The “Vintage” Butter Storage Gem I’ve Been Using for More Than 10 Years (Everyone Needs One!)

In the 14 years that I’ve been with my husband, his French propensity for having a steady supply of baguettes, sourdough boules, and salted butter in the house has rubbed off on me. 

When he moved in, we lived a block-and-a-half from the original La Boulange location in San Francisco, where baguettes were just $1.50 and a big slab of country levain was under $8. Next door to the bakery, a high-end grocery store supplied European-style butter that — when at room temperature — spread beautifully across the surface of our morning toast. We would go through butter at an alarming rate, but keeping butter at room temperature always made me raise an eyebrow.

As someone who spent 15 years of my childhood in balmy, 80-degree-year-round Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, I was taught that butter should be kept refrigerated — full stop. But this becomes a problem when you want spreadable butter at 7 a.m. before heading off to work. Leaving it out overnight seems like an obvious answer, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving it out all day, too. What if it went rancid quickly? Was it bad to keep moving the butter from the fridge to room temperature? What if ants suddenly developed a taste for expensive salted butter from France? 

One of my coworkers, who completely understood my dilemma, suggested the Original Butter Bell — and I’ve never looked back.

It’s inspired by the butter crock from the 1500s, but a bit more modern. It’s made from glazed bone china and has two pieces: the base (which holds water) and the bell (which holds an entire stick of butter). When the bell is placed atop the base, it creates a water seal that keeps the butter from oxidizing, while also keeping it at room temperature. Now we always have soft, spreadable butter at our disposal — no more having to plan to pull the butter from the fridge. 

I’ve owned this vintage-looking butter bell for well over a decade, and it’s survived four moves and plenty of use without so much as a chip. It comes in more than a dozen playful colors (both in glossy and matte finishes) and has the word “butter” embossed on one side and “beurre” (French for butter) on the other. It can be placed into the dishwasher for cleaning, but is also extremely easy to wash by hand. The bell itself is easy to refill with softened butter; just pack it down tight to prevent any air gaps and change out the water every few days.

If your household regularly enjoys butter on morning toast or rolls at dinner, or you find yourself reaching for a pat of butter to finish sauces or slather on vegetables as you cook, you might find the butter bell to be a useful — and très mignon — addition to your kitchenware lineup, or a great gift for anyone who loves butter as much as we do.

Buy: Butter Bell – The Original Butter Bell Crock, $28.95