We’ve all stocked up on sticks of butter because they were on sale just to find out that they expire in a couple of days. Now, if you went way past the expiry date, you need to know exactly what to do with expired butter.

While there is very little that can be done to butter that has gone bad, there are a few options that you could try out if the butter is just a few weeks out of date. There is no need to panic! You can still get your money’s worth out of this expired butter. Keep on reading to know more.

Has Your Butter Actually Expired?

Because butter is mainly fat and oil, you can use it for quite a few months, even after it has gone past s expiration date. With better storage, you will be able to use the butter for even longer. We will discuss this later on in the article.

But for now, you need to know that your butter is still edible after, say, two weeks past its expiration date. If the butter is past its expiration date and stinks, you should throw it out. The butter will become inconsumable if the water separates from it.

What to Do With Expired Butter?

If you’ve checked the expiry date on your butter and it’s way off, don’t worry. There are plenty of other things that you can do with this delicious creamy creation, except for spreading it on your toast. Here are a few creative ways you can use your expired butter.

• Relax Aching Feet

As butter is quite oily, it can be used as a massage oil. Because of the slippery and smooth texture, butter can help your foot massages feel a whole lot extra. The substance even warms up at times due to the friction, making this a great choice for your at-home spa days.

Massage your feet with the butter, wrap up in a warm towel and just relax for 10 to 15 minutes. You will surely feel energized and refreshed after taking off the towel!

• Use as a Hair Mask

Butter has a lot of fat in it, which helps tame dry and frizzy hair.

Massage the butter into your hair just like you would with any other hair oil. Make sure you cover the dry ends of your hair as well.

Cover your head in a shower cap and wait for about half an hour. Then you can hop into the shower, shampoo, and condition as usual.

Make sure you shampoo your hair properly so that all the butter is out of it. Leaving butter in your hair for too long might cause the roots to become too soft. This might result cause hair fall.

• Get Gum out of Your Hair

You can also use butter to get rid of gum that has gotten stuck in your hair.  You already know that peanut butter works like magic for getting gum out of your hair; butter alone can also do the trick.

Wrap the butter all over the gum and the hair surrounded by it.  Let the butter soak in for a few minutes. Gently pull on the gum, and it should slide right off.  Shampoo your hair afterward to get rid of the butter.

• Cut Sticky Food

Cutting sticky foods such as Jackfruit or even Sushi at times can be quite difficult. Rubbing just a little bit of butter onto the knife can help it slide much better through the food. You won’t have to deal with the food getting stuck to the knife.

• Remove Sap from Skin

If you have ever taken a walk through the woods, you know how annoying it can be when you get tree sap stuck onto your hands.  Even if you wash your hands a million times with soap and water, the sap just won’t come off.

Try your hands with some butter. This will help the sap get off of your hands. And this gonna be a magical solution for cleaning sap for a fresh skin.

• Remove Stuck Rings from Fingers

Trying on a ring from the past can result in the ring getting stuck on your fingers most of the time. A fast and easy way to get the ring off of your fingers is to slather on some butter. Because butter is so slippery, it will help the ring come off painlessly.

• Fix a Squeaky Door

If you’ve got a door hinge that makes too much noise adding a lubricant can always help silence. Butter can be used as a replacement for lubricant in a situation like this. Use the butter the same as you would use a lubricant, and the noise should be gone!

How to Store Butter Better

If you do not want your butter to expire but love buying butter in bulk, you could try this hack. Buy sticks of butter and store them in the freezer. Take one stick out at a time.

This prevents any bacteria from building up in the butter even if it has crossed its expiration date. Don’t worry; the butter will taste just fine once you defrost it. There is no freezer burnt taste or anything of that sort.

Storing butter like this will allow you to consume the product even after 6 months past its expiration date.

Also Read: Ways To Thin Peanut Butter

Final Words

As you can see, you don’t always have to throw away butter that is just a little bit out of date. Now that you know what to do with expired butter, you can still salvage that impulse purchase of butter in your freezer!

If your butter is smelly and has separated, you must throw away the product as soon as possible. But if not, try and use all the extra butter that you have in ways that benefit you. Remember, less waste is very beneficial for our environment at the moment.