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Butter Stick is a term usually used to refer to a pound (450g) block of butter, cut lengthwise in quarters (actually, it's made that way), with each quarter individually wrapped.

Each quarter will therefore weigh 1/4 pound (4 oz / 115 g.)

The wrapping usually has amount lines in tablespoons marked off on it. You just cut the stick at the desired measurement marking. It is best to do this while the butter is cold, but it's hard to do that if you need to set the butter out in advance to have it soft for a recipe that needs it soft.

Block margarine is also available in the same format.

Sticks of butter are sold everywhere in America. They are also available in Canada, but not regularly and not everywhere.



The term can also be used to refer to butter in a plastic stick, like a glue stick. This was invented around 1995. A winder thing at bottom raises the butter out, and instead of spreading butter on bread with a knife, you swipe the surface on the bread, wielding it as you would a glue stick.

If a recipe calls for a stick of butter, it is the 1/4 pound definition that is meant.

Equivalents
1 stick = 1/2 cup = 4 oz = 8 tablespoons = 115g

History
Land O'Lakes was the first to start selling butter in sticks, in the early 1920s.

Other entries for:

Butter
Beurre d'Isigny, Beurre de Baratte, Butter Stick, Clarified Butter, Compound Butters, Concentrated Butter, Cultured Butter, Dehydrated Butter, French Butters, Ghee, Light Butter, Margarine, Pasteurized Butter, Plugrá Butter, Raw Butter, Rendered Butter, Renovated Butter, Salted Butter, Semi-Salted Butter, Spreadable Butter, Summer Butter, Sweet Cream Butter, Three-Quarter Fat Butter, Unsalted Butter, Whey Butter, Whipped Butter

Other entries for:

Dairy
Butterfat, Cheese, Milk, Nondairy Topping