Was your favourite spreadable butter on offer so you decided to go overboard and grab a few tubs of it but now you don’t know how best to store it for the longer term? We might just have the answer…
Can You Freeze Spreadable Butter?
Yes, you can freeze spreadable butter for up to 6 months. Portion it out, then wrap each portion to keep it airtight. You can then pop the portions into a freezer bag to store for the longer term.
Does Spreadable Butter Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Spreadable Butter? No
How To Freeze Spreadable Butter
You’ll be pleased to hear that freezing spreadable butter is both easy and quick. Unless stated on the packaging, we would avoid freezing it directly in the tub it was bought in. Often they are not suitable for the freezer so can crack in the freezer.
This will ruin your butter! All you need to do is follow these simple steps:
- Prepare Butter: Remove the butter from the tub it was bought in and then either keep it as one large block if you know you’ll defrost the whole block or cut it into smaller blocks to freeze it in portions.
- Protect: Wrap each portion in a layer of cling film. This will give it an extra layer of protection. It must be completely sealed in the cling film for this to work well.
- Bag Up: You then need to place your wrapped portions of butter into a ziplock bag. The bag should protect it further from oxidation and other strong odours found in the freezer from items such as fish or onions.
- Freeze: Label your bag with the product and the date you’re freezing it and then place it into the freezer.
2 Tips for Freezing Spreadable Butter
Now you know how to freeze spreadable butter, we’ve got our 2 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing it to have the best results:
Protect It
Butter will absorb any odours from your freezer which is why it is vital that you spend time wrapping it, bagging it up and protecting it. You don’t want your butter taking on the flavour of fish or garlic, do you?
Portion Out
To ensure there’s no need for refreezing or wasting it, freeze your spreadable butter in manageable portions that you know you’ll consume.
How Long Can You Freeze Spreadable Butter?
The good news continues because spreadable butter will last in the freezer for around 6 months. That should be plenty of time for you to freeze it and then use it up!
Beyond this point, it should be perfectly safe to eat but you will notice a rapid change in the texture so try to consume it within that first 6-month period.
Generally, spreadable butter has a long shelflife in the fridge. It will last for around 4 months in the fridge in the tub it came in or up until the use-by date.
How Do You Defrost Spreadable Butter?
We would highly recommend defrosting it slowly, in the fridge, overnight. This will prevent any bacteria from forming on your butter were you to defrost it at room temperature.
Defrosting will take different periods of time depending on the size of the blocks you have frozen. Small slices should only take a few hours whereas complete blocks will need a full 24-hour period.
Can You Refreeze Spreadable Butter?
This is not something we would recommend. If you refreeze your spreadable butter, you’ll find that the texture deteriorates rapidly. The fats will separate out from the liquid and you’ll be left with a grainy butter – that’s not what you want!
Does Spreadable Butter Freeze Well?
It certainly does! It won’t be quite as good as it would be directly from the fridge, and there is a chance the texture will change.
However, there is nothing wrong with freezing spreadable butter and it’s a great way to give yourself a longterm supply of the stuff.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing spreadable butter or butter in general, then these may help:
Lurpak is probably one of the most popular of all spreadable butter products out there. The good news is that, yes you can. You don’t even need to take our word for it. Just check out the packaging of your Lurpak, and you’ll see it states it’s suitable for home freezing.
Yes, you can freeze butter in the tub that it came in. It can be a good idea to pop this into a bag, however, so that if it does split then you won’t be left with a mess in the freezer.
