Comments on: Making Ghee

By: marissag

marissag — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:37:55 +0000

-clarified butter is separating only the milkfats (impurities) from the butter.
-ghee is the toasting of the milkfats and releasing of the water, which lends to a nuttier flavor and allows higher cooking temperatures.

hope this helps.

love the blog, kim!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:44:47 +0000

What is the difference between clarified butter and ghee?

My husband is a professional chef and when I mention that people are cooking butter to get ghee, he says it’s uneccessary – and that the brown color means the whey has been burnt (not separated).
My understanding of the purpose of making ghee is to remove the whey which can be skimmed off the top of the melted butter. The other part of the butter to be separated is the water, which again, needs not be “boiled out” of it – the water, which is heavier than the oil, naturally separates and sinks to the bottom. After skimming the foamy whey off the top, simply let the clarified butter (ghee) harden and pour off the water.
If this is a wrong understanding I would love to be corrected. The last thing I would want to consume is a burnt animal fat!

By: Grandpa’s Long Simmered Green Beans and Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes

Grandpa’s Long Simmered Green Beans and Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:22:03 +0000

[...] make your own ghee, go here. Or you can buy it [...]

By: Cara

Cara — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:31:02 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I’m having my daughter go GFCF and wasn’t sure if I could make my own ghee. This sounds simple enough, and it’s good to know that you don’t react to it.

By: $5 Dish: Delicious, Flavorful Pate (Liver at it’s best)

$5 Dish: Delicious, Flavorful Pate (Liver at it’s best) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:14:16 +0000

[...] 1 pound of livers, washed 1 cup of minced onions ( Garlic, three cloves 1 teaspoon thyme 1/4 cup of ghee, plus two more tablespoons (Butter could be used as [...]

By: Sally-Anne

Sally-Anne — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:08:25 +0000

I was in India 3 years back and a lady of the house shared the traditional way of making Ghee (and made me do the beating into butter!).
She took cream, beat it with a long wooden stick which had 3 points sticking out horizontally – if that makes any sense at all. This needed to be beaten for about 30 minutes until the cream turned to butter. Ice blocks were then added to the butter, to make it extra cold, and to help extract the whey. The butter was then squeezed in one’s hand to separate the liquid mixture (whey). Once this was done, the butter was placed in a ‘wok’ like pan, and boiled slowly, where the milk solids would sink to the bottom. Once there was nothing else floating on top, and, like your instruction, when the milk solids started browning, this was then removed from the heat and poured into a jar and ready for use. I asked what she did with the ‘roasted’ milk solids which was at the bottom of the pan, and she said they would normally eat it with a little sugar, as it was delicious. As for the whey, this was just consumed by a worker in the home. So, nothing went to waste there!

Also mentioning the problem with dairy intolerant people, I am sure you are aware of that coconut oil is far more heat stable, even than that of grape seed oil. Obviously certified organic coconut oil, which is cold pressed is the one to find. I was lucky enough to find and distribute oil all the way from the Phillipines – a real pity on the footprint though. Nevertheless, I received this information from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council in 2007, after requesting information on Palm, Coconut and Grape Seed oil.
This is there response :
‘Smoke point of palm oil is 220c and its stability is comparable of coconut oil.
The smoke point of grape seed oil is 216c. However, grape seed oil is a polyunsaturated oil (78% pufa), what this means is even with the smoke point of over 200c, grape seed oil will undergo a high degree of deterioration if subjected to high temperature frying as compared to coconut or palm. Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (pufa) are rich if double bonds and they are very easily oxidised to produce undesirable compounds including free radicals’.
But I’m sure you have this information somewhere on this site, I just don’t have the time to search for it. (I will visit sometime again, need to save you into my favourites!).
I have pulled a couple of recipes off your site, so thank you for that. I am quite excited to them out! The lettuce soup seems like a fine idea!

By: Garam Masala Lentil or Yellow Split Pea Soup with Coconut Milk

Garam Masala Lentil or Yellow Split Pea Soup with Coconut Milk — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:48:26 +0000

[...] medium to large size onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons coconut oil, ghee, or butter 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1 cup of red lentils, yellow split [...]

By: Chicken Korma « The 2 Foodies

Chicken Korma « The 2 Foodies — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:21:08 +0000

[...] but it still tasted good, kind of a nutty buttery taste. The Nourishing Gourmet has a nice set of instructions for making ghee, if you choose to do [...]

By: Cathryn

Cathryn — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:04:54 +0000

To Anonymous,

Please read Gary Taubes book, “Good Calories, Bad Calories” or any other book you can find that tells the truth about saturated fats based on science, not the vested interests of those who manufacture low fat foods from cheap carbohydrate sources and use fear tactics to get people to eat non- foods instead of what our ancestors ate, namely fats, meats, vegetables and fruits.

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:40:27 +0000

So glad to have found your website. Thanks very much for writing about everything in such detailed and NOT-overwhelming manner. I read the book NT a few years ago and it was all overwhelming at first. Too much information overload for a beginner, I guess. I found you through a link from mothering forum and I’m so glad tp have found you. I have just started venturing into reading more about NT (IT makes more sense now that I know I don’t have to do it all and start small) and WAP – though sprouts have always been a big part of our foods.

I am allergic to milk too but can digest yogurt, kefir, cultured butter and ghee made from cultured butter. Like you, I make my own too. Homemade ghee tastes way better than storebought ones and brings back childhood memories of my mom making ghee backhome in India.

To answer Candace’s question, Ghee is very good for the health, according to Ayurveda. Butter has milk impurities in it where as the milk impurities and milk protein are removed from ghee. (That’s the brown milk solids we filter off)..

You can read more about health benefits of ghee in the foln. links

http://www.ayurvedtoronto.com/ghee.htm
http://www.usenature.com/article_ayurveda_ghee.htm
http://www.amritaveda.com/learning/articles/ghee.asp
http://www.window2india.com/cms/admin/article.jsp?aid=3133