Cooking For Engineers

[Bob]

This is a funny site, though! Even the captcha is over-engineered!

How many engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Depends -- where are we building the bulb plant?

[richardrebel]

Hi everyone.

Some things of note:

If you make one stick in a small stainless steel sauce pan, then let it cool to perhaps about 100 degrees, nearly all of the milk solids will stick to the bottom of the pan. I can only think of a handful of recipes that require more clarification. Simply pour it off. This will *not* work for non-stick teflon pans well. For a bit more refinement, use a standard fine mesh stainless skimmer or sieve when you our it off. Easy to clean. This works for larger amounts in bigger pans as well. Think about 1/4 to 5/8" deep when melted. No wasted plastic bag, string, nor hassle.

Another good tip: Get a silicone ice cube trays that have cavities measured in Tbsp and Tsps. Pour your warm clarified goodness into these and cover with plastic wrap (mostly to keep from spilling). Transfer to freezer. Once hard, put into freezer bag and store nearly indefinitely if you keep moisture out. This makes it easy to use as often you don't need very much and taking it out of the fridge, heating it up, measuring what you need, then returning it shortens the life of the product and is a time waster.

You can also "wash" clarified butter like you would lard to clean it up, but I think the method is kind of messy and wasteful unless you are making bunches of it. I have seen seafood restaurant kitchen staff do this, but they are working with gallons of the stuff.

Richard

[valtice]

Great idea and I'm sure the same technique will work with meat juices. I've always hated the idea of simply 'spooning off' the fat from the top of the juices when making gravy. I either leave too much fat there or I start to spoon away the good juices.

Many thanks...

[Guest]

Yum, gravy missed gravy at thanksgiving, good trick for most like separations.

[Accidental Design]

If you want excellent cookies, always use clarified butter in your recipe instead. You will have to plan ahead as this needs to be done and refrigerated before you can use this for most recipes.

[Joe Tho]

The story *I* got is severalfold:

-since salt is a preservative, unsalted butter needs to be a higher grade to start with. So you are buying a better product.

-easier to manage the saltiness if you add it yourself.

-it "cooks better" whatever THAT means.

-"it's better because I say it's better." (I didn't argue)

[Guest for now]

First time visiting this site!
I have made clarified butter for years, but never came up with this bag trick- ah, the benefits of sharing knowledge.
I make it for our fishing trips in Canada- no worries about spoilage, and nothing, well, almost nothing tastes better than just-caught walleye fried in butter!
The solids etc. are saved, and used on sweet corn, baked potatoes, and anything else that cries out for butter.

[Guest]

first time visiting this site.. i really liked the way everything is explained just wanted to tell every1 that there is another process(south asian way) to make it which not only has longer shelf life and more easy i guess...
1.Take Unsalted Butter and put it in a heavy-bottomed pan on medium heat.
2. Allow it to melt and come to a boil.
3. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame to a low and allow it to froth/foam.
4. Keep stirring to make sure it does not burn at the bottom.
5. Once there is a golden brown layer at the bottom, turn off the flame.
6. Tip: take a tablespoon of water and pour it into the pan on the ghee. It will bubble and all the foam will dissapear.
7. Allow it to cool down.
8. Sieve it into a clean, dry jar or container.
9. Allow it to come down to room-temperature and store.

Tips:

1. Make Ghee in bulk and pour into small containers. Keep one in use out and rest in the refrigerator for longer shelf-life.

[Guest]

mix them together and put into rice pudding or oatmeal! tastes great! esp. if you're making ghee instead of regular clarified butter!
yum!

[Guest]

if you use the liquid and solid "extras" you need to have made this with unsalted butter!

[sm]

Looks like a foolproof method, but it's so unnecessary to waste a plastic bag like that. What's wrong with using re-usable cheesecloth or muslin? Or just skimming the clarified butter off the top? Let's come up with more environmentally-friendly kitchen techniques! And the milk solids at the bottom are very tasty (especially if you keep cooking the butter to make ghee), add them to breads or whatever else needs some milky/buttery goodness.

[tennessee_pusher]

According to "On Cooking" 5th Edition by Labensky, Haus, and Martel, ghee is a form of clarified butter in which the milk solids remain with the butterfat and are allowed to brown

[Grunchy]

Don't stir it but keep it on very low it tends to work better for separating the solids. If left undisturbed at a very low heat the protein on the top tends to conglomerate and is easier to then remove or at the least will stay together during your pour phase and not taint the finished product. The bottom will stick to almost any sauce pan without burning, non-stick or otherwise if heated and poured gently. The butter clarified slowly will clear not cloudy and bright golden colored.

[Jim Cooley]

What Grunchy said.

[ruthie]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but my aunt had one of those "gravy separator" pitchers, where the spout attaches at the very bottom of the container. The idea being that you pour off the gravy, which is heavier than the fat and has sunk to the bottom, then stop when you get to the fat.

Seems like that would do for separating clarified butter, too.

Also, using the milk solids on popcorn? Yes! I've never understood why recipes always say to discard them. They are so flavorful! I mix them in sauces, like tomato sauce*, and add them on garlic bread for an extra hit of butter flavor.

*Yes, tomato sauce. I discovered, purely by accident or serendipity or instinct, when I was in my teens that adding a pat of butter to my plate of spaghetti softened the acid edge of the tomato sauce while leaving all the tomato flavor.

So, you (chemical) engineers, why does this work?

Someone conjectured to me once that the calcium in the butter binds with the acid. However it works, it lets someone like me, who breaks out in a rash from too much acid food, eat tomato sauce without dermal disasters.

Thanks again for great info and ideas.