[Sca-cooks] Ghee

[James Prescott]

At 23:10 -0400 2001-09-01, Tara wrote:
> Has anybody here made their own ghee?  I just finished a pound of
> butter, and have some questions about what I did.  It took some time for
> all the moisture to finish boiling out, but once it stopped crackling
> the oil turned golden brown in no time.  I had a hard time determining
> if it was ready to take off the burner yet.  Should the ghee still have
> been yellow when I poured it off, or was it ok to let it get somewhat
> brown?  Did I just ruin a good, expensive pound of organic butter?


Ghee needs a slow simmer (about an hour) to drive the water off,
plus thorough skimming / pouring / straining to remove _all_ solids.

Pure ghee (no solids) withstands heat quite well without burning.

If the oil is overheated it affects the flavour; but if it isn't
too strong of a 'burnt' flavour (taste it!), and if you're frugal,
and if you only use it for dishes where the bit of extra flavour
doesn't matter (e.g. pancakes or any high-heat Indian food), there
may be no need to throw it out.

Thorvald