Butter Boat, White

My husband ordered this as he is fed up with me keeping butter in the fridge. I am fed up with melted butter all over the kitchen benches which is why I kept it in the fridge in the first place. The boat arrived extremely well packed which ensured it arrived in perfect condition. Still skeptical I washed it and filled the base to the faint blue line, placed a stick of butter in and put the lid on. I then promptly forgot about it. A few days later I made some toast and used it for the first time. The butter was perfect. Firm enough to hold its shape and stay on the knife, but soft enough to spread without any problem. When in use the set is fairly heavy as there are three pieces of ceramic, a stick of butter and a cup (approx) of water. I was concerned about moving it as I thought the water would splash about. I haven't yet had a problem as the butter dish sits on the base very well. The lid sits comfortably on the dish and sits on an unglazed rim which means it doesn't slide about and provides a tighter seal. I am still uncertain as to how often to change the water but at the moment it seems to be fine doing it when I put a new stick of butter in. I am so impressed with this butter boat (and my husband likes it too!).

I've used a "butter bell" before, but I always had to cut the stick in half (messy)....and the butter would sometimes fall into the water when the top was inverted. This butter boat is perfect. Nothing to cut or invert. I love the clean, white color. The butter is so easy to spread. Two small issues that I can easily live with are that the top doesn't form a great seal. However, as long as it keeps the butter covered, I'm happy. The second thing is that guests who don't know how it works will sometimes attempt to pick up the whole unit and spill the water out of it. No problem if you know about it.

Three piece white ceramic butter dish. Keeps butter soft at room temperature - unless you keep the house too warm, then the butter separates. If your house is not air conditioned or gets about about 82 degrees you'd want to keep your dish in the refrigerator and that kind of defeats the purpose. Does a great job. We only use two top pieces at the table and keep the bottom dish with the water on the kitchen counter for storage of the other two pieces after dinner. That way we don't have to worry about unknowing guests dropping it because they don't know the handle on the inside dish is not connected to the bottom.

This is a fabulous, necesary, can't-live-without-it kitchen utensil. I love mine, and have a spare in the Gifts basket to give to a lucky friend at some point. It keeps butter wonderfully fresh-but-spreadable. I have another butter-keeper that puts the butter directly into the water. More often than not, the butter falls into the butter. This one has a water container underneath the butter dish. It keeps the butter fresh, yet spreadable, and the butter never gets wet. The porcelain lid fits wonderfully. Buy this product!!

I love being able to read about other people's experiences before buying, but it's often hard to decide which to believe when some people complain and others rave. In this case, I wonder if some are just manufactured differently than others because I can't believe that anyone who received one like mine would have anything positive to say. Even having read complaints that the lid doesn't fit properly, I can't believe how badly it fits: there are gaps big enough to see through no matter how I place it. And wiggling it around for the best possible fit is unpleasant because of the rough edges on the lid. The fill line is also misplaced; if I fill to it, the water spills. Of course, I could easily adjust to that; it's only worth mentioning as another sign of how carelessly made this is. I've tried putting plastic wrap over it before putting the lid on, blaming the speed with which the butter spoils on the ill-fitting lid, but it still doesn't keep butter fresh and spreadable any better than a plain butter dish. I see from other reviews that this style of butter keeper is supposed to be unglazed (which this isn't), so perhaps that is the problem. I wish I'd returned it while I had the chance. My advice to anyone who decides to try one is to take it out of the box and try it immediately so you don't miss the return window if yours is as bad as mine.

I like this much better than the usual butter bell. No worries about keeping the water clean or the butter falling into the water, because the water never touches the butter. However, the quality control on this item seems somewhat lacking. The cover of mine doesn't fit very well. And if you actually fill the boat to the line painted inside, it will overflow and make a mess when you put the insert into it. I've learned to underfill the boat part, and the cover is only a minor annoyance. Still...I'd be willing to pay a bit more for a better quality item.

Mine arrived on time, no problem. Shipping was quick. However, the butter boat comes in 3 pieces. Mine came in about 9 because the outer container that is supposed to hold water was shattered. The packaging had a thin piece of paper between the lid and the butter container. Then there was another thin piece of paper inside the outer container between it and the butter dish. There was nothing however between the outer container and the box. A thin sheet of bubble wrap over the entire thing would have protected the outer dish. This box was then wrapped with a sheet of that crinkled brown shipping paper and placed in a larger box. When this arrived there were no obvious damages to any of the boxes. The outer bowl was just shattered from being able to bounce around inside the box... I contacted the company and was asked for a picture twice, which I had already sent. Then the company asked me if I would be interested in a partial refund. I contacted them again and said, "No, I do not want a partial refund. I can not use this as it is designed. The outer container is not repairable". (I tried to glue it back together...) I said, "If you can just send me another outer container, that would be fine, or something comparable to that so I can still use the butter boat." Several days later, I received a response: "Sorry, we are out of that item." I contacted Amazon customer service and after telling the rep what BigKitchen had emailed me, they automatically put through the A to Z guarantee for me. Several days went by again and then I received a phone call from BigKitchen. The rep asked me to "CANCEL THE A TO Z GUARANTEE so that they could then proceed with giving me a full refund." I told them I would contact Amazon to see if that would be needed, and she said, "Oh, but they will take weeks to process your claim and we are ready to do your refund now." I contacted Amazon and received an instant credit. No waiting for weeks as the rep from BigKitchen claimed. Do not buy from them. They at first told me their shipping person was "training" and didn't know he should use bubble wrap. Then the "we are out of that item" was b.s. because Amazon still showed they had it in stock, then to only offer a partial refund and finally telling me to cancel the guarantee from Amazon?? I'm sure I would still be waiting for that check in the mail from BigKitchen....

I live in Arizona where it gets so hot in the summer it's not possible to leave butter on the counter because it melts. That means during 6 mos of the year we have to use cold butter out of the refrigerator. Ugh! Then I saw the Silvermark Butter Boat and bought one. I figured I had nothing to lose. Guess what... this thing really works!! I can now leave the butter on the counter and have soft (not melted) butter year round. It's truly amazing! I'm surprised any design could work in a desert environment but the butter boat keeps butter at exactly the right temperature even during the hottest days of the summer. I'm so happy with it I've been buying them as gifts for my family & friends. Concerning recent design complaints, I don't understand the objections about the lid not fitting tight or sealing. The design is fine. It doesn't need to seal. The lid sits loosely on the dish and protects the butter with no issues.