Silvermark 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 chose this butter boat after reviewing many similar types, and felt this would be the best choice for me. I like the look of the red and blue stripes on white porcelain, and overall it is well-made. Like other reviewers, I agree that the butter is a little hard to get out if you want "perfect pats" of butter. If you don't care about that, then it does well what it is supposed to do. The butter is spreadable, while the lid protects it from insects and kitchen spatters. I have no idea why water is supposed to go in the bottom section, so we don't use that feature. My main concern is about the ill-fitting lid. It fits okay, but it is a bit loose and not quite a perfect fit. Other than that, I love it! It is attractive and keeps the butter fresh and spreadable!

During the winter I just use water, but during the hot months I alternate between two boats. Instead of just filling the bottom layer with water, I actually freeze the bottom boat with the water in the freezer and I put the top boat layer on the ice rather than on water. During hot months the ice melts quickly but the water stays colder longer. In the meantime my second boat is in the freezer so that when the water under my butter gets too warm after a 2 or 3 days, I just put that back in the freezer and take out my other one from the freezer and place it under the butter- alternating back and forth between the two of them. Surprisingly the porcelain holds up perfectly in my freezer. Keeps the butter cool, but also nice and soft.

I originally encountered the butter boat at my mom's - she got it from one of the TV shopper networks (naturally). I liked it so much that tried to get one of my own. What an ordeal! As I recall, there was a whole urban legend around the original Butter boat (the lady holding the patent got very sick and they stopped being produced and the patent got tangled up, right when I was trying to buy one, of course...but I digress). I finally found the Silvermark ones on Amazon and bought four of 'em. They've become legend in my family - my youngest daughter just moved away and claimed hers (made a special trip for it!), so my stash of Butter Boats is now gone!ANYWAY, the Butter Boat performance has been described in other reviews - it really does work as advertised (maybe a bit better). No, the butter doesn't get rancid - unless you are an extremely slow butter consumer (like months or years per stick). I always preferred butter over soft margarine, but spreading refrigerated butter is a pain. No more pain!Just two issues that I can think of. It's kinda heavy and sometimes a little bit slippery, so it's tricky to pass around the table. (Think about corn-on-the-cob night). Also, the little lift knob on the lid is a bit hard to grip - ours has been dropped several times (without breaking, fortunately!). Now all I have to do is to figure out how to keep the cats out of it at night -- they like the Butter Boat too!