neil in gemini space

neil makes ghee, sorta - 2021-03-20

i make my ghee from shop bought butter, so it is ghee, but sorta.

=> wikipedia description of ghee.

if we stop the process after the water in the butter evaporates then we will have made clarified butter. if we continue simmering the butter this will gain flavour as the milk solids cook.

if you decide to follow my method for making ghee you will be working with very hot kitchen equipment and boiling butter: please avoid burning yourself or making a fatty mess! your choice!

needed

• pot, big enough for the task.
• heat source, and a way to control it.
• butter: grass fed better, unpasteurised even even better.
• filter: coffee filter paper, fine cheesecloth, or similar.
• containers that will stand hot liquid ghee.
• a way to move the liquid butter from the pot to the filter. if the pot has handles just pour it, otherwise use a ladle.

i tend to use unsalted butter, but salted butter is also ok. batch sizes vary but usually 1.5 to 2.0 Kg of butter.

my current tools are:

• instant pot in saute mode.
• melitta coffee filter papers
• pyrex dishes

in the past i have used slow cookers, stainless steel pots, and fine cheesecloth.

process - boiling

• put all the butter in the pot.
• heat the pot so that the butter comes to the boil. it will be quite frothy.
• simmer the butter until most, or all (depends on butter), of the froth is gone.

at the end of this stage you will see the milk solids as small bits in the liquid butter. these will be changing colour from whitish to brownish while we simmer the butter. i aim for a light brown colour, the darker the colour the stronger the flavour. dark brown is burnt!

i suggest lower heat to slow the process until you get used to how you want to do it.

=> ghee coming to boil image (35K). | ghee boiling image (42K). | ghee high simmering image (54K). | ghee simmering image (70K). | ghee almost ready image (65K). | ghee ready image (61K).

probably a little past ready in the image above and overdone below.

=> ghee slightly overdone image (68K).

process - ready - work quickly

it is easy to burn ghee so when it is ready, it is ready! reduce the heat and work quickly because the ghee will continue to cook the milk solids.

• pass the butter through your filter into your containers.
• leave it to set.

=> ghee filter image (41K). | ghee done image (60K).

use

• as any other cooking oil or fat.
• high smoke point of about 250C.
• keeps for ages refrigerated, and for 3 months-ish at room temperatures.
• don't let it get moist because this will reduce the shelf life and allow some of the oil to oxidize.
• keep it in the dark to keep the shelf life.

ghee that i make seems tolerant of being left out on kitchen worktops with a lid on the container at any time of the year: never goes rancid. ghee at room temperature is soft and easy to spread. people with dexterity or hand strength problems may find ghee easier to use than butter.

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