How to Clarify Butter
Sounds a bit intimidating for those of us that aren’t gourmet chefs or fancy cooks, but cooking with clarified butter is a great habit to get into if you fry or saute dishes, it doesn’t brown quickly like regular butter can.
Clarified butter is melted butter fat with the milk solids and water removed. This is easy to prepare and you can make this ahead of time, just store in refrigerator to use when needed.
How to Clarify Butter
- Using a heavy pan, melt butter over low heat. Once it’s completely melted let it simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat then skim the surface to remove the foam that has formed on top and discard.
- Let butter sit for a few minutes (5 to 10) to allow the butter to cool a bit, this will give the milk solids time to settle on the bottom.
- Next, slowly pour the golden liquid butter into a dish, making sure to leave the bottom milky layer behind. Discard the milky layer.
- The liquid butter that you poured into a separate dish is the clarified butter, use this for recipes as needed.
Method #2:
Once butter has melted and cooled for a few minutes, pour liquid butter through a cheesecloth to strain out the foam and solids.
Method #3:
Melt butter and pour all the liquid in a container. Refrigerate and once solid again, remove from container. Scrape off foam and milk solids on the top and bottom.
Method #4:
Pour melted butter in a gravy or fat separator to pour out the liquid butter and leave milk solids behind.
Quick Microwave Method:
Melt butter in microwave, let sit for a couple minutes and then pour melted butter through cheesecloth or coffee filter to strain the solids.
You could also try melting the butter in a cup and then use a large spoon to hold solids inside cup while you pour out the melted clarified butter.
You can store clarified butter in the fridge, sealed in an airtight container, for several weeks.
Rule of Thumb: one stick of butter loses approximately 1 tablespoon of volume once clarified.
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Posted in Cooking Tips, Food | 
( 3 )
16 Dec 2006 at 11:01 am
Don’t discard the foam and the settlings. Just keep them in the fridge and use them then next time you feel like adding a butter flavor to a dish. Even yummier if they have browned a little.
16 Dec 2006 at 11:34 am
The milk solids are great for topping on popcorn!
22 Jul 2007 at 2:18 am
personally i prefer the clairfied butter on the popcorn.. the solids makes the popcorn soggy..(i use a hot air popper to cut down on fats) the light golden liquid they refer to is pure flavor and well.. in my mind less fattening.