Clarified butter (ghee) is made by heating butter, evaporating the water from it and separating other solid particles from the fat. Thanks to this, it is suitable for frying at high temperatures and can be used by people allergic to dairy products. Check what properties clarified butter has, what are its nutritional values ​​and how you can prepare it yourself at home.

Clarified buttercomes from Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Depending on the region, it is produced in a slightly different way. Clarified butter is most commonly used in the Indian culinary tradition, where it is referred to as " ghee ". It has been present in the local cuisine for thousands of years, it is made from buffalo or cow's milk and used in almost every dish that requires the presence of fat.

In Poland, melted butter has been used in recent decades, but more and more housewives and chefs use clarified butter.

Clarified butter is made by slowly heatingbutterand removing water and non-fat solids, e.g. proteins which form foam on the surface of the fat or deposits at the bottom of the pan.

1 kg of butter with 82 percent fat yields approx. 700-800 g of clarified butter, which is almost pure milk fat (99.5-99.8 percent fat).

Clarified butter in a liquid form is transparent and has a yellow color. When concentrated, it looks like butter, but has a much more intense yellow color. Its taste is described as slightly nutty and "more buttery than butter".

Clarified butter is widely used in Indian cuisine and has been used as a medicine in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.

Properties and benefits of clarified butter

Thanks to the evaporation of water and the removal of impurities, clarified butter becomes a very good frying fat. Its smoke point, i.e. the temperature at which fat begins to burn and produces toxins, is about 100oC higher than that of butter and is 252o C.

Thanks to this property and the content of mainly saturated fatty acids, clarified butter is suitableeven for long-term deep-frying.

Another advantage of clarified butter is its very long shelf life. Closed in a jar, it can be stored at room temperature for up to 9 months, and in a refrigerator for up to 15 months.

Such a long shelf life is due to the destruction of most bacteria at elevated temperatures and the evaporation of water, which in ordinary butter is a factor enabling the growth of microorganisms and spoilage of the product. Due to the fact that clarified butter is practically only fat, and largely saturated, which is not susceptible to oxidation, the product does not go rancid for a long time and stays fresh.

Clarification, i.e. the separation of proteins and other solids from milk fat, makes clarified butter safe for allergy sufferers and people intolerant tocow's milk . It can be used by people allergic to milk proteins, e.g. casein and those withlactose intolerance . The only condition is that the butter is thoroughly cleansed.

Clarified butter is almost pure fat, so similar to other fats it provides approx. 900 kcal per 100 g.

Clarified butter includes :

  • 62.7 percent saturated fatty acids
  • 2.3 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids
  • 26.9 percent monounsaturated fatty acids
  • vitamin A
  • vitamin D
  • vitamin E
  • vitamin K

Ok. 25 percent The fats in clarified butter are short- and medium-chain fatty acids that are metabolized differently from long-chain fatty acids.

Thanks to this, they do not affect the risk of heart disease, and also cause the acceleration ofmetabolismand better fat burning. One of the important fatty acids in clarified butter is butyric acid, which is linked to gut he alth.

It contains the most vitamin A - one 14-gram spoon covers the daily requirement in about 9 percent.

Clarified butter: nutritional value

Batch size

1 tablespoon

Energy value

112 kcal

Fat content

14 g

Content of saturated fatty acids

7.9 g

Cholesterol

36.5 mg

Sodium

0.0 g

Protein

0.04 g

Vitamin A

438 IU (8.7 percent DV)

Vitamin D

15 μg

Vitamin E

0.4 mg (2 percent DV)

Vitamin K

1.2 μg (1.6 percent DV)

Choline

2.7 mg

Clarified butter and he alth

Ghee clarified butter has been used as a remedy in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. Ayurveda attributes many he alth properties to him, incl. influence on improving memory and cognitive abilities, strengthening connective tissue, treating allergies or improving digestion and absorption of nutrients.

There are more and more scientific reports confirming the beneficial effects of clarified butter on he alth, and one of the more interesting is the fact that herbal extracts are actually better absorbed by the body when given together with clarified butter than in the form of tablets. Cooking herbs in clarified butter is one of the healing methods from 2-3 thousand years ago.

Effect of clarified butter on the body:

  • Clarified butter is not a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Like other saturated fat, it is generally considered to be bad for your heart. This is not entirely true. First, more and more scientists are withdrawing from the theory that saturated fat and blood levels ofcholesterolhave the greatest impact on the risk of heart attack andatherosclerosis . Second, eating large amounts of clarified butter did raise your total blood cholesterol by about 50 percent, but it also increased your "good" HDL cholesterol by about 110 percent, and your "bad" LDL cholesterol only by about 40 percent. The above results were obtained in a 40-day rat study. Another study in rats showed no statistically significant increase in total cholesterol and its fractions, but only increased levels of triglycerides. On the other hand, a study on patients with psoriasis showed a decrease in all elements of the lipid profile. The topic is subject to more careful analysis, but the research generally concludes that clarified butter does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • Despite the high cholesterol content of clarified butter, its composition does not contain oxidized cholesterol, which is considered a risk factor for atherosclerosis. To hisproduction takes place only when frying for a long time (more than 60 minutes).
  • Clarified butter can reduce inflammation of the digestive tract thanks to the presence of butyric acid and help to calm down long-term inflammatory processes throughout the body. Clarified butter reduces the secretion of prostaglandins and leukotrienes, which are mediators of the inflammatory process. It is effective in reducing the symptoms of psoriasis, an inflammatory autoimmune disease.
  • Clarified butter has a positive effect on the digestive process and the he alth of the digestive tract. This is due to the presence of short-chain fatty acids, especially butyric acid, which nourishes the intestinal cells and improves the excretion of toxins.
  • Thanks to the presence of short- and medium-chain fatty acids and CLA acid, clarified butter can be helpful in weight loss, as it speeds up metabolism and increases the use of stored fat.
  • The presence of vitamins K and D in clarified butter improves the condition of the skeletal system.

Using clarified butter in the kitchen

Clarified butter is a very good frying fat. You can prepare meat, fish and vegetables on it. It perfectly brings out the flavor of dishes and gives them a slightly nutty-caramel aroma, which is perfect for e.g. dishes withmillet . Deep-frying, for example donuts, is also a good option. Solid clarified butter can be used for baking cakes and cookies.

Clarified butter comes in many varieties. In addition to the Indian ghee, the following are known:

  • samna - clarified butter made in Egypt with the addition of s alt;
  • meshho - Assyrian non-perishable milk fat produced from local zebdo butter made from yogurt; during meshho clarification, a piece of bread is thrown into it and the process is completed when the bread becomes crispy and slightly brown; meshho is stored in metal, ceramic or leather containers;
  • Ethiopian ghee - made with corn or sorghum flour, herbs and s alt;
  • samin - clarified butter, made in Sudan from milk fermented inside previously smoked gourd fruit (large, fleshy and with a hard skin), thanks to which it has a characteristic aroma.
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Recipe for homemade clarified butter

Currently, you can buy clarified butter in many stores. It is most often sold in 500-gram plastic buckets. You can also prepare them yourself. Clarified butter can be made with any amount of butter cubes. Keep in mind that the more butter you use, the longer it takes to cook. For 500 g of butter, 15-20 minutes is usually enough for the water to evaporate, for 1 kg it takes 30-40 minutes.

Method 1

1.Put 3-4 cubes of butter in a saucepan with a thick bottom. Put on low heat.

2.Melt the butter.

3.Cook uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until all the water is boiled. You can recognize this moment by the disappearance of the noise characteristic of boiling water, the reduction of the diameter of the emerging bubbles and the slight sticking of the contents of the pot to the bottom.

4.Turn off the fire under the pot.

5.Gently collect the protein foam formed on the surface and put it into a separate vessel or throw it away. Repeat until the surface of the fat is completely clean.

6.Let the solids sink to the bottom of the pan for one hour.

7.Gently pour the liquid butter from the saucepan into the bowl or rectangular dish. Do this step slowly so that the layer of protein collected at the bottom of the pan does not get into the clarified butter.

8.Pour into a closed vessel or leave to concentrate, cut into pieces and, wrapped in paper, store in the refrigerator.

Method 2

When you prepare classic clarified butter, you lose a lot of the protein contaminated butter that remains at the bottom of the saucepan. It is also easy to contaminate the clarified butter with protein while pouring, which is of great importance for allergy sufferers. To avoid this, you can prepare clarified butter in a different way, just like classic ghee.

To do this, proceed in the same way up to point 3 inclusive, and then:

1.After the water has evaporated, keep the butter on low heat.

2.The solid particles will sink to the bottom, stick to it and caramelize. The sludge must not be burnt.

3.Stir occasionally and stop heating when the mixed butter appears completely clear and the bottom sediment is golden but not black.

4.Turn off the fire under the pot.

5.Let the sediment settle for a while.

6.Pour slowly into a container.

Making ghee is more economical - you don't waste the butter mixed with the proteins at the bottom. It is also more appropriate for allergy sufferers, as it is more difficult to contaminate them. Ghee has a more nutty flavor than classic clarified butter, which comes from caramelized proteins.

Sources:

  1. Sserunjogi M.L. et al.,A review paper: current knowledge of ghee and related products , International Dairy Journal, 1998, 8, 677-688
  2. Sharma H. ​​et al.,The effect of ghee (clarified butter) on serum lipid levels and microsomal lipid peroxidation , An International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda, 2010, 31 (2), 134-140
  3. Reddy A.M. et al.,Myths and facts about consumption of ghee in relation to heart problems - a comparative research study , International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2013, 5 (2), 560-563
  4. https: //draxe.com/ghee-benefits/

Clarified butter: how to make it?

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