A butter dish

[Keith Westfall]

For Christmas I made my daughter a salt shaker & pepper mill. Now she is hinting for a napkin holder AND a butter dish!?!

Has anyone done a butter dish? Can you do it? Is any wood better (or worse) and what kind of finish would one want to use?

First thought is that this won't be a good combo (wood & greasy butter) but will be interested in the collective knowledge of the creek...

Thoughts, if it could work, is to do a covered type of dish.

Thanks in advance.

Keith

[Eric Holmquist]

Well I can't speak to butter dishes directly, but for centuries, butter making tools were made from wood.

[Steve Vaughan]

Time for your creative juices to start flowing, I'll get it started. Turn a small platter, the diameter 1/2" to 3/4" over the length of a stick of butter. Then turn from matching wood, a lid. Make the lid about 2" to 3" tall and it will fit down onto the platter, maybe even sitting in a groove. The lid is basically an upside-down bowl with a small knob on it's bottom, except the bottom of the 'bowl' is actually the top. Carve or pyro a 'B' three times around the sides, equally spaced so it can be seen however you sit it back in the fridge. I'd say maple finished with mineral oil or something like that. Maybe even that salad bowl finish.

OR...

Turn a small lidded bowl about the size (diameter and depth) of a typical small, round, plastic container of butter. Thar ya go!

[Steve Mawson]

I agree on the Maple, would probably work well. I would not put any finish on the dish, butter will do fine I believe. You could finish the lid. I have made a few butter molds in the past but don't know if they were ever used for that purpose.

[Michelle Rich]

butter was made in wooden churns and sat on wooden dishes for centuries. I'd go with maple too.

[Terry Beadle]

Another idea might be to get a ceramic plate or tile. Then embed it in a turned wooden plate. Turn a fairly deep lid with a knob on the top.

Add popcorn as needed ! Hoot!

[Keith Westfall]

All good suggestions so far! Thanks everyone. My plan would be to make a bottom 'plate' and then a 'bowl' to fit over the top. Might do a "bowl in a board" type of thing for the top piece I'm thinkin'...

Just wasn't too sure about the wood, but maple will be the one of choice. I'll post when I get it done, which might be a while - hate it when work interferes with fun :eek:

[Lee Koepke]

sycamore also is a good wood for use, it does not impart any 'flavor' into the food.

I have been asked to make a 'butter mold' thats what the liquid butter was put into then placed in frig / freezer then pushed out with a plunger. Conceptually, I understand how to do it, but its a matter of actually doing it.

[David Dockstader]

Go to Walmart or Bed, Bath, & Beyond (I'd say "or any 5 and dime" but that would REALLY date me since they're all out of business) and get a cheap glass butter dish. Then design your butter COVER around it and use any would that goes with your salt shaker and pepper mill. You can even make another wooden dish to go under it. That way you don't have to worry about what type of wood and you can stick the butter dish in the dish washer.

[Doug Herzberg]

I've read that Osage Orange is good for food contact. There's a factory making cooking spoons from it with a page on their website bragging about its qualities - leaving the spoon in a pot of boiling water, strength of the wood, etc. I would think that would mean it would stand up to hand washing, at least.

It would be really elegant if you made a butter mold to shape the butter to fit your dish, but to be practical, the dish should also be big enough for a chunk of butter right out of whatever size package they use so they can use it every day.

[Reed Gray]

I had some one come up to me at a show with their wooden butter bowl and ask me to make a lid for it. Bowl was about 2 1/2 inch diameter, and had a handle on it, more like a scoop. It had been well used for a number of years. It was no problem to turn a lid for it. As for finish, I would want walnut oil, and make sure it was cured before using. Milk products can go sour. I don't think the bowl had any finish other than butter on it though.

robo hippy

[Dan Forman]

I agree with Reed about using walnut oil, butter can go rancid and smells nasty when it does.

Dan

[Robert Henrickson]

Does walnut oil present any problems for nut allergies?

[Nate Davey]

Doctors Woodshop Walnut Oil products, and a believe Mahoney's, processes the protein that causes nut allergies out of their finishes.

[Reed Gray]

The oils are heated and some times pasteurized which breaks down the nut proteins which can cause the nut allergies.

Some thing I knew but didn't consider, the pea nut is a legume, and not a nut.

robo hippy