little while longer to see if it would affect the taste. I tried it again the day after taking it out of the freezer and the sour notes disappeared!

So I guess my freezer isn't the culprit after all. Here are the possibilities as I see them:

  1. The first butter (Plugra) was, in fact, a bit rancid. The sourness lingered in my mouth and affected the taste of the second butter (Kerrigold).
  2. The first butter was unsalted and I simply wasn't used to the taste of unsalted European butter. (Unlikely, as I just spent a year in Europe! But I also don't eat unsalted butter very often.)
  3. The sourness of cultured European butters is more pronounced when the butter is colder and/or defrosting. (More with the Kerrigold than the Plugra. The Plugra was already room temperature when I tried it.)
  4. It was all psychological.

UPDATE:

Just tried a fresh, unsalted pack of room-temperature Plugra. Well whaddayaknow, it's sour. So I guess the answer really is:

  1. I don't know what I'm doing.


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Sour butter from freezer? - Fresh lemons with juicy flesh on blue background


Does butter go bad in the freezer?

Yes, you can freeze butter \u2013 in fact, unsalted butter can last up to five months; salted butter up to nine with proper storage. To keep it tasting as fresh as possible, keep the frozen butter in its original wrapping. You can also wrap it in foil or plastic and put it in an air-tight container.

Why is my butter sour?

Butter can taste a bit malty (like \u201cGrape Nuts\u201d), or sour if bacterial had a chance to grow in the milk. The cause is usually due to Streptococcus lactis in poorly cooled milk.

Can you eat sour butter?

What happens when you eat expired/old butter? The first thing to do is, not panic as old butter cannot kill you or give you food poisoning. The worst that can happen is a stomach ache. Also, rancid butter can lower your vitamin E and vitamin B stores.

How do you defrost frozen butter?

Tips & Techniques > How to Thaw or Soften ButterFrozen butter takes at least 8 hours to thaw in the refrigerator or about 3 to 4 hours to thaw at room temperature. If a recipe calls for softened butter, frozen butter should be left out at room temperature for several hours or overnight.


Can You Leave Your Butter On The Counter?



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Images: Karolina Grabowska, Laker, SHVETS production, SHVETS production

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