So You Bought Canned Butter. Here's The Best Way To Use It

Shelf-stable canned butter is real butter, just sealed up in a can. Nothing artificial is added, the only ingredients are pasteurized cream and salt. Usually sold in a 12-ounce tin — which works out to the equivalent of three sticks of fresh butter — canned butter will keep unopened at room temperature for at least three years, if not longer. One of the companies that produce it even claims that it can last for a decade. 

But unless you're a person who is really, really organized about emergency preparedness, you might not have ever heard of it until you purchased a can. Now you're wondering, how do I use it? The short answer is to use canned butter exactly the same way you use the fresh version. Because it was stored at room temperature, it is soft enough right out of the can to use in any culinary situation, particularly one that calls for softened butter. 

Many baking recipes call for using softened butter creamed together with sugar. That process aerates the dough and helps to disperse the sugar evenly throughout. For example, this would work well with traditional butter cookies since beating the sugar with softened butter will lighten the texture of your baked goods. And while recipes for desserts generally recommend unsalted butter, canned butter — which is preserved with salt in the canning process — can be substituted if you leave out the salt added toward the end of the recipe.

Compound butter is another good option. The first step in making a flavorful butter compound to top your steak, enrich a sauce, or saute with vegetables, is to bring the butter up to room temperature. A canned variety can be blended right out of the tin with chopped herbs, garlic, and other seasonings to create a blend that will enhance your recipes or add that finishing touch right before serving.

The commercial brands of canned butter are widely available online or through specialty grocers. While it's possible to preserve your own butter by canning it at home in Mason jars, it's generally not advised to do so. Butter, with its low acidity, is prone to the growth of toxins during the home canning process, making it a risky proposition for DIY.