Hello, young Padawan
After discussing clarified butter, also called ghee by our Indian friends, several times in recipes, especially here, here and there, and in response to numerous questions, here’s an article explaining what it is, what it’s used for, and how to make your own clarified butter at home, in less than 10 minutes, including the dishes.
So, here’s the information and the recipe.
The Benefits of Clarified Butter
Clarified butter, or ghee, is butter that has been stripped of its impurities, namely lactose and caseins. Only the raw fat remains. Its main advantage is that it allows for high-temperature cooking. Enjoy frying or sautéing onions safely. Indeed, since the Maillard reaction occurs later than other fats, it allows for non-toxic and non-carcinogenic cooking.
Losing their benefits as soon as they are heated, vegetable oils, like olive oil, become toxic as soon as they reach their smoke point. However, this smoke point is well below the temperature required for pan-frying over medium-high or high heat: 374°F for olive oil (320°F for unfiltered artisanal olive oil), compared to 482°F for clarified butter (and around 356°F for conventional butter, ed), also exceeding traditional rapeseed, sunflower, or coconut oils. In other words, olive oil is great on salads, on a plate of pasta, and, therefore, as a seasoning to add flavor and to enjoy what beautiful cold-pressed olives have to offer. For cooking other than gentle cooking, forget it.
Clarified butter is, therefore, more digestible (no lactose nor casein) than conventional butter. It contains vitamins A, E, D, and K, which are recognized for their benefits in protecting cells and organs, particularly the cardiovascular system, as well as for the quality of muscle tissue, bones, and vision. In India, according to Ayurvedic medicine, ghee is also used as an anti-inflammatory to protect the intestinal mucous membranes, and it is said to have properties that strengthen the immune and nervous systems.
Ghee can be stored for several months at room temperature and a good six months in the refrigerator (editor’s note: it’s best to keep it in the fridge).
Clarified Butter Recipe
Clarified Butter Recipe
a small saucepan
a block of butter
a slotted spoon
a bowl to collect the impurities removed with the slotted spoon
a teaspoon to refine and scrape up the last traces of casein
an old, washed, and sterilized jam jar
Recipe
Place the butter in the small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will melt, and gradually, the casein, lactose, and other impurities will rise to the surface. Remove them with the slotted spoon and pour them into the designated bowl. Only the clarified butter should remain, a perfectly clear, yellow, oily liquid (see photo). Use a small spoon, if necessary, to scrape up the last impurities.
FYI: From this point on, your clarified butter is lactose-free.
Turn off the heat and pour the still-hot clarified butter into the jam jar. Close it and place it immediately in the refrigerator on a trivet to avoid thermal shock (if your refrigerator shelves are made of glass, which can break, or plastic, which can melt).
Note: If you wait for it to cool before refrigerating it, it will solidify in a strange way, in the form of flakes.
Your clarified butter will be kept in the refrigerator for at least six months.
Bonus tip for use: I use my jar of clarified butter as a “reserve,” and I always take a small portion and place it in a separate ramekin in the refrigerator with its little brush. I use this to oil my pans and pots before cooking or to make crepes, etc. Thanks to this ramekin system, I don’t mess around in my main jar, and the ramekin and brush are washed at least once a week. Hygiene is maintained, and my clarified butter jar is always healthy.
Finally, this brush system allows me to consistently apply the right amount of fat without overdoing it.
And that’s it for this handy little article. You’ll have understood by now that when I write “butter” in a recipe, if it’s going to be heated, I always use clarified butter.
All that’s left is for me to wish you a good weekend, and I’ll see you next Friday for new adventures.
XO 🧈
