Clarified Butter

Clarified Butter

Butter, the real stuff, not margarine, is great for cooking.  However, it has more than just butterfat in it. It also has milk solids and water.  By clarifying, you can remove the milk and water. This will make a yellow truculent butter that is fantastic for sauteing, and pan-frying when only a small amount of oil is needed.   Butter adds a slightly different taste and mouth-feel compared to vegetable oils whether it is corn or olive, canola or peanut.   By clarifying the butter you raise the smoke point, that is the temperature which the oil burns and will taste bad.  Clarified butter gives a toasty dark golden color to meats and fish that just has an eye appeal that will just make your table guest eyeing, whatever you cooked in the clarified butter. They will want more and want to know your recipe, but few will go to the trouble to clarify their butter, and wonder why theirs did not turn out as well as yours.  

There are dozens of ways to clarify butter here is the way I now do it.  I will usually start with at least two sticks of butter.

Ingredients

2 sticks of unsalted butter

The process

Heat the butter until it is fully melted and starts to boil.  You can do this either in the microwave, in a glass-measuring cup, or on the stovetop in a saucepan. If you do in the microwave, you must watch it very closely because it can make a mess if it boils over.

After it has started to boil remove from the heat, let it sit for approximately 15 minutes.  The butter will start to separate into its three components.  After it has set slowly pour into a tall clear, drinking glass, leaving most of the milk solids in the bottom of the measuring cup or saucepan and allow the butter to separate further into its three components.  Allow the near clarified butter to set at room temperature for about 30 minutes, so that it will continue to separate.  Then cover and refrigerate.

After it has solidified, you can run warm water over the outside of the glass and the almost clarified butter will slide out.  Scrape the milk and water solids off the top and bottom and store in an airtight container.  You now have your clarified butter.

This is a side note and an inside joke that I continue to hear about years later.  I almost always have at least a small amount of clarified butter in the refrigerator.  So one morning, I think it was one of those mornings where both of the boys had school assessment testing,  I got up early, and preheated the oven, to make a can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Grab the clarified butter from the refrigerator, put a small amount in the bottom of the pan, melted it in the oven, added cinnamon rolls, and placed the pan back in the oven to bake.  Then, off to get a shower and get dressed.  Now to get everyone up to start the day.  What could be better than to wake up to the smell of cinnamon rolls (even though they were from the can) and coffee.  I started knocking on the doors, telling everyone to get up.  One of my secrets to get the difficult ones out of bed is, that I keep a bag of marbles in the freezer, then throw them between the sheets.  You cannot escape the ice-cold marbles, they roll with you, the only way to escape is to out of the bed, but be quick the marbles will start to fly.  Into the kitchen, something smells good but out of place, what is that? Prepare the table, everyone comes to eat sits down takes a bite and then looks at each other…what did you do... these are horrible.  

Me, what?

A quick taste and I knew…I had used my Garlic Herb Butter, rather than the clarified butter.

The point is garlic cinnamon rolls are not the way to start the day, kids are resilient despite their parents, or I guess I could say be sure and label what you store in the refrigerator. However, then I would not have a story.

Clifton