Clarified Butter - Basics

If you're doing a Whole30 or you just want to eliminate dairy from your diet, or maybe you are lactose intolerant, you'll want to know how to make clarified butter.  

Clarified butter is butter from which all the milk solids have been removed.

Yes, you can buy it, most health stores sell it as ghee, but it's cheaper just to make it at home.  It can be substituted one to one for any butter called for in a recipe.  It also tastes really good by itself as a spread. It has higher smoke point than regular butter, which makes it really good for cooking, and it doesn't spoil as quickly.

This recipes yields 1-1/2 cups

Clarified Butter

1 lb. good quality butter

(the best you can afford)

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.   

 The butter will begin to bubble and get frothy on top.

Continue to let the butter bubble until the  froth dissolves, and the mixture becomes a clear golden yellow color

You will notice that most all of the milk solids have sunk to the bottom.

Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool slightly (about 5 minutes).

Place a piece of cheesecloth over a pint mason jar.  I like to push it into the jar a little bit, like a bowl, and secure it with a rubber-band. Pour the butter through the cloth.  The cheesecloth will act as a strainer. The milk solids will stay on top and all the butterfat will go through into the jar.

(You can also use a coffee filter as a strainer.)

Allow it to cool.  Once the butter cools it will solidify into a creamy dairy-free butter that can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 6 months.