What is a butter crock?
Similarly, you may ask, does a butter bell really work?
Yes, the butter bell works decently, but the cure comes with a few side effects. To squeeze a fresh stick of cold butter into the bell shaped holder, I had to soften it and then mold the stick into the bell. When the butter gets too warm, the butter drops from the top of the bell and goes for a swim in the water below.
Consequently, does butter get wet in a butter bell?
The bell isn't supposed to be filled all the way with butter but to less than the depth of the water. Then it doesn't get wet. Also they are not made for long term storage of butter, just for a day or so.
Either way, leaving your butter on the counter in a covered container is perfectly safe, but all things in moderation. Keeping butter on the counter makes it soft and delicious. As long as it's done right, leaving butter out at room temperature is also just as safe as leaving it in the fridge.