I Tested 10 Butter Dishes and Bells to Find the Best Ones (Since Life Is Better With Spreadable Butter)

I was a margarine kid. It was the 90s, and my parents, like many other adults at the time, were trying to cut back on saturated fats. Enter the magical tub of hydrogenated oil, a.k.a., margarine, which was low-fat and always ready to spread; you could pluck the container straight from the fridge and it would still slather nicely over a slice of bread. 

It wasn’t until the yellow glow of margarine began to fade in the public eye—and until I met my now-husband, whose family always had a stick of salted butter on the table at dinner—that I discovered that, well, real butter was actually pretty good. And the best butter was the soft kind: a fudgy golden stick ready to be slathered on toast. It was the worst when you forgot to take the stick out of the fridge and tried to spread a solid hunk.

As my affinity for soft butter grew, I decided I needed a butter dish—it looked so pretty and it made me feel like I was living in a cottage in Provençe. Then, I stumbled upon butter bells, an even more romantic way to serve beurre at dinner. But, which is better? Is there a “best” way to serve up that glorious, fancy, salted European butter at your dinner party? Will the butter go rancid? I decided to get answers by testing 10 butter containers (both dishes and bells) and consuming a little bit of butter every day for two weeks straight (bleh). 

The results were surprising: Almost every butter dish and bell I tested were totally fine at their (admittedly quite simple) job. They kept butter spreadable, made it easy to access, and kept it safe and sound, with only one butter bell container getting a wee bit of mold (and that was likely my fault for forgetting to change the water one day).  In summation, if you’re the relaxed type and go through butter quickly, a butter dish is best; if you’re the type to take initiative and get into routines easily, a butter bell could be a good option. 

The Winners, at a Glance

If you dream of living in a cottage in Provençe, this is the butter dish for you; it’s gorgeous, with Le Creuset’s signature colorful enamel options. The lid, with a wide handle, was easy to remove, and the butter stayed fresh throughout the two weeks.  

This colorful butter dish has two lids that fold over the stick of butter, keeping it safe and sound. It also comes with a knife, though it’s duller than your average butter knife. 

While not a looker, this butter dish performed well, keeping butter fresh for two weeks. The lid was also easy to lock on and pop off. 

I loved the heft of this butter bell; it stayed squarely in place on the counter with nary a spill even when accidentally jostled. Its beautiful marble construction was easy on the eyes, too. But looks weren’t its only boon; it also kept butter soft, spreadable, and fresh. 

This $20 butter bell has a timeless look, is easy to fill and scoop from, and kept butter fresh. 

Arguably the OG butter bell, there wasn’t much not to like about this offering; butter stayed fresh and the lid was easy to grip and remove. 

This butter bell looked great and kept butter creamy and smooth for weeks. It also features a water line on the interior, so you know where to fill it to. 

The Tests

• Filling Butter Test: I filled each butter dish and bell with one stick (four ounces, or eight tablespoons) of butter, noting how easy it was to do so. 
• Butter Taste Test: I tasted the butter in each container for two weeks, noting if there were any off aromas or flavors, as well as how easy it was to stick a knife in for a slice. I replaced water in butter bells every three days, as recommended by most manufacturers. 
• Cleaning Test: After two weeks, I removed the butter and cleaned the dishes and bells. 

What We Learned

How Long Can Butter Stay Fresh at Room Temperature? 

As we explained in this piece about butter bells, there is a lot of conflicting information out there about how long a stick of butter stays fresh at room temperature. Per the USDA, “Butter and margarine are safe at room temperature. However, if butter is left out at room temperature for several days, the flavor can turn rancid so it’s best to leave out whatever you can use within a day or two.”

However, during my two-week testing period, I never tasted any hint of rancidity (plus, rancid doesn’t equal bacteria, it just means the fat has oxidized, leading to a sour taste). 

According to one Korean study, butter stored between 77ºF to 95ºF has a shelf life of 109 days based on “quality changes, including total cell count, coliform counts, Listeria monocytogenes counts, acid value, moisture content, pH, acidity and overall sensory evaluation.” In other words, it took 109 days for room-temperature butter to finally “go bad.”

That said, if you’re storing butter in a butter bell, you’re actually increasing the risk of contamination, and more care (and consistently refreshing the water) is needed.   

Butter Bells Were Good—If You Change Their Water

Butter bells use water (which surrounds the bell) as a way to keep butter soft and spreadable, but a stagnate pool of water is a breeding ground for bacteria. The best practice when using a butter bell entails changing out the water every three days. That said, if you’re like me (read: absent-minded on occasion) and forget to change the water, you might end up with some unsightly, slimy black and green mold where you last took a chip of butter out with a knife—in which case, it’s best to toss the butter. 

Lidded Dishes Kept Butter Fresh

Prior to testing, I figured that butter dishes that didn’t completely seal, like the Le Creuset and Butterie, wouldn’t keep the butter as fresh. But, during testing, I found no difference between sealed and lidded dishes; both kept room temperature butter fresh for two weeks, without mold or rancid flavors. Sure, if you kept a stick of butter in a dish for months and months, it probably would taste off and get moldy and gross, but who has the fortitude to do that? That said, if you want a butter dish/container to keep butter fresh and free of flavors in the refrigerator, a sealed container, like the Rubbermaid or the LocknLock, is a better option. 

Butter Bells Versus Butter Dishes: Which Was Better?

During my tests, the butter in both dishes and bells remained fresh over the two week period (though this might just be the nature of butter itself, and less to do with how it was stored). 

In terms of keeping butter soft, I didn’t notice much of a difference between the two styles of containers; both kept butter spreadable but not super soft (obviously this would change if it was the dog days of summer). Overall, neither was better than the other.

Where the butter bells and dishes did diverge was in ease of use; it sounds dumb, but a butter bell is more “work” to use since you have to pack the butter in it and change the water every few days to prevent bacterial growth. A dish, on the other hand, just requires cleaning after you’ve gone through the stick of butter. In the end, it depends on how high-maintenance you want your butter to be. However, I think a butter dish is better overall, since it’s easier to use and doesn’t require maintenance (other than cleaning it); plus, it kept butter just as spreadable as a bell in my tests. 

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Butter Dish

Most butter dishes and butter bells did the job just fine. That said, the ones that stood out were also easy to clean, easy to use, and kept butter soft and protected. For butter dishes, this was a simple task, since they’re oftentimes just a lid that covers the stick of butter. For bells, this also meant that they were easy to fill with butter. and that it was easy to stick a knife in the bell for a scrape.

The Winning Butter Dishes

What we liked: This is an elegant butter dish that does its job well—butter was fresh, soft, and easy to access. I liked the looped lid handle and small side handles that made bringing it to the table for dinner easy peasy. 

What we didn’t like: Not much! It did get a bit dirtier than the plastic dishes, but it was easy enough to clean.

Key Specs

• Materials: Ceramic
• Weight: 1 lb, 7.6 oz
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

What we liked: This simple flip-top butter dish was easy to open and close and stayed relatively clean throughout the two-week testing period. The butter was fresh and spreadable. 

What we didn’t like: It has a vintage, 1950s look that might not appeal to everyone. The plastic butter knife that came with it was dull, dull, dull.

Key Specs

• Materials: Plastic
• Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

What we liked: If you’re looking for a no-frills, sealed butter dish that you can easily put in the fridge or pull out to soften, this is a great option. While it’s made of plastic and kind of looks like a food storage container, it kept butter safe and sound, and the lid was easy to pop on and off. 

What we didn’t like: This is a very practical dish, as in, it’s not very pretty and looks more like an upside-down food storage container than a butter dish. 

Key Specs

• Materials: Plastic
• Weight: 2.8 ounces
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

What we liked: The heft kept this butter bell from moving around on the counter, and the lid was easy to grip and remove. Plus, okay, fine, it’s just really classy looking! The bell was easy to pack with butter and a quick swipe with a knife removed it readily. 

What we didn’t like: There wasn’t much not to like about this butter bell, other than it’s not dishwasher-safe and it’s a little heavy.

Key Specs

• Materials: Marble
• Weight: 2 lbs, 11.2 oz
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: No

What we liked: This simple butter bell was easy to fill and use, and the price (which was $20 at the time of publication) was wallet-friendly. 

What we didn’t like: There was some mold on the butter on day 13, but I think it was my fault for forgetting to change the water (whoops). The lid was also slightly jiggly. 

Key Specs

• Materials: Stoneware
• Weight: 1 lb, 5.8 oz
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

What we liked: A classic butter bell, this lived up to expectations and was easy to use, fill, and clean. The wide, round knob on top made it easy to grasp and place on the counter, too. It also comes in a wide variety of fun colors—royal blue! Golden yellow! Café beige!

What we didn’t like: Not much, other than having to change the water, but that’s par for the course for butter bells. 

Key Specs

• Materials: Ceramic
• Weight: 1 lb, 9.4 oz
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

What we liked: This beautiful butter bell, like the others, was easy to fill and use and kept butter soft and spreadable. While a small detail, I liked the water fill line marked inside the jar; it reduced the risk of having a small gush of water when we put the bell in.

What we didn’t like: Not very much, other than the slightly high price tag (it’s $24 more than the Norpro butter bell).

Key Specs

• Materials: Ceramic
• Weight: 1 lb, 7.2 oz
• Capacity: 4 ounces (1 stick)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

The Competition

• LocknLock Easy Essentials Food Storage lids/Airtight containers: This wasn’t a bad butter dish, but it really does look more like an upside-down food storage container than anything. If you’re looking to keep a larger amount of butter (it could likely hold a 16-ounce block of European butter) super fresh and free of off-flavors when it’s stored in the refrigerator, this could be a good option. 
• DOWAN 6.5″ Large Butter Dish: This dish was too deep to comfortably slice a pat of butter. The lid was also difficult to put on and remove because of its silicone lining. 
• Emile Henry Modern Classics Butter Pot: While this was a pretty little butter pot (that held seven ounces of butter), there was no handle on the lid, just a raised bump, which made it difficult to remove. The interior bell portion was oval-shaped, which was harder to fill and scoop butter from. 

FAQs

What is a butter bell, and how do you use it?

A butter bell (a.k.a a butter crock) is a small jar-like container that you add 1/3 cup of water to before placing the butter-filled, bell-shaped lid inside. In theory, the water surrounding the bell keeps butter softer than a stick left on the countertop. 

How long can butter stay on the countertop?

According to the USDA, butter is safe to store are room temperature, but they recommend using it within a few days. However, during our tests, we didn’t notice any off-flavors or mold over the two-week test period. 

How often do you have to change the water in a butter bell?

Most manufacturers recommended changing the water in a butter bell every three days to prevent mold or bacterial growth. 

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly is the associate commerce editor at Serious Eats.
• She has been reviewing gear for three years. 
• Her background includes environmental journalism and magazine writing; she was also a bartender and prep cook. 
• For this review, Grace used 10 butter dishes over two weeks, examining their ease of use, performance, and how easy they were to clean.