The Correct Way to Clarify Butter - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph

Have you sauteed something in butter because you wanted that rich buttery flavor, but what you ended up with was a burnt butter flavor instead? So how can you get the delicious flavor of butter without it burning? You need to remove the milk solids by clarifying it.

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The Correct Way to Clarify Butter - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph

[kbrackins]

I've always clarified butter by melting it and then pouring into a bowl of water. Set the mixture into the fridge and the milk solids will settle into the bottom and into the water. While chilling, the clarified butter will become solid and will be on top of the water, it can then be easily separated (in solid state) from the watery, milk fat, bottom layer.

[ManojKumar-hnrc]

In India we make a type of clarified butter known as ghee. It is made by letting the butter simmer for a longer time to caramelize it giving it a nutty flavour. and the water content is also reduced to zero. well the uses are same as butter or clarified butter but it gives a classic aroma to the food and a different taste. i mean you can actually taste the ghee in food.

[carltaylor]

The milk solids are wonderful in mashed potato or on toast if you don't want to waste them.

[kevbe]

you lose about 1/3 of the butters weight in doing this, so if you need an exact amount (like 1 pound clarified), add an extra third (1pound plus 2 sticks if this case). Learned this from making edibles!

[BossCrunk]

If you don't boil the water out of whole butter, when you use it for high heat searing it pops all over the place (and I mean all over the place) as the water that's still in it boils violently and reacts with the butterfat. The purpose of clarifying butter is to get the water out AND the milk solids/whey out. These routines that have you barely heating the butter only until the solids separate work for removing the solids but not the water. What you need for high heat cooking is pure butterfat, with the water removed as well. The only real way to do this is basically to produce ghee, and I see another poster below has explained the process and mentioned that this removes the water as well.

[Rockhound]

I take an extra step and filter the clarified butter through some cheesecloth to get rid of any renegade milk solids.

[graphicsfxcgy]

This method is great if you're wealthy like Martha and don't mind wasting some of the butter at the bottom of the pan. Adding a tablespoon or two of flour, just prior to pouring, will bind the milk solids to the flour, curdle them and make pouring it through cheesecloth (another missed step) easier. Without using the flour, a small amount of the milk solids will pass through the cheesecloth (even triple layers).

[nanchoparty]

You can also store all of the melted butter in a small bowl or glass, chill it overnight, and remove the block of clarified butter while scraping off the rest. That's how I do it, at least. Saves butter.

Butter is good.

[LIZZIE-lizzie]

This is a good vid. The skimmed butter can be used for mashed potatoes, etc., not throwing it away - don't waste anything or don't make anything waste. Many times when I melt butter, I hold the pan above the flame after the butter starts to melt. Placing the pan of unmelted butter atop a pot of boiling water, is also a good way to melt butter, but time consuming - unless water is boiling for pasta, etc.

[markshuford]

I do the exact same thing as the video, but I slowly/gently pour mine through a folded cheese cloth that I stuff into a small funnel that I've placed over a glass container. It works great. Mine comes out clear.

[Hohniker]

He didn't discuss anything about removing the water content, which is the whole reason you can store it for so long.

[MrMZaccone]

There's also water in the butter that will sink to the bottom of the pan. Clarified butter is great for making popcorn. Grind some salt very fine in a mortar and pestle, add to clarified butter, heat, and then add the popcorn. As the popcorn pops it is automatically coated in the salty buttery goodness and comes out perfectly. Clarified butter doesn't have quite the buttery taste of whole butter because it lack the milk solids that give it some of that flavor but it has a smoke point that's higher than even the vast majority of vegetable oils.

[hahayouarefunny]

Very helpful! & thanks for giving us an idea of how long the ghee will last in the refrigerator. It's encouraging to know that I can make a big batch and use it for a long time.

[celesteh.]

This is all new to me, thank you. Question: what is the milk solids left in the pan used for, it has some flavor too; and do you throw out the foam that was skimmed from the clarified butter? Yep, don't know but willing to learn.

[TomDavisMD]

"This is the Whey". Seriously though, this is the model for all "how to" videos; simple, explanatory with obvious expertise and passion. Thank You Thomas. Will be following you elsewhere

[celiab]

Great video, I love using butter.
I would be interested in basic soup techniques or recipes that don't require a lot of time.

[CaCa-cuny]

This video makes a lot more sense than any other ones which require cooking/evaporating all the watery liquid at the bottom. Literally, when the butter is melted, the fat part and the watery part simply separate themselves autmatically. He‘s genius.

[JeffKeenerRCJH]

Love technique videos by pros! Painstaking but simple!! Thank you!!

[aford]

Why not just strain it through a coffee filter when draining, so as to keep the particles separated?

[sumerbc]

I'm retired Oilfield, got an idea, have a very very tiny diameter siphon tube and put butter pot 12 inches in height above the bowl you're pouring to. Then stick the tiny siphon tube on the very surface of butter on pot, suck on it and fill tube, put thumb over the end and then lower the tube down into collection bowl and release thumb on end of tube and let it suck/siphon off the top layer of clarified butter... you'll get every last drop off the top of milk fats on the bottom better than pouring and wasting some good butter with that pout