Need Help With Ghee (Canned Butter)

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I tried to make ghee for the first time with instructions from this site from a while back. It's been 4 days and it tastes like it's still good but I have questions. I simmered for over an hour and the foam on top never went away - is it supposed to? Also, it never COMPLETELY stopped bubbling and the instructions said it should become still and the foam would go away. Do I have to simmer it longer? I just poured it into the jar with the foam. The consistency is very soft and granular. I used salted butter by mistake. Can you do that or do you have to use unsalted butter?

Thanks for any help out there.

-- dakota (none@thistime.com), October 28, 1999

Answers

Hi, Dakota! I haven't made ghee myself, yet, but I have two cookbooks that describe how to do it ("The Vegetarian Epicure"by Anna Thomas, page 254, and "Flavors of India" by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff, page 14).

Melt a pound or more of butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When it is entirely melted, carefully skim off the foam from the top and discard it. Heat again, smim off the foam again, and repeat until all the foam is gone. One book says to let it cool for 5 minutes before pouring into a jar (one says to pour it through a muslim cloth to strain it, the other says to pour it carefully, leaving the sediment in the pan).

One book says to use "butter" the other book says to use "sweet butter"(I think, "sweet butter" means unsalted, but I'm not sure), so I imagine that you can use either. The main thing seems to be to remove all the foam, since the foam is the milk solids, which is what will turn rancid.

Both recipes say that the ghee can be kept unrefrigerated for 5 or 6 weeks.

Good luck! Margo

-- Margo (margos@bigisland.com), October 28, 1999.


I brought the butter to a boil and then reduced the heat to a simmer and removed most of the foam by skimming a lot. The liquid was golden and clear and I could see the bottom of the pan. I poured the liquid into a pre heated jar and sealed with a regular lid. I used salted butter because I like the taste of it better. There were solids in the bottom of the pan that I threw out. The liquid turned a creamy color when cooled and looked like butter in a jar.

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), October 28, 1999.

I forgot to add that my recipe says that ghee can be kept on the shelf forever. I have some I made about 6 months ago and it is still okay. I used baby food jars and pint mason jars for my ghee.

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), October 28, 1999.

Thanks, Margo and Carol. I read somewhere that it can be kept much longer than 5 or 6 weeks - anyone know?

-- dakota (none@thistime.com), October 28, 1999.

Howdy, I have made ghee and it turned out fine. It does keep far longer than 5-6 weeks. It should last well over a year. As for the foam, it is best to skim it off and use just the clarified butter. For other folks, it is available on the web at www.clarifiedbutter.com. I e-mailed them and they never wrote back. I guess you could call.

-- smfdoc (smfdoc@aol.com), October 28, 1999.


i was going to do this but heard there were potential health hazards plus it is alot of work and some risk for the finished product not working out right. i bought my clarified butter from a company called odells. check out www.clarifiedbutter.com. $43 for 12-10 oz tubs (sounds more but you get more product than butter and when you use it, you use less than butter). i am thrilled to have it.

-- tt (cuddluppy@yahoo.com), October 29, 1999.

You want to avoid salted butter since the salt might have a bit of iron in it and that causes free radicals. Another method is to let the entire mass (including froth) cool and harden and then slice off the top and store the bottem.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), October 29, 1999.

speaking of butter...any experience with the butter powder? thinking of buying a can but have never used it.

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), October 29, 1999.

I make ghee every few days. We use it to cook with, at the table, and for health practices. I teach Ayurvedic cooking classes. Ayurveda is the world's oldest natural health system, from India, where they have been using ghee for thousands of years. It is very, very healthy stuff! (Not too much for our heavier friends, though.) It is good to use unsalted butter. The ghee will have a better energetic effect on you. Also, good to use organic butter, as the butter of most cows contains the awful stuff the cows contain. You simmer the butter, or lightly boil it. A foam forms. You don't have to skim and skim. If you let it go a few minutes, the foam becomes heavy and sinks to the bottom of the pan. As long as you are heating it, it will continue to bubble, but you will notice when the sound of the bubbles becomes crisp, and the bubbles are just the clear butterfat, without the white goo, which is now on the bottom of the pan. Let it simmer until the goo starts to turn golden. No more, or it will burn. But till golden, or all the water content may not be evaporated and your ghee may not keep well. This white goo is cholesterol. Leave it in the pan when you pour out your ghee! You don't want this in your arteries. I let the ghee cool a bit, then pour it into a glass jar. It's hard to pour out the last bit without the goo sliding out too, so I let the last bit sit for a few more minutes. Then the goo begins to get more solid, while the ghee is still runny, and I can pour out the rest of the ghee without the goo. (Sometimes, it is crumbles instead of goo. But the difference between that and the beautiful clear golden butterfat will be obvious.) You keep it in the cupboard, not the frig. Though if you want to make up a bunch before Jan. it might be good to keep your extras in the frig. Historically, aged ghee has been prized for its medical qualities, but I notice that after a couple of months it does not taste as good. If you buy ghee, buy American ghee. The imported stuff may have been heated at high temp. for way too long and have become toxic. But, it is so much cheaper to make your own. Try it. Mmmmm.

-- Shivani Arjuna (SArjuna@aol.com), October 30, 1999.

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