We're a little butter-obsessed here, and that includes topics on why butter should always be browned, the rationale behind clarifying butter, and even how to make a DIY butter candle. And while some may consider the problem strictly one for the first world, we're always very interested in ways to spread cold butter on toast without ripping the bread to shreds. If you read that post, you know the ingenious solutions are many and range from grating your butter to buying a heated butter knife.
But Wait, There's a Better Way to Spread Cold Butter
Turns out that other folks are just as concerned about this dining irritation as we are. ButterUp recently ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to create a butter-grating knife to ensure the problem of torn toast never happens again.
However, if you can't wait to for the company to start manufacturing them, never fear: Cameron Bell over on Instructables has already figured out how to make a DIY version.
As you can see in his video, it works pretty damn good.
Keep in mind that while Bell actually made his own knife and punched holes in it, other users suggested taking an already made dinner or butter knife and perforating it with 10 to 15 tiny holes. So, you know, you have options.
Don't Like Knives? How About Glue?
Kenji Kawakami, one of the practitioners of Chindogu, a Japanese movement that plays with the concepts of what is useful and what isn't, created a butter stick that functions just like a glue stick. You can see more about it in his book 101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions.
The joke's on them, because I would totally use this all the time. It might actually be perfect to use not only for buttering toast, but for creating a perfect grilled cheese sandwich. This is a much easier and less messy way to coat each side of bread with butter before frying it.
Luxirare, a past food explorer here on WonderHowTo (we still love her doughless pizzas), has a great version of this butter stick on her website, which involve cleaning out non-toxic children's glue sticks (as you would when making DIY pushup crayons) and packing them with softened butter.
As she notes, be sure sure the glue stick containers are absolutely clean before you refill them. Get more details here.
More Butter-Softening Tips...
Interested in finding more ways to get softened butter into your life? Then learn how to make your own spreadable butter and bring butter to room temperature in mere minutes.
Just updated your iPhone to iOS 18? You'll find a ton of hot new features for some of your most-used Apple apps. Dive in and see for yourself:
2 Comments
I always kept the stick of butter wrapped in the paper it is wrapped in and used it like the glue stick for toast. never thought about needing a special tool.
If you use butter every morning you can go ahead and place your stick of butter in one of those butter keepers that are sold. But you really don't need anything fancy, just cover it with some plastic and leave it on a kitchen counter and it will always be available. And those round containers of butter in grocery store are very good. Nothing is wasted and you don't annoy yourself at breakfast, lunch or dinner.
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