Ghee is clarified butter and is so lovely and delicious that you will fall in love with it at first bite! It is ultra-rich and so smooth. And even better, it is shelf-stable, meaning it can keep on your counter at room temperature without going bad for several weeks or months.
Clarified butter is just real butter that has been simmered and strained to remove all the water and milk solids. The end product is very clean and has a sweet flavor. It makes the perfect cooking oil too because it has a high smoking point of 482 degrees.
To make ghee, take unsalted butter and melt it down slowly. I generally do a few pounds at a time. I turn my stove onto simmer or the lowest setting and just let it simmer for awhile. As it cooks, skim off the solids that gather on the surface. Allow it to continue to cook until all the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and the liquid becomes clear. This is your ghee or clarified butter.
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| Ghee before it solidifies...so lovely. |
Continue to cook it for several more minutes until the milk solids on the bottom turn golden brown. Allowing the milk solids to darken is what gives your ghee the flavor and beautiful color.
Now strain the milk solids out with a sieve and the liquid is your ghee. Put it into a mason jar with a lid and allow it to cool. Be sure you ladle only the ghee into the jars. You do not want any of the browned milk solids. As the ghee cools, it solidifies like coconut oil.
Ghee and butter both comprise of nearly 100% fat, but ghee may be the better choice for people with lactose or casein sensitivities. Ghee may also be better for high-temperature cooking but butter has a sweeter taste that may be more suitable for baking.
I love to fry food in ghee but it is also awesome on toast or on top of muffins, on baked potatoes, on homemade bread and on cast iron skillet cornbread. Yum!
What is your favorite way to use ghee?
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