So I have been reading a bunch of recipes that call for a greased pan/pot. They seem to call for butter to grease the pan/pot.

How do you keep butter for lets say... 3 to 5 days?

Don

Butter lasts that long without anything special, so just put it in something. Or, you can load up on trans fats and carry crisco in something. That lasts forever, especially in your blood stream. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In other words, don't worry about it.

Clarified butter (ghee) lasts pretty much indefinitely. You can buy it premade or easily make it yourself on the stovetop by melting regular butter and separating out the solids.

Here's one method, plucked at random from the tubes:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ghee-recipe/index.html

Another option....bacon grease. Mom, and about 100 million other mom's in this country, used to keep an unrefrigerated grease pot on the kitchen counter full of bacon drippings.
I used to carry it many years ago before everybody got so freaky about LDL/HDL. Potatoes fried in the stuff after a long days hike is down right tasty.
To answer your original question, as others stated, clarified butter keeps for days if kept cool.

I used to carry butter wrapped in tin foil when I was in NZ, but the butter there wasn't like the butter here-it didn't really melt unless it was pretty warm. Not sure why, but it was different.

Butter won't die, but personally, if I need such things I find a small bottle of olive oil much easier to pack. I more or less substitute olive oil for anything butter while backpacking.

My butter sits on the countertop until I use the whole stick... takes a few weeks unless I cook some recipe that calls for more than a dab. Never goes rancid or tastes bad. It's funny how some foods people used to keep in a pantry are now "refrigerate after opening." My grandparents never had a fridge but somehow they managed to keep eggs and butter.

lori, I do the same with my butter as you. As for how they managed, I think it had a lot to do with getting it in small quantities and eating it soon. A chicken lays about an egg a day. If you have to layers, then you get two a day, and a little over a dozen a week. If you eat two a day, then they never go bad. If you have a cow, and you drink it all that day, no fridge necessary. Or, if the milk man delivers just enough for the day, then you just use it right then. Anyways, you get the picture.

I have read so many threads on this sort of topic recently... here's one experiment someone did with cheese.

Refrigerate or not?

I too think cheese is tastier when warm. String cheese after a day in the pack tastes better to me than fresh out of the fridge.

My grandparents no doubt had a quick turnover of fresh foods... with 12 kids, you had to replenish frequently. So they had a whole passel of chickens. My other grandparents were city folks and just used Imperial margarine and store bought eggs.

Gotta say, it depends a lot on the cheese. Certain varieties--hard, dry, cured for long periods--will survive in a summertime backpack. Others turn to a translucent goo state that I don't find very palatable.

Whatever the fromage, it needs to be wrapped airtight. Vacuum-packed seems to be the best.

Are you sure they were not calling for a "Grease Pot"? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> That would be a lightweight pot found in Walmart and K-Mart.

As for carrying butter that is quite easy - you just clarify it! Then it is shelf stable for about a year. Otherwise known as Ghee. I have a couple ways to do it on my website as well, if you are interested, I can post one or two here.

I seem to recall reading many years ago in a camping magazine that sqeezable margarine had been tested up to over 100 degrees without spoiling. I used to carry it on weekend backpacking trips, but would put it (and even eggs in an egg carrier) in a mesh bag in a mountain stream to keep it cold. It worked.