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Is ghee worth it?


SarrizleP

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I thought I looked at Tj's but I've been shopping at 5 different places so its entirely possible i missed it! I will check again. And I might just go to whole foods when I need a big veggie trip anyway. Maybe plan some other big city outings that day as well!

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Put a pound of butter in an oven-safe pot (I use a Le Crueset Dutch oven or a heavy Cuisinart stock pot). Leave the pot uncovered.

Turn the heat to 250 Fahrenheit. I leave mine in there for 75 minutes but the first time try setting the timer for 1 hour. Then take a look. and see if you want to let it go longer. There'll be stuff floating on top and stuff on the bottom. If you let the stuff on the bottom get brown, you'll have a nuttier flavor to the ghee.

Remove from the oven and let it sit on the stovetop for 10 or 15 mins, just so it's not boiling hot. Put a doubled cheesecloth (or other clean cotton fabric, such as an old white T-shirt) in a heat-safe jar (a mason jar). So the cloth is basically lining the jar with excess out the top and over the sides.

Put the jar+cloth set-up on a paper towel or on top of newspaper (to make clean-up easier if there's a spill). Pour the contents of the pot into the jar. If you can manage it, use a silicone or rubber scraper to get the last bits out but I can't manage that with the heavy Le Crueset.

Pull the cheesecloth up out of the jar, trapping the solids. Hold the cheesecloth above the jar to allow the last of the ghee to drain out. (Do not squeeze it or you'll squeeze the solids back into the oil.)

Discard the cloth and solids.

For the first few times, I would suggest using just a quarter-pound and playing with how dark you let it get. My first batch seemed to be too light so I let my second batch go darker and now I find I prefer it lighter. Meanwhile I now have a pound of dark ghee that I'm making my way through! I'd rather be making my way through a quarter-pound of it. :) (I made another batch of lighter-tasting ghee and I use it when I don't want the nuttier flavor.)

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If you do make it on your own you have so many options to spice it up. When I made mine, I added spices. You can break the batch up and make several different kinds of compound butters at once. :) I absolutely love my eggs in ghee!

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I'm a ghee fan! Prefer my eggs cooked in ghee rather than coconut oil, and also like it on winter squash or sweet potatoes. It is so easy to make that I can't see paying a premium to have someone make it for me. The first couple of times I did it, i felt like I couldn't be doing anything else, that it needed my full attention. Now I can fix it while I do my cook-up.

In a glass jar on my counter, it lasts indefinitely. I've heard you shouldn't put it in the fridge, because every time you take it out and open it, you introduce condensation, and the moisture is what will turn it rancid.

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Sharon, I got some butter at Food and Thought last week. Can't remember the name. It was organic, unsalted and I'm pretty sure pastured. It was only about $7.99/lb. I'm going again tomorrow and I'll check to see what it was. Have you been going to Jimmy P's? I'm on a quest for soup bones. Wondered if they have any.

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I wish Costco would carry the unsalted version.

Oh, I know. Trader Joes now carries full fat coconut milk. The store manager said they had many requests for it. I was more than several of those requests. I was disappointed to see that it has several additives beyond guar gum. Nothing that is out for W30 but when Walmart is right down the street with full fat and nothing added, I didn't buy the TJ brand.

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Sharon, I got some butter at Food and Thought last week. Can't remember the name. It was organic, unsalted and I'm pretty sure pastured. It was only about $7.99/lb. I'm going again tomorrow and I'll check to see what it was. Have you been going to Jimmy P's? I'm on a quest for soup bones. Wondered if they have any.

Oh they have some lovely bones and are very friendly! I buy pork(exclusively) from Jimmy P's, for the first time in years I can eat pork and it not make me physically ill. Seriously. I also found, even though its a bit more expensive that I prefer their pork belly over WF's. I could spend a lot of money there if I didn't watch myself. Oh, also on the bones subject, the frozen case between the seafood and meat display has bones(WF'S). I used to buy them until I found out JP's has bones in their freezer section as well.. :D

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The way I do mine takes 10mins max.

Put half pound of butter in saucepan over a low-med heat. First it'll melt, then the solids/scum start coming to the top. Don't go at it! Then the moisture starts boiling off. At some point it'll look like its going to boil over (like milk would). Take it off the heat and let cool a bit. Strain through a muslin lined sieve into a jar. All the nutty brown solids should be at the bottom of your pan.

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Ah all the talk of the wonders of Kerrygold makes me smile

I make ghee with the salted one and its fine. Why do "they" say use unsalted?

I made it once with the salted and it was awful. I wonder if the butter that we get here from Kerrygold has more salt when they export it? It really was inedible. I timed it when I made batch after batch as xmas presents and it took me 20 minutes.

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Not to be a negative nancypants, but I don't get all the Kerrygold hype. It's good, but it's definitely not the best butter I've had. If you're in NYC, definitely try the Ronnybrook unsalted - such a treat. My normal go-to is the Organic Valley Pastured Cultured butter. They even make a special version where it's only made from spring-summer milk. So much flavor it's ridiculous.

I haven't yet tried making my own ghee (on the docket for this weekend), but these are my impressions from my pre-whole 30 butter-loving days. :)

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Not to be a negative nancypants, but I don't get all the Kerrygold hype. It's good, but it's definitely not the best butter I've had. If you're in NYC, definitely try the Ronnybrook unsalted - such a treat. My normal go-to is the Organic Valley Pastured Cultured butter. They even make a special version where it's only made from spring-summer milk. So much flavor it's ridiculous.

I too prefer the Organic Valley Pastured version made from the spring-summer milk, I buy it in quantity during season and freeze it. Then when it's time to clarify it, I just move it from freezer to stove top!

I've also done it with salted butter and had zero problems. My preferred is actually one 1/2 lb salted and one 1/2 lb unsalted to get the best of both worlds. :-)

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