Making Ghee

[Dee]

In a heavy bottom sauce pan :
Melt 4 sticks of organic, unsalted butter over medium heat.
You will hear the butter kind of sputter, that is normal.
Then turn the heat down to a low simmer.
Simmer on low for at least 40-45 minutes.
Take off the heat and let it set for 10 minutes.
You will see 3 layers in the sauce pan.
1. The foamy, milk solids on top.
2. The yellowish, clear ghee in the middle.
3. The brownish, milk proteins on the bottom.
After the 10 minutes, take a wire seive and line it with a coffee filter or cheesecloth.
Pour the ghee into the seive/coffee filter and into whatever you will be storing it in.
Keep it stored at room temperature.
It will keep at least 3 months.
Use sparingly as it contains saturated fats.
A teaspoon of ghee is equivalent to a tablespoon of butter.
You can't use it to make baked goods in place of butter, but you can use a teaspoon of it mixed with Spectrum shortening or coconut oil.

[faithberry]

Is ghee OK to use if you have casein intolerance?

[tex]

Faith,

I don't consider it to be safe for everyone, because the only ingredient is butter, which is loaded with casein. Ayurvedic advocates consider it to be a non-dairy food, however. Some of us react to it, and some say they don't.

Tex

[Gloria]

I used this site the first few times I made ghee because it gives pictures:

http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archi ... lden-ghee/

I've been making my own ghee for several months. I buy unsalted butter when it's on sale for $1.50 a pound. I'm able to make almost a pound of ghee for considerably less than the $6-$9 for the jars in the store.

I have always struggled with how to strain it so that it's not messy and all casein particles are removed. I'm happy to report that I've found a solution.

I've used napkins, paper towels and even a coffee filter, but they are all messy and absorb the ghee instead of filtering it. My solution? I purchased two identical strainers so that one fits inside the other. Then I use a square piece of medium-weight pellon (polyester interfacing available in any fabric store) to line the strainer on the bottom. The strainer on the top catches all the large caked casein pieces and the pellon filter collects the remaining small pieces. It pours through the pellon in record time, leaving no sediment in the ghee.

It's very important that the casein be cooked long enough to turn into crumbly pieces instead of remaining a milky liquid. The heating process takes about 45 minutes at low temperature. You'll see slightly brown matter on the bottom of the liquid and white crusty matter on the top. The filter removes both, leaving only the liquid.

I store mine in the refrigerator, though it's not necessary if the straining is done properly.

Gloria