As butter melts, you'll notice that some white flecks will begin to float on the surface of a yellowish liquid that looks a lot like olive oil. The white flecks are the milk solids, or fat component of butter, while the liquid contains a lot of water.
The flecks, or almost sediment-like specks you might see at the bottom as your brown butter cools are caramelized milk solids. They aren't a bad thing! As long as they're still a deep golden brown (and not black!) and the butter tastes sweet and nutty, you haven't burned it and it's just fine!
Butter is manufactured from dairy cream using a churning process. The cream is produced by passing milk through a separator, which divides the incoming milk into skim milk (0.1% milkfat) and cream (35-40% milkfat). Cream is churned until small butter grains form in buttermilk.
The foam from clarified butter is typically removed and discarded, but some people use it in cooking to add extra flavor and richness to dishes. Check out the key differences between whipped and regular butter here.
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.
Clarified butter is chock-full of healthy fat–soluble vitamins, like A, D, E, and K. These vitamins are responsible for promoting strong bone and vision health, as well as for boosting your immune system.
Butter contains a good 13 to 17% water, which has to go before the fat's temperature can rise enough to brown the milk proteins. Once the butter reaches a temperature of 212°F, the water in the butter starts to evaporate much more quickly. As a result the butter will start to bubble and splatter dramatically.
Cooking with clarified butter has several benefits, particularly when frying. Milk solids are what cause butter to smoke and burn in cooking, so by omitting them, you are able to cook with butter at a much higher temperature and for a longer period of time. Milk solids also cause the butter to spoil, or become rancid.
THE “POPPING” This “popping” stage should last about 5 minutes, until the white foam completely disappears. During this stage, reduce stirring to a minimum. Simply scrape the sides to prevent burning and let the butter do its thing.
Sometimes, in the butter manufacturing more curd particles become entrapped in the water phase of the butter and that is you see as white “ milky” liquid. It is a very minor manufacturing infraction, nothing to worry about from a food safety point of view.
All I had to do was transfer the mix to a microwave safe bowl or jug, then heat in the microwave on the defrost setting or on 30 percent power for 10 second increments, beating in-between. Soon you will see the mixture return to its normal state and voilà all fixed!
Once the butter is completely melted, you'll notice a tiny bit of white foam starting to form on the top. That is the milk solids. This butter would be perfect for a bag of popcorn. As you continue heating on low, the butter will bubble a little bit as more white foam floats to the top and water evaporates.
You'll know if your butter has spoiled because it'll smell rancid. You might also see some discoloration and changes in texture.
“If the butter became very soft or started to melt during its time on the counter (or in the microwave if you were speeding up the process), you can put it back in the fridge, but it may not be the best to use in your recipe,” Ryan suggests. “You may notice when it solidifies that it's separated or grainy.
The purpose of clarifying butter is to raise its smoke point. The smoke point of regular butter is 350 degrees F. The smoke point of clarified butter is 450 degrees F, allowing you to use it - instead of canola oil, which has a smoke point of 400 to 450 degrees F - to get a good, flavorful sear.
Did you know your butter was dirty? It isn't, per se, the washing of the butter is meant to clean the remaining buttermilk out of the butter to help with preservation of the butter. The more buttermilk you are able to take out of the butter, the less chance the butter has of going rancid.
Stop straining when you see these cloudy bits (the milk solids) at the bottom. To get ultra-smooth clarified butter, strain the liquid through fresh cheesecloth a second time.
It is possible to overmix the butter and sugar. If you overmix, however, the butter will separate out of the mixture and it will be grainy and soupy, so be sure to stop once your butter becomes light and fluffy.
Graininess in butter is fairly common. This is not a reflection of the quality of the butter, but merely a reaction to temperature fluctuations. It tends to be more of a problem during the summer months when products sit in hot trucks during shipping.
Melt butter at low heat in a saucepan. Tiny bubbles will appear around the edges. Foam will cover the surface, and large bubbles will start to appear. Bubbling will take over the foam and make a chirping sound, depending on how much water content the butter has.
It can lead to clogging of arteries. In fact, people suffering from Fatty liver conditions should also avoid or reduce the intake of this ghee. Clarified butter has a fat dense composition, which increases the risk of obesity and triggers bad cholesterol levels.
Both types of butter contain (CLA) Conjugated linoleic acid, but clarified butter contains this Medium chain fatty acid more than regular butter. That is why ghee-clarified butter can work better with dietary support in weight loss programs.