Butterboard, charcuterie’s polarizing stepchild, has taken TikTok to new food craze heights, as some fearsome safety and nutrition experts see it. Towards the end, the board offers a quick, cheap alternative to the meat- and fancy-cheese-laden OG, even though a projected winter butter shortage in the U.S. could drive up prices and make it harder to find. It’s landing on the table as a great alternative…at the supermarket.
“I wish they would leave. The idea of smearing something on a wooden board and smearing it with other food and then sharing it with others for everyone to soak in. It’s bacteria heaven.” said Laura Cipro, a registered dietitian in New York City.
Justine Doiron, who creates food content on TikTok and Instagram as @justine-snacks, kicked off her butter board party on September 15th. She topped with edible flowers and more.
She got the idea for butter on a wooden board from Chef Joshua McFadden’s 2017 cookbook with Martha Holmberg, Six Seasons: New Ways to Vegetables.
Doiron told the Associated Press: “You’re very creative with it and people are always looking for something they’ve never seen before. An easy way to enjoy food.”
Side note: She has a plant named Butter.
Dwaron went viral for her busy butterboard and hand swiping slices of thick, crusty bread. is being played. Searches related to this topic have reached 10 billion times for him on the platform, and his pile of butter garnished on Instagram is also gaining momentum.
And the board itself has spawned sweet sister versions, vegan cousins, and ice cream aunts and uncles.
Magnolia Bakery posted a video of it expertly spreading buttercream frosting on a cake stand and swiping cookies, brownies, rainbow sprinkles, and other goodies. Instead of full participation, toothpicks were used. Ben & Jerry’s shot a frozen version.
Private Chef is a frequent request from clients looking for a spread on board. Kevin Hart’s Los Angeles chef Kai Chase created several boards for him as a splurge.
Some eateries have buttered the board for years, but Magnolia has no plans to sell its own board. As one Bobby Lloyd said:
Doiron has some regrets about the butter board, but while she treats meals wisely, she’s reluctant to put “yay on someone’s yum.”
“I prefer knives. The big mistake in my video was that I swiped because it was only 28 seconds. I’d let them serve, but it’s really a matter of personal preference,” she said.
Susie Cornell of Boca Raton, Florida, did her Yom Kippur fast by bringing a board of lox and cream cheese when her family got together with a small group of friends in early October. Assembling food on stones (in case) is attractive for a simple reason. So literally, I don’t cook. ”
Cornell ditched the joint swipe situation in favor of cutlery.
In Salina, Ohio, Emily Westerfield owns a small catering company that specializes in boards and bites. These days, boards covered in spreads and toppings are on the tongue of many clients.
“I get requests like crazy. A friend who hosts her book club asked for a cream cheese board because we’re meeting in the morning,” she said.
Darrin Detwiler, an assistant professor of food policy at Northeastern University and an expert in food industry regulation, believes that pathogens can be anywhere when it comes to butterboards. He said that the wooden boards would crack and those cracks could not be cleaned well enough.
Detwiler entered his field after losing his 16-month-old son in 1993 to an E. coli outbreak associated with contaminated beef at a Jack in the Box restaurant. More than 700 of his people in four states fell ill, and three of his other children also died.
“Personally, I use plastic plates that can be sanitized in the dishwasher,” he said. “The second hidden danger is the idea of too many hands on butter boards. People think big. People don’t think about making small butter boards. I’m thinking of putting on a beautiful display, and if any of those hands aren’t washed, you’re just inviting chances.”
Los Angeles entertainment expert Paul Zahn has a workaround for that.
“Make individual jars and boards for your guests,” he said. “That way people keep their germs to themselves and you give them partial control.”
Some blame butter’s greasy nature in general and the almighty devil, bad cholesterol. Less flavorables are also used, including hummus.
“It’s a silly trend in a way,” said Lori Shemek, a nutritionist in Dallas.
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