Clarified butter and ghee

Butter is an extremely nutrient-dense food that is loaded with vitamin D, vitamin A, and even vitamin K2. Still, many people cannot tolerate lactose, so clarifying grass-fed butter is a fantastic way to allow the nutrients to remain while the potentially irritating milk sugars and proteins are skimmed away. PREP TIME COOKING TIME 20-30 minutes YIELD 2 lbs (907 g) of clarified butter or ghee 2 lbs (907 g) grass-fed/pastured butter BETTER BUTTER There are several sources of grass-fed butter available in most grocery stores nationwide. Kerrygold is one brand that’s pretty easy to find. NUTS EGGS NIGHTSHADES FODMAPS Place the butter in a medium-sized, heavy weight saucepan, and melt it slowly over low heat. Allow the butter to simmer, and the milk solids will begin to float and become foamy at the top of the oil. Skim these milk solids off, and remove the butter from the heat. It is now clarified butter. Pour it through a cheese cloth to strain out the milk solids, and store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a month. If you’d like to turn the clarified butter into ghee, allow the milk solids to continue to cook slowly until they become browned and begin to sink to the bottom of the pan. When there is no longer any material waiting to brown and sink to the bottom of the oil, the ghee is finished. Pour it through a cheese cloth to strain out the browned milk solids, and store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a month.  

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Clarified butter and ghee are the same golden cooking fat at two stages of the same process: butter gently simmered until its milk solids skim away. Clarified butter is ready at the first skimming; let the solids brown and sink and you have rich, nutty ghee. Both keep for a month and make high-heat cooking taste far better than plain oil.

Pro Tips

• Melt the butter slowly over low heat and let it just simmer. Rushing with high heat browns the milk solids before they can be skimmed off cleanly.
• Skim the foamy milk solids as they float to make clarified butter. For ghee, keep cooking gently until those solids brown and sink to the bottom of the pan.
• The ghee is finished when nothing remains waiting to brown and sink. That clean oil is what gives ghee its long shelf life and high smoke point.
• Always strain through cheesecloth into a glass jar. It catches every last milk solid and keeps the fat pure enough to store for a month.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between clarified butter and ghee?

Clarified butter is skimmed once the milk solids float; ghee cooks a step further until those solids brown and sink, giving it a nuttier flavor and higher smoke point.

Why is ghee good for people who avoid lactose?

The clarifying process removes the milk sugars and proteins that irritate sensitive stomachs while keeping the butter's vitamin A, D, and K2.

How long does homemade ghee keep?

Up to a month in a glass jar in the refrigerator. The thoroughly strained milk solids are what allow it to keep so well.

What butter should I use?

Grass-fed butter as the recipe recommends — Kerrygold is the easy-to-find suggestion. The better the butter, the better the ghee.

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