What is clarified butter? How can I make it? (2024)

FAQs

What is clarified butter How is it made? ›

When you clarify butter, you remove all the milk solids and water, but are left with the butterfat. This creates a higher smoke point, which makes clarified butter ideal for cooking and sautéing. The process is simple; it just takes a little time because of the low cooking temperature.

Clarified butter is butter with the water and milk proteins removed, leaving a composition of 99-100% pure butterfat. Before that, butter is 16-17% water and 1-2% milk proteins (also known as milk solids).

Is it cheaper to buy or make clarified butter? Like most things, making clarified butter at home is a great way to save money—guaranteed to be less expensive than purchasing a store-bought version.

In terms of fat content, if we compare ghee and regular butter, clarified butter contains more healthy saturated fats; hence, it offers better support for saturated fat. Is ghee butter healthy? If you are at a fix about it, the answer is yes.

Ghee and clarified butter purchased at the store is unsalted. You can use salted if you prefer, but unsalted is handier because it's the standard in recipes so you don't have to worry about oversalting things because you have salted ghee.

Cooking with clarified butter has several benefits, particularly when frying. Milk solids are what cause butter to smoke and burn in cooking, so by omitting them, you are able to cook with butter at a much higher temperature and for a longer period of time. Milk solids also cause the butter to spoil, or become rancid.

Here's an easy method for clarifying butter that yields more than the traditional saucepan method does and with less fuss. The butter is cut into several chunks and melted it in a narrow glass container in the microwave, without stirring. After it rises once or twice, it settles into three perfect layers.

How Long Does Clarified Butter Last? While ghee is shelf-stable at room temperature, regular clarified butter is not and will need to be kept in the fridge. But it has a longer life there with less risk of rancidity than regular butter because you have removed both the milk solids and the excess water.

Ghee is a type of clarified butter popular in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking, made by heating butter to remove water and milk solids. While it's gaining recognition for its possible health benefits, you should still eat it in moderation due to its high fat content, which can lead to heart disease and weight gain.

An unopened jar of ghee could be stored in a dark place, away from sunlight at room-temperature (think kitchen cabinet) for up to nine months without concern. After the jar is opened, it can stay in its room-temperature cabinet for up to six months or it can be stored in a refrigerator for up to a year.

Which tastes better ghee or clarified butter? ›

Ghee has a nuttier flavor compared to clarified butter due to the extra cooking/browning time. This means ghee will give an extra boost and add a level of authenticity to Indian dishes, not to mention other subtle hints of flavor in dishes that clarified butter can't deliver.

Note: Butter is 25% water, which you'll lose when you clarify it. So if you start with 4 sticks (1 pound) of butter, you'll end up with 3 sticks (3/4 pound) of clarified butter. You know, math.

Melt butter in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, without stirring, 10-15 minutes or until melted and solids separate from fat. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Skim off foam. Slowly pour off clear yellow liquid, leaving behind the residue of milk solids that has settled to bottom of pan.

Since clarified butter has been heated enough to remove the water, it has a higher smoke point — about 100 degrees Fahrenheit higher than melted butter. This means you can sauté and pan-fry with it, adding buttery flavor to more of your cooking.

The top layer is a white foam or froth (the whey proteins) and should be skimmed off with a spoon. The milk solids will drop to the bottom of the saucepan and form a milky layer of sediment. What is left in the middle is a pure golden-yellow liquid called clarified butter.

Why It Works. Gentle heat cooks off butter's natural water content, without scorching the milk solids. Straining removes milk solids that would otherwise smoke and burn when used as a cooking fat.

Trader Joe's Clarified Butter (Ghee), 8oz.