How to Make Ghee from Unsalted Butter

What is ghee, also known as clarified butter? How is it made and what are it’s uses? Why would a homesteader be interested in ghee? Well, I’ve got some answers for you today with “How to Make Ghee from Scratch (Clarified Butter)”!

Ghee originated in the Indian culture and has been a staple in Indian households for thousands of years. It is simply made by removing the milk fat from butter, thus leaving just the butter oil.

Ghee is a premium cooking oil celebrated for its taste, nutritional benefits, and medicinal qualities.

Ayurveda, the ancient medical science of India, recognizes ghee as an essential part of a balanced diet, and considers it to be the best fat one can eat.

Ghee is the very essence of butter; the end result of a long, slow, careful clarification process that removes all the moisture, milk solids and impurities.

The absence of milk solids and water in ghee make it completely shelf stable.

Ghee has one of the highest flash points (485ºF) which make this oil the best choice for high temperature cooking.

Ghee is comprised of full spectrum short, medium and long chain fatty acids, both unsaturated and saturated.

Ghee contains Omega 3 and Omega 9 essential fatty acids along with vitamins A, D, E and K.

Ghee made from organic butter of pastured cows is one of the highest natural sources of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). 9 phenolic anti-oxidants,

as well as numerous other minerals are present in ghee.

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Millennials love this stuff!

The very popular Paleo diet has put ghee in the cabinets of many Americans, who might have otherwise never been aware of it.

Bulletproof coffee, which was created by Dave Asprey, a retired Silicon Valley entrepreneur, after spending time hiking in Tibet.

The locals gave him “Yak Butter Tea”, which is made tea leaves, fresh yak butter and salt. Bulletproof coffee boasts of keeping you full longer, avoiding sugar crashes, give an energy boost and improve mental clarity.

I’m not one to be motivated by what’s trending.

That said, what I find very interesting about ghee is that it’s shelf stable, has multiple uses in cooking and baking, but also totes some pretty awesome health benefits!

Clarified butter is a wonderful choice for your long-term pantry as well as for everyday use!

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How to Make Ghee at Home

Here’s what you’ll need to make ghee from scratch:

A good sized pot
Non-reactive spoon (I like wood)
Clean wide-mouth pint sized canning jars and lids
Coffee filter
Strainer
Butter (I used 12 lbs. of butter from the farmers market. Use the very best grass-fed, non-gmo, unsalted, organic butter you can find! Kerrygold is also a great brand!)

Put your gorgeous butter in a heavy bottom pot and turn the burner on medium heat.

Stay close to your butter and observe the incredible changes that it makes!

Once the butter begins to softly boil, turn the heat down to medium-low. See how the milk fats are separating from the butter?

There is no need to stir during this process, let the butter do it’s thing!

I’m just showing you the foamy consistency that’s floating on the top, however, our ghee isn’t finished yet!

Let the butter continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes and you’ll see the foam on top change from a “foamy” look to more of a “scum” look. This is normal when making ghee from scratch.

THIS is what we’re going for!

It’s finished when the butter begins to caramelize and turn really yellow.

You should see sediment at the bottom of the pan and then the scum at the top. These are milk solids that we’re “clarifying” from the butter, leaving of course, ghee.

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Here’s my little set-up to strain all of that milk fat from our scratch ghee. I do not find it necessary to have cheesecloth to make ghee, but you could use it if you wanted to.

Work slowly, you might even want to ladle the butter out. DO NOT stir or mix the solids back in!

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Look how gorgeous this is???

I like to wipe the rims of my jars with a clean rag.

Seal your jars with sterilized canning lids and rings, and then let the ghee cool down and solidify.

Look at this beautiful stuff!!

I’m going to use it right away and make from fried eggs for breakfast! You don’t need a lot of ghee, just a little bit. I’m using about a 1/2 teaspoon here.