Clarifying butter is as simple as melting butter and letting the milk solids settle or rise out of the fat. Care should be taken not to burn the butter while heating it, so use a heavy pan that doesn't have any hotspots (see Common Materials of Cookware for more information on hotspots). When using salted butter, it is difficult to guess how much salt will remain in the clarified butter. A lot of the salt can be found in the milk solids as it settles or foams up, but the exact amount will be different every time. Use unsalted butter to remove any uncertainty (you can add salt to the clarified butter later to achieve the desired saltiness).
To make approximately 3/4 cup of clarified butter, melt one cup (225 g) of butter in a small saucepan (a 1-quart saucepan is shown in the picture) over low heat. With a good saucepan, you can just leave it there over low heat while doing something else and the butter will slowly melt. Turning up the heat will melt the butter faster, but the milk solids may begin to burn, so, resist the temptation. Instead, you can cut up the butter into pieces to speed up melting. Also, if you don't have a small saucepan, it may be best to use more butter. Too little butter in a large diameter pan will make it difficult to separate the solids from the fat later. 
When the butter has completely melted, continue to heat it over low heat. Some milk solids will drop to the bottom of the pan while others will rise as foam. As the milk solids rise to the top, they can be skimmed off. (Or, it can be removed when the butter cools.)Related Articles
Alternatively, pour the hot melted butter through cheesecloth to filter out the foam and solids that have settled, catching the clarified butter in a jar.
Or, pour the hot butter into a container, allow it to separate while cooling and then refrigerate. After it has solidified, you can easily scrape off the hardened foam from the stiff clarified butter layer.Although pure clarified butter does not need to be refrigeration, I recommend you store your clarified butter in the refrigerator (some milk solids may still be present and may cause the butter to go rancid). Use the clarified butter as you would use regular butter (tablespoon for tablespoon) in recipes.
Robert Wolke, in What Einstein Told His Cook, suggests using the left over milk solids for topping popcorn. Sounds like a good idea to me! (Also, Wolke mentions that no lactose is in clarified butter, so lactose-sensitive individuals should be able to enjoy clarified butter without the uncomfortable effects those of us who are lactose intolerant are well aware of.)
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Thanks!
Tirian
The recipe tells you to strain it:
<I>Gently pour into heatproof container through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.</I>
You would still need to get rid of the solids somehow.
Ghee and Clarified Butter are used interchangeably. You usually hear it referred to as Ghee in indian dishes and Clarified Butter in western dishes.
Traditionally ghee is made with milk (buffalo and sometimes cow) that has been allowed to develop some sourness before churning into butter. This provides more flavor to the butter.
The butter is then melted and water completely cooked off. Many recipes for clarified butter do not call for the complete evaporation of water in the butter.
So, I would say that ghee is a type of clarified butter, but not all clarified butter is ghee.
http://www.dreddyclinic.com/diet/ayurvedic/diet.htm#Ghee
P.S I enjoy your Blog very much.
http://tinyurl.com/cherk
when i make ghee from sticks of store bought butter(unsalted only), i simply let it melt over the low to medium heat. i use sound as the indicator for doneness. when it stops making the sound, i take it off the heat. i also skim the top..the foam, although i know that many people dont do that. if i want the butter to be more like beurre noisette, i let it brown or better still, i drop the sticks of butter when the pan is really really hot. the colour can vary from a milky white to a golden brown..and when overdone, a dark brown.
i have never heard of the sourness factor in traditional ghee. it might be true. i have also made ghee from the butter i churned from the cream. for a short time, a milkman used to stop by and deliver the milk straight from the udder. (btw, watching someone milk a cow is *fascinating*) after boiling it, i'd let it cool down. after it cools down, there will be a layer of cream. this, i deposit in a little container for about two weeks. after i have collected enough, the cream can be churned to seperate the whey and the butter. the seperated butter goes through the same process as the above method of making ghee from store bought sticks of butter.
i prefer buffalo milk which has more fat than cow's milk. the butter from the former is slightly yellow while the butter from the cow is 'white'.
towards the end, instead of straining the milk solids, i like to spoon the clear ghee into a seperate container. i sometimes add fresh curry leaves right after it is removed from the heat. it sizzles and adds a certain flavour dimension to the ghee that i cannot quite describe. it is delicious tho'...
-faustianbargain-
Love this site.
Michael
The term "curry", as we americans relate to it from the yellow 4 ounce metal tin named "curry powder", is a result of the British returning from India and wanting to duplicate an "average" of the spicy dishes they had experienced. Try here: http://redhotcurry.com/entertainment/books/sbasu1.htm . There are lots of web refs to expand the story.
Remember that real Indian cooks have dozens of seed spices on hand, and roast them and grind fresh for each unique meal. See "garam masala", as in:
http://www.food-india.com/ingredients/i001_i025/i003.htm
The 4 ounce can is one of many possible garam masalas.
The "Curry leaf" is a different item altogether. It is a leaf (a shrub with compound leaves). It has distinct but different culinary uses. A few links:
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/kgk/2001/0901/kgk092901.html
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Murr_koe.htm
http://www.asiafood.org/glossary_2.cfm?wordid=3260
Note that the WORD in many languages is the phonetic "ka-ree". Thus, the sun-besotted Brits easily confused the issue, importing a wonderful product (a canned garam masala) with a cross-linked name.
Michael
thanks, jimjimjim9. i couldnt have said it better. very informative.
faustianbargain.
Here's how I do it: I cut up butter and melt it in a saucepot, but I keep it on the heat until all the water boils off and the milk solids start to dry and clump together. (I don't mean to gross anyone out, but at the stage I'm talking about, the milk solids look like flaky ear wax.) Stop the heat at this point if you just want plain old clarified butter; if you keep heating it, the milk sugars will caramelize, and you'll have beurre noisette, which is good but not suitable for some applications requiring clarified butter. Then, I let it sit and cool until it is less than 200 degrees Fahrenheit. (So it won't melt the plastic on my super fine wire mesh coffee filter.) Once it's cool, I pour it all through one of those super fine wire mesh coffee filters arranged over a jar or some other storage vessel, and scrape all the solids from the pot into the filter so the fat can drip out.
The benefits of this method include saved labor, and unlike Alton Brown's method, this method removes the milk solids much more completely.
The hare krishna cookbook "A Higher Taste" has a very detailed description on how to make ghee.
As for how long it keeps, I made some 8 months ago and have kept it in the fridge and its still good. Just remember to always use a clean spoon to scoop it out. Oh and store it in glass.
Ana53
The full post is here
Marc
Berkeley, CA
This allows you to pour more fat off before you start to pour milk solids as well. You'll still have to spoon some off, throw some out, or do some straining, but if you're in a hurry and you're willing to waste a little fat (as is nearly always the case in a restaurant setting) this is a great trick.
Hopefully this isn't a silly newbie question: How does clarifying the butter change it's nutritional value?
Thank you!!
This is a perfect alternative to no-stick "Pam" or whatever. Works wonders for omelets etc.
Someone asked about Ghee...I believe the difference is that ghee is heated to a point of fragrance sometime after melting but before caramelization. I think it's heated more. We should ask our Indian friends.
No, they aren't. Guest John is correct about what he said. Ghee is clarified butter that has been further heated and cooked until it has a more nutty flavor and is slightly darker in color.
Ghee uses the old 'Maillard reaction' to produce flavours from the milk proteins and lactose in the butter. The oil-liking flavours (nutty/roasted) are then extracted into the fat that remains to form the flavoured ghee.
just thoughts
Watt
Thanks,
Laurie
Oh and one more thing, how to you make lemon butter without breaking the consistency?
Thanks all!
Melt a pound of butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat and slowly cook until the bubbling ceases and the liquid turns clear, 30-40 minutes.
Strain and cool, being sure to leave any solids in the bottom of the pan.
Or, once the butter has cleared, remove from heat and add two inches of hot tap water. Since it's less dense than water, the now clarified butter will float to the top.
And in a few hours in the refrigerator will solidify it into a big yellow Frisbee that you can lift out and use. Use it immediately or wrap in wax paper and refrigerate or add foil and freeze it for up to 2 months.
clarified butter is quite simply butter fat without solids.
the straining gets you 99% of the way there. addition of water actually serves to provide a place for the odd left ofter bits to settle. without the water at the bottom (of the bowl) any congealing solids would be inside what is the "floating" layer.
lemon butter: it's an emulsion. whip like crazy . . .
Spoon (skim) off the solids on top into a separate bowl, I give mine to my dogs (they especially like it when its crispy).
Using oven mitts, slowly pour the butter oil through a fine mesh strainer (like a tea strainer) into a heat safe container, glass is best. This will catch bits of solids that may have been missed after skimming. STOP pouring before the lowest layer of liquid, which is not yellow, infiltrates the ghee container.
Use or discard the liquid at the bottom. When the ghee (butter oil) has cooled, close the container tightly and enjoy the rich flavor ghee imparts to food.
The longer the butter is in the crock-pot, the more water will evaporate off. I sometimes start the process in the morning before leaving the house for the day and finish when I'm back in the evening. This process does not require being very attentive, just don't put it on high; it will burn.
One more thing: if you stir the contents of the crock-pot up, you have to give the mix time to resettle and separate out into the three layers before skimming off the solids and pouring off the ghee.
BentNote (Guest)
Aclaración de la mantequilla es tan simple como mantequilla derretida y dejar que la leche sólidos se asienten o aumento de la grasa. Se debe impedir que tarda mientras se calienta la mantequilla, así que utilizar una sartén pesada que no tiene ningún tipo de puntos de acceso (ver Materiales común de utensilios de cocina para obtener más información sobre hotspots). Cuando se utiliza la mantequilla salada, es difícil de adivinar cuánto la sal se mantendrá en la mantequilla clarificada. Mucha de la sal se puede encontrar en los sólidos de leche, ya que se instala o espumas, pero el importe exacto ser diferente cada vez. Uso de mantequilla sin sal para eliminar cualquier incertidumbre (puede agregar sal a la mantequilla clarificada después de lograr la deseada salinidad).
Para que aproximadamente 3 / 4 taza de mantequilla clarificada, derretir una taza (225 g) de mantequilla en una cacerola pequeña (a 1-recipiente, se muestra en la imagen) a fuego lento. Con una cacerola bien, te puede dejar allí a fuego lento mientras se hace otra cosa y poco a poco la mantequilla se derrita. En cuanto el calor se derrite la mantequilla más rápido, pero los sólidos de la leche puede comenzar a grabar, así, resistir la tentación. En su lugar, usted puede cortar el la mantequilla en trozos para acelerar la fusión. Además, si usted no tiene un pequeño cacerola, lo mejor es utilizar más la mantequilla. Demasiado poco de mantequilla en una gran de diámetro pan hará difícil separar los sólidos de la grasa
posterior.
Cuando la mantequilla se derrita por completo, continúa calentando a fuego bajo. Algunos sólidos de leche se caen al fondo de la olla, mientras que otros se lugar como la espuma. Como los sólidos de leche llegan a la cima, se pueden desnatada apagado. (O bien, puede ser removido cuando la mantequilla se enfríe.)
En este punto, puede eliminar la mantequilla por el calor y la capa superior de descuento en todos la espuma. Deje que la mantequilla se enfríe un poco para permitir que varios de los sólidos se asienten y luego vierta o una cuchara la grasa aclaró, dejando el resto de la leche sólidos en la sartén.
Alternativamente, se vierte la mantequilla derretida caliente a través de una gasa para filtrar la espuma y sólidos que se han asentado, la captura de la mantequilla clarificada en un frasco.
O bien, vierta la mantequilla en un recipiente caliente, deje que se aparte, mientras que de enfriamiento y luego refrigerar. Después de que se ha solidificado, se puede fácilmente raspar la capa de espuma endurecida de la rigidez de mantequilla clarificada.
A pesar de mantequilla clarificada puro no tiene por qué ser de refrigeración, que recomendamos guardar la mantequilla clarificada en la nevera (un poco de leche sólidos puede estar aún presente y puede causar la mantequilla para ir rancio). Usar la mantequilla clarifi cada como lo haría el uso de mantequilla regular (una cucharada decucharada) en las recetas.
Robert Wolke, en Lo que Einstein le dijo a su Cook, sugiere el uso de la izquierda más de sólidos de leche para colmar las palomitas de maíz. Suena como una buena idea para mí! (También, Wolke menciona que no hay lactosa en la mantequilla clarificada, de modo que la lactosa personas sensibles deben ser capaces de disfrutar de mantequilla clarificada sin a los efectos incómodos a aquellos de nosotros que son intolerantes a la lactosa son bien conscientes.)
I like to clarify butter in a double boiler - takes a little longer but no risk of burning. I use a conical paper filter (Melitta type) in a metal funnel and strain the clarified butter into a glass jar. I have found that Paul Newman's salsa jars are just the right size for the amount of clarified butter you get from melting a pound of regular butter.
I was wondering if anyone had experience or read about adding herbs, medicinal or not, to clarified butter. I know the Indians add some stuff to their ghee while it cooks and Ayurvedic practitioners I believe add medicines into it. It's hard to find this info tho. If medicinal substances are added, when is the best time to add them: as the butter cooks or afterward after it cools and separates? Should the herbs be filtered out or not? What is the actual process of the butter oils extracting the medicines and how it is different from the water and alcohol extractions when making standard tinctures? I assume that the fat-soluble substances in herbs will naturally get into the butter, but what about the other ingredients: minerals, vitamins, proteins, etc? Will they all be lost with the water? What is the comparison of alcohol and oils as far as their solvent properties are concerned?
thanks a lot,
Helen
research polar vs non-polar solvents, for starters.
by and large, medicinal or culinary, either you use the right solvent or you don't get the results you want.
how to . . . hot/cool . . . strain / don't strain . . .
the problem is not so much how to but an issue of safety.
anything that has been growing the dirt/soil has the potential to be contaminated with botulism spores.
short of using a pressure cooker to get the temp above 240'F - keeping / storing homemade extractions / diffusions is dicey business.
keep refrigerated, keep no longer than two weeks.
I love your idea!
Michael, ghee will last for years. Don't know why you think it needs to be pasteurized; but perhaps I misunderstood.
Jim
If clarified butter is to bread as ghee is to toast.
To make ghee you start out just the same as for clarified butter, but after the butter is all melted you continue warming the butter until all the water boils out of the bottom layer. The evaporation process will cause a foam-up.
After the foam subsides, you have no more liquid on the bottom of the pan, just milk solids. Keep heating.
You will get a second foaming even higher than the first. When the second foam subsides you are done, remove the pan from heat. Cool to a manageable temperature and skim the foam from the top, then pour off the butterfat. all that will remain in the pan are the caramelized solids from the pan bottom.
The butterfat itself will be golden brown, looking like it was toasted. It has a rich flavor that can not be achieved with any other fat I know.
I don't know how long ghee can last, in my house we keep it on the counter in a sealed glass dish and it never lasts more than about 2-3 months before it is used up, and it has never tasted rancid.
Unlike clarified butter, you'll want to go lightly when spreading ghee on toast or applying to other foods, it is a VERY rich taste that can overwhelm.