How to Make Homemade Ghee- From Cow Butter and Goat Butter

And if you're wondering why this container says gluten on it...
lol... its from back in the day when I bought straight
gluten to make seitan, and we stored it in this container.

Have you ever heard of ghee before? I hadn't heard of it until I started getting into eating traditional foods, and ghee was brought up as a good fat to be used.
What is ghee? Also known as clarified butter, ghee's what you get when you take butter and remove the milk solids from it. This post will teach you how to do that.

But why remove milk solids from butter? What's wrong with butter in it's natural form?

Nothing. Butter is great. Especially if it's from grass fed cows.
But ghee is better for many things.
Because it's higher smoke point, so you can use it for more things than butter since you don't have to worry about it burning.
Additionally, it is more shelf stable than butter.
And last but not least, it's got the milk solids removed from it, so often people who are sensitive to casein and/or lactose are able to have ghee even if they aren't able to have butter.


So- is ghee actually a good fat?
Here's what I read about its benefits:
According to the blog Homemade Mommy, it is

"rich in Vitamin A, D, E, K2 and CLA. When sourced from grass fed cows, ghee is chock full of Vitamin K2 (one of the fat soluble vitamins in the same class as Vitamin A, D, and E) and is one of the highest natural sources of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid – an antioxidant with anti-viral properties). Deficiency of K2 is rampant in our society due to our lack of grass fed animal fats in our diet and this has implications on heart and bone health and cancer and probably some other serious health conditions that are only just now being studied." 

It is also a great source of butyric acid, which plays many essential roles in the body.
According to ElephantJournal.com, these are but some of the benefits of butyric acid:

• It boosts immunity. 
• It's the primary fuel source for the cells of the colon
• It feeds the good microbes
• Helps digestion, maintains the integrity of the gastrointestinal mucosa 
• Blocks the growth of bad bacteria in the gut and interferes with the growth of highly toxic bacteria 
• Helps the growth of beneficial bacteria like Bifidobacterium
• Helps loose bowel function and regulates abnormal bowel movements
• Helps adjust water and electrolyte concentration in the intestinal tract 
• Increases insulin sensitivity 
• Supports healthy levels of both good and bad cholesterol 
• Increases energy production and efficiency of energy utilization
• Reduction in fatty tissue
• Reduction in hunger levels 
• Boosts killer T cell activity
• Increases thermogenesis in the body

That's a lot of good reasons to use it.

What appealed to me most about ghee is the fact that Rose is sensitive to when I eat dairy. I have successfully been able to have goat hard cheeses without it bothering her, but I suspect that non aged goat cheese products bother her when I eat it.
I decided to try taking goat butter and make ghee out of it, and hopefully, since the milk solids are removed from it, she would be fine.
And she was.
No reaction.
Next I'm going to try making ghee from grass fed cow butter, and see if she reacts when I eat that.

So, how do you make ghee?

Pretty simply, actually.

Take your (unsalted) butter- goat milk butter or cow's milk butter, and put it in a pan over a low heat...

 

until it melts....



It'll start to bubble up as the water boils off...



And then you'll start to see the milk solids browning, and sticking to the sides of the pan, and then starting to settle down to the bottom.



At this point, you want to strain out the now burnt milk solids from the ghee. Take a cheesecloth, tripled over in thickness, and pour your ghee through. The solids will remain behind, and you'll be left ideally with a golden liquid.



Of course I slightly overcooked mine, so mine is more brown than golden, but it still tastes just as good...

Now store it- it's shelf stable, but I keep mine in the fridge anyhow.

You now can use this ghee for whatever your heart desires- whether for frying, in baked goods, to spread on bread, etc...
And it tastes delicious!

Enjoy!

Ever hear of ghee before? Have you ever had ghee before? Did you buy it or make it? Does this look like something you'd try making? With cow's butter or goat butter?
If you're a fan of ghee, what is your favorite use for it?

Linking up to Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Fat Tuesday, Mostly Homemade Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Allergy Free Wednesday and Real Food Wednesday