We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
If you’ve ever opened your butter dish only to be hit with a cheesy aroma, you’re not alone — and you’re not necessarily dealing with spoiled butter. In fact, some types of butter naturally carry a cheese-like scent, especially raw or cultured butter. These butters are made using fermentation or with cream that hasn’t been pasteurized, which can produce tangy, complex aromas that overlap with those found in certain cheeses. A mild cheese-like smell in these butters is completely normal, but they should still taste like butter, not cheese.
However, if your butter smells sour or strongly rancid and has a very tangy or off flavor, it may have gone bad. This is also more common with raw, cultured, or European butter varieties since their natural bacteria can multiply if the butter isn’t stored properly. In this case, it’s safest to toss it. But if you don’t buy gourmet cultured-style butter and your stick has a mildly cheesy smell, there is one more reason this might be occurring.
Tips to prevent butter from absorbing aromas
Another reason butter might smell cheesy — or just plain strange — is that it can absorb odors from other foods in your refrigerator. Butter’s high fat content makes it especially prone to picking up smells from pungent items like onions, fish, or strong cheeses. So if you’re storing your butter next to a loosely wrapped hunk of blue cheese, the butter could be taking on the aroma of the cheese.
To prevent it from going bad or absorbing unwanted odors, you must store butter properly. To do so, keep it wrapped tightly in its original paper or transfer it to an airtight container such as a resealable bag or a butter bell, which uses water to seal the butter off from air. You can buy a butter bell from Amazon in various styles and colors. It’s also helpful to keep butter in the coldest part of your fridge, rather than the door, where temperatures tend to fluctuate more.
A slightly cheesy scent might not be a cause for concern, but strong off-odors or sour flavors are a sign it’s time to replace your butter. When in doubt, trust your nose and your taste buds.
