33

I have a lot of butter & margarine and looking for ways to keep it for longer time.

Will freezing them change melting point, flavor, or anything that could be undesirable when cooking?

Update: We are now freezing our butter and margarine. It is a perfect solution!

Improve this question

6 Answers 6

Reset to default
36

Butter and margarine freeze perfectly. I generally stock up during sales and thaw it as needed. You just have to make sure it's wrapped tightly in the foil, to prevent oxidation. It'll keep at least 6 months, probably more if you don't have a self-defrosting freezer.

Thawing butter does take quite a while, however. I usually give a package a few days to thaw fully. If you need butter in a hurry, you can always put it in a Ziploc bag and fast thaw it a bowl under running running water. Or, just soften it in the microwave.

Improve this answer
11
  • 3
    Totally agree. We buy it from Costco and freeze all but one box. Can't detect a difference after it's thawed.
    – Sobachatina
    Aug 22, 2012 at 18:13
  • 3
    I just put the boxes in the freezer as is, and then pull one cube out at a time. It works just fine.
    – thursdaysgeek
    Aug 22, 2012 at 19:23
  • 2
    And frozen butter is actually a real advantage when making pastry doughs in a food processor, too. :)
    – Jennifer S
    Aug 22, 2012 at 19:58
  • 1
    But can be thawed quickly in cool water (submerge it). Or cut up and put on a good, thick, aluminum cookie sheet.
    – derobert
    Aug 22, 2012 at 20:15
  • 1
    Also if you have a lot of butter, consider making some flavoured butters, which are tasty and super-useful.
    – ElendilTheTall
    Aug 22, 2012 at 21:14
21

There is some real science on this. See http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/15684/PDF

When frozen to −20°C butter can last 1 year with no real change in quality

Improve this answer
2
  • 4
    There is one point that is important here though. If the butter stick is wrapped in wax paper the freezer life isn't quite as good as in bulk butter. The storage quality of butter sticks will be less throughout the entire year in the freezer thank bulk butter.
    – Justin Nathanael Waters
    Aug 25, 2012 at 8:13
  • Wish it would allow me to edit my rating. The link is dead now. Please update if possible.
    – Justin Nathanael Waters
    Dec 11, 2021 at 8:11
3

We've frozen Margarine all my life. My Mother would buy margarine on sale and freeze it for our big family. We just pulled it out of the freezer as needed.

We always, and still do, freeze it in the box it comes in with no extra wrapping needed and it is just as good 2 years down the road as it is when you bring it home from the grocery store. Now, different brands may not be as good or freeze as good either. I don't remember what we used growing up, but now, we ONLY buy Blue Bonnet Margarine (original/regular, and never the lite).

Improve this answer
-2

I buy four packages fo butter and freez them as i need them. I then take a quarter of a stick and put it in container and let it thaw out overnight. I leave it out until it is gone and take out another stick of butter from the freezer. I have no problems witn freezing or thawing butter.

Improve this answer
-3

If you ask any of the margarine manufacturers, they'll tell you NOT to freeze margarine because of the high water content. Upon thawing, the oil and water will likely separate. It'll look bad and not taste as it should.

Butter, on the other hand, can be frozen, because of the high fat content.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    Both butter and margarine have about the same fat content(around 80%).
    – Jay
    Jan 3, 2013 at 5:57
  • 1
    I've never tried freezing margarine, so don't know about the separation, but I'm guessing there's something else in play other than fat content. I guess someone could try freezing those blended sticks (I think it's 40%/60% butter to margarine; can't remember the brand), and see if whatever's stablizing the butter will help the margarine.
    – Joe
    Jan 3, 2013 at 14:34
  • Butter is much higher in saturated fat, anywhere from 3 to 6 times higher. You can buy lower fat/healthier margarines, but butter is butter.
    – user15036
    Jan 16, 2013 at 5:28
  • Regardless of what the manufacturers say it is a proven practice to freeze margarine and butter. There is documentation provided here to back up the claims.
    – Justin Nathanael Waters
    Jul 12, 2013 at 20:46
-3

Unfortunately preheated fats (processing with heat) and then freezing the goods will turn most of the fats into trans-fatty acids. That is useless stuff for our system. I freeze my raw butter from my grassfed Jursey. No issue!

Improve this answer
1
  • 6
    Welcome to the site - I'm interested in your claims about heating then freezing and conversion to trans-fatty acids. Can you provide some evidence for this please?
    – bob1
    Apr 21, 2021 at 4:23

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.