It's Easy To Make Ghee

Ghee is popular right now.  I have been making it for a year or more but I guess I haven't blogged about it.  If I have, I have forgotten but if I don't remember then no one else will either.  That is except for a couple friends of mine who remember back so far, they probably remember being born.  Ghee is nothing more than butter that has the milk solids and water removed.  It is the healthiest form of butter and is pure butterfat.  My daughter drinks Bullet Proof coffee.  Bullet proof coffee is black coffee blended together with ghee or grass fed butter and coconut oil.  I don't make it but it supposedly is very satisfying and good for a person.  I use ghee on toast and for cooking wherever you would use regular butter. 

My method for making ghee began with melting the butter in a pan and cooking it on the stove until the milk solids separated out and began to turn brown.  The brown bits would settle out.  Then I would strain it through a fine sieve.  This worked but you had to stand by the stove and watch carefully so it wouldn't burn.  Now I use my small slow cooker.  It is only a two quart cooker that I also use for overnight steel cut oats. 

I put the grass fed butter in and turn it on low.  I leave the lid ajar to let the steam escape.  In two or three hours the butter solids have separated and begin to turn brown.   The browner the bits, the nuttier the ghee tastes.  Unsalted butter is supposed to be used but often I don't have it on hand.  Salted butter works fine,  When separated the milk solids taste very salty and the ghee doesn't.  I presume a lot of the salt separates out too.  The cooked butter is strained leaving a clear yellow oil.  I put it in a dish to harden.   It has a higher smoke point if you use it in cooking.  Butter burns easily because of the milk solids it has in it.  Ghee has none left.

There are a lot of published reasons why ghee is better than butter but I don't know if all of them are true.  I do know that it is better for you than margarine.  Since the milk solids are removed it makes ghee basically lactose free and perfect for people with allergies and sensitivities to dairy.   I think it also tastes good and is just another small and easy way to a healthier life style.  Of course, moderation is the key.  You can't sit down and eat a bowl of ghee any more than you can overeat butter.  It's still a high calorie fat.