Is ghee an acquired taste?

[starxlr8]

I love butter and appreciate good butters like Kerrygold. So I was excited to try ghee. I bought the Purity Farms brand from my health food store.... and I've tried it on broccoli, sweet potatoes, and to cook eggs. It has a strong, unique smell that is really offensive to me.

Curious if anyone else just doesn't like ghee?

[missmary]

some people don't like ghee. Some people don't like certain brands of ghee but love other brands.

 

If you don't like ghee you may prefer to use clarified butter or coconut oil or animal fats. Any of these are fine.

[starxlr8]

I love coconut oil and olive oil, so I'm not at a loss for fat options.. more just disappointed in my $13 purchase.

Does home clarified butter taste significantly different from ghee?

[missmary]

Does home clarified butter taste significantly different from ghee?

 

It might depend on your skills or technique, but I find clarified butter to taste more like regular butter. Ghee has more of a brown-butter taste.

[wendelina]

I clarify my own from Kerrygold (or a local grass-fed butter, when I can find it).  I don't know if I've ever gotten it to "ghee" status (which is, from what I've read, clarified butter that's further "cooked" until some browning occurs ... who knows if that is right), but I don't find it strong in either taste or smell.

[Tom Denham]

My wife, who loves butter, does not like ghee, but for my purposes, I don't really notice a difference. 

 

I have been satisfied with both ghees that I have tried, but think the Pure Indian Foods brand that I have been using the past year or two is probably better than the other one I was buying at Whole Foods. Also, I have been using Coconut Ghee for most of the past year - a blend of coconut oil and ghee from Pure Indian Foods.

[JJB]

Just the smell of ghee makes me gag. But clarified butter is very close to regular butter and I have no issues with it.

[sacnorad]

My wife bought some ghee to play with when she started experimenting with Paleo.  I love butter and would eat it by itself (or even better in a 1:1 ratio with french bread - I know, pre-whole 30 and terrible for me).  In any case, food cooked in ghee makes me gag.  No idea why, but I'll let you know if that changes as my whole 30 progresses (starting July 5).

[Mariana]

I actually did not love it the first time I had it, and it took awhile, but now I like it! So in my case it was an aquuired taste.

 

It's funny, as a kid a movie theater in my area used ghee on their popcorn, so everytime I have it, it reminds me of that. :-)

 

BTW: I believe that clarified butter still has the milk solids (not compliant!) in it which is why it tastes more like "regular" butter.

 

Edit to add: Oops! I thought clarified butter with the milk solids removed was ghee?!

[JJB]

Clarified butter is compliant. You skim the mild solids out. 

[BevB]

Just curious - I thought Ghee and Clarified Butter were the same thing? The Ghee I buy says:

Purity Farms Organic Clarified Butter Ghee - here it is on Amazon   . Is clarified butter different? I would love to think so as our family is not crazy about Ghee! 

[JJB]

To clarify butter, you can just boil it until the solids separate out and then strain/skim them. To make ghee, you keep cooking it until it starts to brown and it changes the flavor (I think that's how it works). The taste and smell are VERY different to me. I have only had store-bought ghee vs. butter I have clarified myself though.

[GoJo09]

I have it. I don't love it. I bought super expensive stuff by the makers of my favourite butter, assuming it would be better than the cheapo stuff from the supermarket. It's not. At $12 a jar, I'll be eating every last drop though!

[rhed]

I just finished off my last jar this morning. And when I say last... I won't be buying any more since I'm not a huge fan. My husband loves it, but he's not living at home right now, so he can buy his own to cook with.  

[Vian]

The difference between ghee and clarified butter is that ghee is cooked longer until the milk solids from the butter turn brown and caramelize, which imparts a toasted, caramel-y flavor to the ghee before it's strained out. Clarified butter is strained as soon as it's melted so it still tastes just like butter.

 

I've never tried store-bought ghee, but I've made my own using a stick of kerrygold and I think it smells like caramel and tastes like brown butter. I love it.

[MeadowLily]

Gee, I don't know.  I haven't  tried it yet.

[BevB]

Ok - thanks. I will try clarifying our butter and see if we like that better

[Marechm]

I tried grass fed ghee and  could not get passed the smell. The ghee smelled like furniture prolish and tasted aweful. I am going back to using unsalted butter from Kerrygold.

[SugarcubeOD]

19 minutes ago, Marechm said:

I tried grass fed ghee and  could not get passed the smell. The ghee smelled like furniture prolish and tasted aweful. I am going back to using unsalted butter from Kerrygold.

After your Whole30 I assume as butter is not allowed on the program.

[slc_melissa]

Some brands are different.  I tried the Trader Joe's version once and did not like it.  I had one from Whole Foods that was better but still meh.  Then I tried making my own clarified butter from Mel Joulwan's Well Fed 2 cookbook recipe and blammo!  The best.

[kirbz]

I really thought ghee would be an acquired taste and was super nervous to try it... But, alas, I love it. And I loved it from the very first time I ate it. 

However, I do think the brand really, really matters. I eat Fourth & Heart ghee, which is expensive but super delicious! I've tried resorting to cheaper ones and they're not very great. Not awful like you described but not good either.

So, perhaps try a different brand if you're able to afford it?

[-Kara]

I found I had to use a LOT less of it. 

And that helped a lot.