Learning How To Make Ghee
I don’t get a lot of cream from my goats’ milk, so I’ve adjusted how I use it. That means, it accumulates faster than I can use it, so I end up storing it in the freezer. When I want cream for ice cream, whipped cream, cheesecake, or butter, I defrost what I need. But eventually, I need the freezer space for something else, and that’s what got me thinking about learning to make ghee.
Butter is fat plus a little remaining water (as whey) and milk solids (proteins). Much of this is washed out in the last step making butter.
Washing goat butter to remove residual whey. |
Even so, some of these remain and that’s what can give old butter an off-flavor. It’s also why butter smokes when heated too high. If the water and solids are removed, however, the result is pure butterfat, which is shelf-stable. It can be stored for months without refrigeration and has a low smoking point, making it a very useful product. There are two forms of this – clarified butter and ghee. Ghee has a nuttier flavor because because the milk solids are browned a bit after the butter melts. Clarified butter is commonly used in French cooking, while ghee is used in Indian cuisine.
I’m not an expert at ghee making yet, but I’m starting to get the hang of it; at least enough to share some pictures and explanations. It starts with unsalted butter. Plop it in a pot and turn on the heat to medium. Then watch for three things: fine foamy bubbles, large airy bubbles (from simmering), and the milk solids floating to the top of the simmering butter. The foam forms first.
After it melts, it begins to bubble and foam. Stir gently and watch. |
In every tutorial I’ve read or watched, the bright golden yellow color is mentioned somewhere along the way. I’m using butter made from goat cream, so I won’t get that beautiful color because goat milk lacks beta carotene. It’s the beta carotene that gives cow butter its yellow color. My goat butter and butter products are very pale in comparison. The color variations you see in this series of photos are due to whether or not the camera auto-flash engaged.
The simmering butter is stirred gently until the foam dissipates and the milk solids form and float on the surface of the simmering butter. Turn the heat down to medium-low.
As the foam (fine bubbles) disappears, the milk solids begin to rise and float. |
For clarified butter, you can skim the milk solids and then strain the melted butter through cheesecloth. For ghee, simply stop stirring and continue to watch. Soon it looks like this…
The milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan. |
If you look carefully, you see surface bubbles, but also the milk solids lying on the bottom of the pot. |
Now the milk solids are allowed to brown until the butter starts to foam a second time.
When the butter starts to foam again, the ghee is done. |
Then it’s removed from the heat and strained.
I use a fine strainer, but several layers of cheesecloth would improve the product. |
I spent too much time fiddling with the camera, so my scrapings are a little dark. Usually, they are more of a golden brown, but at least they didn’t burn(!) |
The jars are then lidded and placed on a pantry shelf for storage.
Maybe a little difference in color depending on the browning of the milk solids. |
The ghee on the right is the batch made in the photos. The jar on the left has been stored in the pantry since April. It’s my test batch for non-refrigerated storage.
Cow ghee on the left, goat ghee on the right. |
And here we go again, another shameless plug for one of my little how-to eBooks. This time for the revised edition of How To Get Cream From Goats’s Milk: make your own butter, whipped cream, ice cream, and more. It now contains more photos, more information, and updated links. It includes how to make clarified butter and ghee!
Source: https://www.5acresandadream.com/2020/10/learning-how-to-make-ghee.html
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