How To Make Clarified Butter

Clarified butter, drawn butter, or ghee is a product usually made for the purpose of preservation. Used widely in India,Egypt, North Africa, and Middle East, clarified butter is found on the kitchen shelves with various formulas and different names. It is definitely an Oriental Mediterranean ration. While the general butter doesn’t last much time even after keeping in a refrigerator, ghee has a shelf life of about a year or more. Not only that, ghee or clarified butter is much healthier than its counterpart. As it lacks hydrogenated oils, it is easily digestible and is touted beneficial for one and all. It has been used in Ayurveda for centuries to help treat ulcers, constipation, burns and blisters and for memory retention and healthy eyes and skin. It also has higher smoke point than general butter, making it ideal for high heat cooking like sautéing and deep-frying.

Tips For Making Ghee

If you are making clarified butter from store bought butter then instead of going for butter sticks, go for unsalted butter in blocks, as it will make the unwrapping process easier. Also never, in any case, invest in cheap butter.
Take a heavy bottomed saucepan. Now cut the butter into chunks, put it in the saucepan, and heat on medium to low for forty minutes.
Now take a fine muslin cloth and fold it in such a way that it has four layers. Lay it in a strainer and place it over a clean vessel.
The butter in the pan would take a maximum of 8 to 10 minutes in low heat to get melted. After all the butter has melted, stir it with a spoon ladle and let it set for a while.
After few minutes, the butter will start to froth and sputter. Stir it with the ladle and continue to do so after every 30 seconds. Stir it gently in the bottom making sure you don’t disturb the solid clumps. Allow the white solids to settle at the bottom.
When the butter starts to boil, stir consistently and continuously. First, the butter will boil harder for few minutes and then it will slow down. You would be able to smell the ghee now.
With the boil, you would see the ghee becoming more transparent. If you can smell the aroma and see the golden transparent color and very little foam, your ghee is ready.
Take it out from the stove once it starts to smell like popcorn. You need to remove the clarified butter from the stove as it may burn very fast.
Let it cool for a while and then strain it through the strainer and the muslin cloth in the clean vessel. You clarified butter is ready to be used. You can store it up to one year. It can be kept both outside and in the refrigerator too.

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How To Make Clarified Butter

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