May 5, 2011

Friday Finds ~ French Butter Keeper (Butter Bell)


This week's find is a very utilitarian, antique pot/crock used to store butter  (with out the need for refrigeration :)
French Butter Keeper (or) Butter Bell 



Before refrigerators came into being, butter was kept in earthenware pots, and sometimes submerged in water. I keep bumping into antique and modern versions of the Butter crocks/pots. The original water submerged  butter crock /bell is said to have originated in France in the Middle Ages. (5th to 15th century)




There are two pieces to the crock, the interior piece which holds the butter and the exterior which holds approximately 1/3 cup of cold water. The water works as a seal keeping your butter fresh and spreadable. If used correctly, butter is said to remain fresh for up to 30 days. Cool isnt it!!...Just keep changing the water every three days. Although butter may slip out in higher temperatures, this is better than a refrigerator because the butter is protected from the air, and it remains at room temperature. 


Off late, I see a lot of well known brands reproducing the old style crock. Which one would you want ??

Marble bell

source

Glass 
Glass Butter Bell
ceramic or vintage Enamel 


ceramic


I may end up getting one home soon...funny part - We don't eat butter...lol

13 comments:

  1. So very interesting...Had never seen something like this..so very unique...great post

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic find! I like the creamic one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your posts Sudha. You certainly do your homework! That's one cute looking butter-storer!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow!! this is really something... wonder where u dig all this up from...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Would want the french ones but I can live with the ceramic one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post - I had no idea how to use these things!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! This is such an unique find. How do I get my hands on one S?

    ReplyDelete
  8. thank you people...

    Divz ~ a regular amazon store or big box stores should be carrying them :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. just lovely post...! wish i can have one for my home too...! But I wonder we get this in India..

    The schematic picture is so informative.. I am sharing it on Facebook for my friends to read and get idea..

    Regards,
    Amrita
    ---

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just saw one of these at a farmers market, check out the hand made pottery... you wont notice the butter crocks unless you are looking for them!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just saw one of these at a farmers market, check out the hand made pottery... you wont notice the butter crocks unless you are looking for them!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just found one in a box of goodies a church member left behind for us!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. You made my day!

adding pinterest script 3. Changing the Position of the Pin it! button The cool thing about this code is that you have some freedom over where the Pinterest button for Blogger will go over the image. Take a look at the code that you just copied and pasted into the HTML for the word 'center'.