clarified butter sold commercially?

On 8 Oct 2005 01:50:22 -0700, [email hidden] wrote:

| As I understand it, clarifying butter is a quasi-distilling process,
| akin to petroleum refining, which renders out the fat from the milk
| solids.
|
| I'm sure many people enjoy that tedious process, but all I see is
| sloppy product standardization!
|
| Does any dairy sell butter which has no such impurities?

Ghee which is clarified butter a staple of Indian cooking and is available
in all Asian Supermarkets, at least in the UK.

fu set to rec.food.cooking

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
"Intelligent Design?" my knees say *not*.
"Intelligent Design?" my back says *not*.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As I understand it, clarifying butter is a quasi-distilling process,
akin to petroleum refining, which renders out the fat from the milk
solids.

I'm sure many people enjoy that tedious process, but all I see is
sloppy product standardization!

Does any dairy sell butter which has no such impurities?

Ghee?

--
J.P. in London.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As I understand it, clarifying butter is a quasi-distilling process,
akin to petroleum refining, which renders out the fat from the milk
solids.

I'm sure many people enjoy that tedious process, but all I see is
sloppy product standardization!

Does any dairy sell butter which has no such impurities?

I was on an Indian food kick for a while recently. Must admit I find the
cuisine to be a real challenge. Anyway, ghee is clarified butter and a
common ingredient in Indian food. I don't know how pure you want your
clarified butter to be but I made a pretty passable version by just melting
the butter very slowly then poring through a few layers of cheese cloth.
Then I just poured it into pint glass jars, let it sit a bit, then into the
fridge. After the butter had set there was a thin layer of milk solids left
which I skimmed off. Pretty passable ghee was the result.

Paul

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:XIM1f.433$A52.82@trnddc02...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Anyway, ghee is clarified butter and a

Quoted message said:

common ingredient in Indian food. I don't know how pure you want your
clarified butter to be but I made a pretty passable >

I'm probably wrong but I thought "ghee" and "clarified butter" were actually
different things. Somehow they're processed differently or something??

--
Jen

"Jen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:XIM1f.433$A52.82@trnddc02...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Anyway, ghee is clarified butter and a

Quoted message said:

common ingredient in Indian food. I don't know how pure you want your
clarified butter to be but I made a pretty passable >

I'm probably wrong but I thought "ghee" and "clarified butter" were

actually

Quoted message said:

different things. Somehow they're processed differently or something??

No, it's clarified butter. "Real" ghee, the kind you buy in specialty
stores, has been cooked down to the point where there is practically no
water present. It's hard to do without burning unless you make very large
quantities.

http://www.food-india.com/ingredients/i001_i025/i007.htm

Paul

Quoted message said:

No, it's clarified butter. "Real" ghee, the kind you buy in specialty
stores, has been cooked down to the point where there is practically no
water present. It's hard to do without burning unless you make very large
quantities.

http://www.food-india.com/ingredients/i001_i025/i007.htm

Paul

Maybe that's what I heard.

--
Jen

Paul M. Cook said:

"Jen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:XIM1f.433$A52.82@trnddc02...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Anyway, ghee is clarified butter and a

Quoted message said:

common ingredient in Indian food. I don't know how pure you want your
clarified butter to be but I made a pretty passable >

I'm probably wrong but I thought "ghee" and "clarified butter" were

actually

Quoted message said:

different things. Somehow they're processed differently or something??

No, it's clarified butter. "Real" ghee, the kind you buy in specialty
stores, has been cooked down to the point where there is practically no
water present. It's hard to do without burning unless you make very large
quantities.

http://www.food-india.com/ingredients/i001_i025/i007.htm

Paul

Really? I never had any trouble. But then I didn't try to boil off the
water. I just poured off the separated fat. What burns is the milk
solids (creating beurre noire [sp?]). A gravy separate works well, if
you have one.

But speaking of butter, does anyone here know anything about Australian
butter? I just came back from a trip to Australia. They serve lots of
heavy cream in various ways, and the cream is noticeably yellow
(presumably because of Jersey cows on early spring grass, because there
was no indication of added color on any labels I checked). The butter is
a darker yellow than we normally see in the US, too. It is labeled as
80% fat, same as ours. But the texture is quite waxy, suggesting they
produce it by a somewhat different method. I didn't cook with it; so I
can't say whether there were any milk solids visible when it melted.
Anyone know what's different about it?

"[censored] Margulis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul M. Cook said:

"Jen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:XIM1f.433$A52.82@trnddc02...

><[email hidden]> wrote in message

Anyway, ghee is clarified butter and a

>common ingredient in Indian food. I don't know how pure you want your
>clarified butter to be but I made a pretty passable >
>

I'm probably wrong but I thought "ghee" and "clarified butter" were

actually

Quoted message said:

different things. Somehow they're processed differently or something??

No, it's clarified butter. "Real" ghee, the kind you buy in specialty
stores, has been cooked down to the point where there is practically no
water present. It's hard to do without burning unless you make very
large
quantities.

http://www.food-india.com/ingredients/i001_i025/i007.htm

Paul

Really? I never had any trouble. But then I didn't try to boil off the
water. I just poured off the separated fat. What burns is the milk solids
(creating beurre noire [sp?]). A gravy separate works well, if you have
one.

But speaking of butter, does anyone here know anything about Australian
butter? I just came back from a trip to Australia. They serve lots of
heavy cream in various ways, and the cream is noticeably yellow
(presumably because of Jersey cows on early spring grass, because there
was no indication of added color on any labels I checked). The butter is a
darker yellow than we normally see in the US, too. It is labeled as 80%
fat, same as ours. But the texture is quite waxy, suggesting they produce
it by a somewhat different method. I didn't cook with it; so I can't say
whether there were any milk solids visible when it melted. Anyone know
what's different about it?

In the spirit of learning something every day, I googled "Australian butter"
and found some with this description at
http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?qry=&country=Australia&ScrollAction=2:

Richer and creamier than American butter, it is made in the style of
European plugra butter. As a result, this butter contains more butterfat and
less moisture than American butter. Use this butter to make cakes rise
higher, sauces smoother and richer, pastry fluffier, and when frying you
will find it has a higher smoking point than regular American butter.

Not knowing what plugra butter is, I searched and found this:

The secret of fine bakers all over America, Plugra butter was finally
introduced to the rest of America's food professionals in 1989. We use six
tons of it at the Zingerman's Bakehouse every year. The name means,
literally, "more fat," which is exactly what it has. Made without salt,
Plugra has ten percent less water than standard butter-a butterfat content
of 82 percent. (Standard American butter has 80 percent.) Its mildness and
consistency make it ideal for excellent baking. Taste it next to unsalted
supermarket butter and you'll immediately notice the bigger flavor, nice
finish, and increased richness. Writing in Fine Cooking, Molly Stevens
stated, "Plugra is remarkably smooth and satiny. Its lower melting point
caused it to melt immediately in our mouth. The flavor is complex and rich,
with a pleasant, tangy finish."

Smokey

Smokey said:

"[censored] Margulis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But speaking of butter, does anyone here know anything about Australian
butter? I just came back from a trip to Australia. They serve lots of
heavy cream in various ways, and the cream is noticeably yellow
(presumably because of Jersey cows on early spring grass, because there
was no indication of added color on any labels I checked). The butter is a
darker yellow than we normally see in the US, too. It is labeled as 80%
fat, same as ours. But the texture is quite waxy, suggesting they produce
it by a somewhat different method. I didn't cook with it; so I can't say
whether there were any milk solids visible when it melted. Anyone know
what's different about it?

In the spirit of learning something every day, I googled "Australian butter"
and found some with this description at
http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?qry=&country=Australia&ScrollAction=2:

Richer and creamier than American butter, it is made in the style of
European plugra butter. As a result, this butter contains more butterfat and
less moisture than American butter. Use this butter to make cakes rise
higher, sauces smoother and richer, pastry fluffier, and when frying you
will find it has a higher smoking point than regular American butter.

Not knowing what plugra butter is, I searched and found this:

The secret of fine bakers all over America, Plugra butter was finally
introduced to the rest of America's food professionals in 1989. We use six
tons of it at the Zingerman's Bakehouse every year. The name means,
literally, "more fat," which is exactly what it has. Made without salt,
Plugra has ten percent less water than standard butter-a butterfat content
of 82 percent. (Standard American butter has 80 percent.) Its mildness and
consistency make it ideal for excellent baking. Taste it next to unsalted
supermarket butter and you'll immediately notice the bigger flavor, nice
finish, and increased richness. Writing in Fine Cooking, Molly Stevens
stated, "Plugra is remarkably smooth and satiny. Its lower melting point
caused it to melt immediately in our mouth. The flavor is complex and rich,
with a pleasant, tangy finish."

Smokey

Well, I've heard someone described as "so cold butter wouldn't melt in
his mouth," but I don't think that's meant to be taken literally.
Nonetheless, the last sentence strikes me as not applying to Australian
butter, as I found it difficult to get it to melt on warm bread or in my
mouth. As I said, the texture was somewhat waxy, suggesting a finer
crystalline structure than US butter. But, if anything, I'd say it has a
higher melting point. Otherwise, I think the above description is pretty
close.

I think maybe it was unsalted, but it did not have the flavor of
US-style sweet butter. As noted in your description, it had a more
complex flavor. Perhaps, as with traditional European-style butters, it
is churned from sour cream rather than sweet cream (couldn't tell from
the labeling). The main thing I found odd was the texture.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jen said:

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:XIM1f.433$A52.82@trnddc02...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Anyway, ghee is clarified butter and a

Quoted message said:

common ingredient in Indian food. I don't know how pure you want your
clarified butter to be but I made a pretty passable >

I'm probably wrong but I thought "ghee" and "clarified butter" were actually
different things. Somehow they're processed differently or something??

Not as far as I know...
I've seen instructions for making Ghee at home.
They are identical to making clarified butter.

Personally, I HATE clarified butter!
Might as well dip the shrimp in cooking oil. :-P

It's the milk solids that give it the flavor!!!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Jen said:

"Paul M. Cook" wrote

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote:

Anyway, ghee is clarified butter

I'm probably wrong but I thought "ghee" and "clarified butter" were actually
different things.

Not as far as I know...
I've seen instructions for making Ghee at home.
They are identical to making clarified butter.

Actually they're not identical.

ghee [GEE]
Butter that has been slowly melted, thereby separating the milk solids
(which sink to the bottom of the pan) from the golden liquid on the
surface. This form of CLARIFIED BUTTER is taken a step further by
simmering it until all of the moisture evaporates and the milk solids
begin to brown, giving the resulting butter a nutty, caramellike flavor
and aroma. This extra step also gives ghee a longer life and much
higher SMOKE POINT than regular clarified butter. Because the smoke
point is raised to almost 375°F, ghee is practical for a variety of
sautéing and frying uses. Although it originated in India, the best
commercially available ghee comes from Holland, followed closely by
products from Scandinavia and Australia. It's quite expensive, but can
be purchased in Middle Eastern, Indian and some gourmet markets.
Whereas ghee was once made only with butter derived from water buffalo
milk, today it can be made with any unsalted butter. Making it at home
is not a difficult task, and flavored ghees are created by simply
adding ingredients such as ginger, peppercorns or cumin at the
beginning of the clarifying process. Tightly wrapped ghee can be
refrigerated for up to 6 months and frozen up to a year.

© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD
LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.
---

Sheldon

O'Dell's is available on line or in some stores.

http://www.ilovebutter.com/

And, in most Indian markets you can buy ghee which is clarified butter.

Here's a froogle search to buy ghee on line.

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2005-09,GGGL:en&q=ghee

Penny

Quoted message said:

Not knowing what plugra butter is, I searched and found this:

Skipping the hype, it's a brand of butter made by Keller's Creamery,
who also make more familiar brands including Breakstone's and Hotel
Bar. The company is in Pennsylvania, their main production plant is
in Texas, and I don't know where they make Plugra. According to their
web site, it has more butterfat and less moisture than regular butter
and is available at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I've seen it at
Wegmans, but it's so expensive I've never bought it.

The web site says they also sell Plugra Clarified in fussy little 12
oz jars at places like Williams Sonoma and in 5lb tubs for real
bakers.

They also make butter sculptures in the shapes of turkeys, lambies,
and Christmas trees, sold during the appropriate season. The little
lambie is just adorable, particularly if you eat it as part of a
metaphor-heavy Easter dinner. The only stores that sell them in
Mass. appear to be Shoprite, with the closest to Boston being Seekonk,
New Bedford, and Springfield.

R's,
John

<snip>
"[censored] Margulis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Smokey said:

"[censored] Margulis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But speaking of butter, does anyone here know anything about Australian
butter? I just came back from a trip to Australia. They serve lots of
heavy cream in various ways, and the cream is noticeably yellow
(presumably because of Jersey cows on early spring grass, because there
was no indication of added color on any labels I checked). The butter is
a darker yellow than we normally see in the US, too. It is labeled as 80%
fat, same as ours. But the texture is quite waxy, suggesting they produce
it by a somewhat different method. I didn't cook with it; so I can't say
whether there were any milk solids visible when it melted. Anyone know
what's different about it?

In the spirit of learning something every day, I googled "Australian
butter" and found some with this description at
http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?qry=&country=Australia&ScrollAction=2:

Richer and creamier than American butter, it is made in the style of
European plugra butter. As a result, this butter contains more butterfat
and less moisture than American butter. Use this butter to make cakes
rise higher, sauces smoother and richer, pastry fluffier, and when frying
you will find it has a higher smoking point than regular American butter.

snipped again

Quoted message said:

Well, I've heard someone described as "so cold butter wouldn't melt in his
mouth," but I don't think that's meant to be taken literally. Nonetheless,
the last sentence strikes me as not applying to Australian butter, as I
found it difficult to get it to melt on warm bread or in my mouth. As I
said, the texture was somewhat waxy, suggesting a finer crystalline
structure than US butter. But, if anything, I'd say it has a higher
melting point. Otherwise, I think the above description is pretty close.

I think maybe it was unsalted, but it did not have the flavor of US-style
sweet butter. As noted in your description, it had a more complex flavor.
Perhaps, as with traditional European-style butters, it is churned from
sour cream rather than sweet cream (couldn't tell from the labeling). The
main thing I found odd was the texture.

well, I don't know the specifics of how aussie butter is made, but I can
tell you that most "normal" butter IS salted (ie the stuff that's bought for
normal cooking, buttering toast etc); the market for unsalted or European
style cultured butter seems rather smaller

found the following on the Bega (a dairy products manufacturer) website

The cream is separated from the milk. It is then vacreated to pasteurise and
deodorise the cream.

The cream is pumped through pipes to the continuous Butter Maker. In the
Butter Maker, it's beaten until it separates as solid butter and liquid
buttermilk. The buttermilk is drained off and is pumped to the Whey Plant.
The butter is worked to remove excess water. Salt is added at this stage,
for Salted Butter. The butter flows out of the machine and is packaged.

[F'ups set to rec.food.cooking]

Quoted message said:

As I understand it, clarifying butter is a quasi-distilling process,
akin to petroleum refining, which renders out the fat from the milk
solids.

I'm sure many people enjoy that tedious process, but all I see is
sloppy product standardization!

Does any dairy sell butter which has no such impurities?

Depends on where you are located. It seems you are posting from the
Philippines... is this also your physical location? Maybe someone from
the Philippines can help? Here in Germany, clarified butter is sold in
every supermarket.

Making clarified butter at home is easy and not at all tedious, as far
as I'm concerned. BTW, please ignore all the unqualified comments about
clarified butter being the same as ghee - it isn't. They cannot always
be substituted for one another, though often it can - it depends on the
recipe.

Victor

On Sat, 8 Oct 2005 23:52:49 +0200, [email hidden]

(Victor Sack) said:

BTW, please ignore all the unqualified comments about
clarified butter being the same as ghee - it isn't.

Howdy,

How do they differ?

Thanks,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Victor Sack said:

Depends on where you are located. It seems you are posting from the
Philippines... is this also your physical location? Maybe someone from
the Philippines can help? Here in Germany, clarified butter is sold in
every supermarket.

Making clarified butter at home is easy and not at all tedious, as far
as I'm concerned. BTW, please ignore all the unqualified comments about
clarified butter being the same as ghee - it isn't. They cannot always
be substituted for one another, though often it can - it depends on the
recipe.

This thread was originally cross-posted to ba.food so am guessing op is
around the bay area ca.

I bought clarified butter at Trader Joe's (San Antonio and El Camino) a
while ago. I was surprised that it wasn't in the refrigerated section.
It was near the spices or sauces, iirc.

Karen

"Victor Sack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[F'ups set to rec.food.cooking]

Quoted message said:

As I understand it, clarifying butter is a quasi-distilling process,
akin to petroleum refining, which renders out the fat from the milk
solids.

I'm sure many people enjoy that tedious process, but all I see is
sloppy product standardization!

Does any dairy sell butter which has no such impurities?

Depends on where you are located. It seems you are posting from the
Philippines... is this also your physical location? Maybe someone from
the Philippines can help? Here in Germany, clarified butter is sold in
every supermarket.

Making clarified butter at home is easy and not at all tedious, as far
as I'm concerned. BTW, please ignore all the unqualified comments about
clarified butter being the same as ghee - it isn't. They cannot always
be substituted for one another, though often it can - it depends on the
recipe.

Victor

A while ago, Whole Foods carried, and probably still does carry, Ghee
(labeled "Ghee"😉. DH didn't/doesn't like it for whatever reason. I kept it
in the jar it came in, in the refrigerator. It was in a pint jar and really
hard, and hard to get out of the jar. DH said there was no reason I
couldn't clarify my own butter for Indian food. Here is a site re ghee &
clarified butter and the difference thereof:
http://asiarecipe.com/clarbutter.html
"The smoking point of ghee is slightly higher than that of regular clarified
butter."
Dee Dee

Dee Randall said:

"Victor Sack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[F'ups set to rec.food.cooking]

Quoted message said:

As I understand it, clarifying butter is a quasi-distilling process,
akin to petroleum refining, which renders out the fat from the milk
solids.

I'm sure many people enjoy that tedious process, but all I see is
sloppy product standardization!

Does any dairy sell butter which has no such impurities?

Depends on where you are located. It seems you are posting from the
Philippines... is this also your physical location? Maybe someone from
the Philippines can help? Here in Germany, clarified butter is sold in
every supermarket.

Making clarified butter at home is easy and not at all tedious, as far
as I'm concerned. BTW, please ignore all the unqualified comments about
clarified butter being the same as ghee - it isn't. They cannot always
be substituted for one another, though often it can - it depends on the
recipe.

Victor

A while ago, Whole Foods carried, and probably still does carry, Ghee
(labeled "Ghee"😉. DH didn't/doesn't like it for whatever reason. I kept it
in the jar it came in, in the refrigerator. It was in a pint jar and really
hard, and hard to get out of the jar. DH said there was no reason I
couldn't clarify my own butter for Indian food. Here is a site re ghee &
clarified butter and the difference thereof:
http://asiarecipe.com/clarbutter.html
"The smoking point of ghee is slightly higher than that of regular clarified
butter."
Dee Dee

I'd be sceptical of the site. The provenance of some of the recipes are
simply wrong. e.g. some on the list of main dishes from Bangladesh.