Milk solids are the reason butter starts to burn at a lower temperature than something like olive oil. When you clarify butter, you remove all the milk solids and water, but are left with the butterfat. This creates a higher smoke point, which makes clarified butter ideal for cooking and sautéing.
And that's because chefs use it in place of oil all the time. Clarified butter can be heated to 450 degrees F without burning, meaning it's great for getting a sear on anything you're going to then make a buttery pan sauce for (steak, we're looking at you).
What it's good for? Because clarified butter is free from the milk solids that burn and smoke during cooking, it has a higher smoke point than regular butter (upwards of 450° F), making it a high temp hero.
Ghee and butter have similar nutritional profiles and can be enjoyed as part of a healthy, balanced diet. When it comes to cooking at high heat, ghee has an advantage over butter because it has a higher smoke point.
Its high smoke point—485 degrees to be exact—means it works in countless cooking applications. (“Maybe not on a salad,” Broth Bar's Yellig says, laughing.) Galen Zamarra, chef of Mas in Manhattan, likes to use ghee especially for grilling.
Since ghee is rich in fats and cholesterol, it may lead to heart disorders and cancer in senior citizens. Thus, it is suggested that the elderly must stay away from clarified butter to avoid putting their heart at risk. Avoid having ghee incase of diarrhea attacks as ghee acts as a natural laxative.
Use clarified butter to dip cooked seafood, like crab or shrimp. It is great for sautéing fish, cooking vegetables, or making hollandaise or other sauces. It's also perfect for delicious buttery popcorn. Clarified butter can be stored it in your refrigerator for about a month.
Ghee is a form of clarified butter, where butter that is simmered until the water content is evaporated, then the milk solids are strained out to leave just pure gold butter fat with a nutty, intense butter flavour.
With the milk solids trapped in the strainer, you're left with clarified butter—or as it's sometimes known, liquid gold. Left at room temperature, the liquid will solidify and can be safely stored in the pantry in an airtight jar for several months. Alternatively, you can keep it in the fridge for up to one year.
While ghee has a higher concentration of saturated fat, olive oil is higher in unsaturated fat. Both oils can be used in moderation as part of a healthy diet. Ghee is a good option for high-heat cooking and adds a rich flavor to dishes, while olive oil is great for salads, dips, and dressings.
Ghee on toast is one of the favorite toast toppings for keto dieters and some health freaks. Nothing beats slathering a dollop of rich-tasting ghee on toast, which is soft and spreadable at room temperature. Ghee is not only tasty, but it is also nutritious.
You can use ghee on bread in all bread-butter recipes for making sandwiches and baking crunchy bread toasts. Ghee is a healthy replacement for ghee in almost all butter recipes, whether you are talking about spicy dishes or desserts. People can easily use ghee on their toast.
Butter is around 20% water, so removing water through simmering creates an 80% yield. In other words, one tablespoon of butter is lost per every five tablespoons of ghee, which is why ghee can get pricey. The jarred stuff is even more expensive because of the labor that goes into making it!
Why Use Clarified Butter? The main benefit of cooking with clarified butter is its higher smoke point. Unlike regular butter and many oils, clarified butter can withstand high temperatures without burning. Clarified butter is ideal for sauteing, roasting, or shallow frying meat and vegetables.
Use clarified butter for frying and sautéing — it is excellent for cooking eggs, popping popcorn or cooking steak. Clarified butter also makes a mean hollandaise. Ghee is clarified butter cooked further to nutty golden perfection.
Supports a Healthy Digestive Tract
Ghee is rich in butyric acid, a short-chain fatty acid. Intestinal bacteria convert fibers into butyric acids and then use them for energy and intestinal-wall support. By consuming clarified butter, you are as a result contributing to a healthy digestive tract.
According to Ayurveda, a healthy person consuming clarified butter may reduce cholesterol or not highly depends on the lifestyle and the number of physical activities he does. However, consumption of unsalted butter-ghee has to be restricted as well.
Ghee is stronger in color and flavor than regular clarified butter, and it also has a longer shelf life (it can last up to six months in the fridge or a year in the freezer) and a higher smoke point (nearly 375 degrees F), which makes it especially useful for sauteing and frying foods.
Beyond the smoke point, oil breaks down. So, refined oils can be used for deep frying because they don't break-down at lower temperatures. Well, it is certainly clear that Ghee is healthier than refined oils. Use ghee in moderation though, because it has lots of fats and calories.
In alternative Ayurvedic medicine, ghee has been used topically to treat burns and swelling. While this is not scientifically proven, ghee does contain butyrate, a fatty acid that has known anti-inflammatory properties. Studies show that the butyrate present in ghee can soothe inflammation within the body.
Here's what we found: Both ghee and butter contain nearly 100% of their calories from fat, but ghee has a higher concentration of butyric acrid, which is “well-known to support digestive health, reduce inflammation and lowers the risk of diseases and promote overall health.”
“Grass-fed butter has the nutritional edge in that it offers more heart-healthy nutrients than regular butter in a less-processed product than margarine,” Malkani says. You can typically find grass-fed butter at the grocery store or natural foods market. Look for terms like “pasture” and “grass-fed” on the label.