While ghee isn’t butter per-se, it’s close enough for me. I’ve used (store-bought) ghee and clarified butter previously and it’s taste is very close to full-casein butter.. What A Relief! (UPDATE 1-25-15: I’ve been eating butter on my veggies and in my frothy coffee and bone broth latte without issue for the past several months but still use ghee)
Maybe you are not familiar with Ghee….Ghee is the pure butterfat left over after the milk solids (casein protein) and water are removed from butter. It’s used widely in Indian cooking, and the word ghee is the Hindi word for fat. Ghee might as well be a synonym for clarified butter, although there is a slight difference. Like clarified butter (clarified butter or drawn butter is frequently eaten with crab legs or lobster) Ghee is made by melting butter, cooking off the water and separating the clear, golden butter fat from the milk solids. The only difference is that in some traditions, ghee is simmered for a little while, thus browning the milk solids and adding a slightly nutty flavor to the finished product. Not all ghee recipes necessarily specify the browning of the milk solids, however, so for all practical purposes ghee is clarified butter with an Indian name.
Ghee is better for high-heat cooking than butter since it has a smoke point of between 450°F and 475°F, as compared with about 350°F for ordinary butter. Another advantage of ghee is that it has a longer shelf life than ordinary butter and, when stored in an airtight container, can be kept at room temperature. The most important factor for me is that since the casein is removed it won’t cause me any problems!
You can purchase pre-made Organic Ghee from Grass Fed Cows or make you own.
I searched all over the internet looking for ways to use the amazing grass fed organic butter we get from The Family Cow (I keep an average of 10# of butter in my freezer, just in case of emergency) Making ghee is a simple process but I read horror stories of ruining ghee by burning it on the stove…. I decided to make mine in the crock pot to heat it slower-more evenly than my junk stove 🙂
Here’s how I made my ghee in my crock pot:
I put 2 pounds of Organic Grass-Fed Butter (which was frozen) into my crock pot, on high. I let it cook, uncovered for a total of 5 hours. The time will be different based on your butter, crockpot, etc… Occasionally check on your butter/ghee and spoon off any of the stuff on top…
Admittedly, I ran some errands and came home.. and it looked done! The milk solids at the bottom were brown so I did a final skim off the top then strained the finished ghee through my metal strainer lined with a paper towel. 2# of butter yielded 4 cups of Ghee, 2 beautiful pint jars!
Here’s what was left in the bottom of the crock pot after…. all the yucky browned dairy casein that’s so bad for some of us 🙁
And don’t forget, your homemade ghee is totally fine to be stored at room temperature!
Can you explain why you leave the cover off? I’m not familiar with crock pot cooking without the lid on and would be interested in learning why you prefer it for this recipe. Thank you for your reply.
This isn’t using a crock pot in a traditional manner, it’s a substitute to stovetop cooking
I’ve ruined 2# of butter trying to make ghee on my stove on two separate occasions. I never thought of trying to heat it in my slow cooker – I’ll have to give this a try. Thanks!