How to Clarify Butter | Lobster Gram (2024)

FAQs

Should I clarify butter for lobster? ›

One of the best things about eating lobster, crab, or shrimp (and even scallops) is dipping the juicy, succulent meat into butter and savoring the delicious flavor combination. If you're indulging in a fresh seafood meal that includes those shellfish, clarified butter - also known as drawn butter - is a must.

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. It's basically an extreme version of clarified butter with a shelf life like uranium.

Here's an easy method for clarifying butter that yields more than the traditional saucepan method does and with less fuss. The butter is cut into several chunks and melted it in a narrow glass container in the microwave, without stirring. After it rises once or twice, it settles into three perfect layers.

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.

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.

So you're making a fancy shellfish dinner and want it to be perfect. Serving clarified butter for crab legs or lobster is a must. The cups of liquid gold with your seafood dinner at restaurants aren't made of plain melted butter. Clarified butter is different, and we're here to teach you how to make it at home.

Clarified butter, or ghee, is pure butterfat–butter with the milk solids and water removed.

How Long Does Clarified Butter Last? While ghee is shelf-stable at room temperature, regular clarified butter is not and will need to be kept in the fridge. But it has a longer life there with less risk of rancidity than regular butter because you have removed both the milk solids and the excess water.

In terms of fat content, if we compare ghee and regular butter, clarified butter contains more healthy saturated fats; hence, it offers better support for saturated fat. Is ghee butter healthy? If you are at a fix about it, the answer is yes.

What is the best way to make clarified butter? ›

To clarify butter at home, start by melting unsalted butter in a saucepan or butter warmer. Once it's fully melted, allow it to heat until it comes to a gentle boil. The milk proteins will form a thin white layer over the entire surface, then expand into a thicker foam.

Healthfulness. When wondering about ghee vs olive oil, we're going to guess that you're mostly concerned with the nutrient profile of each. And this is where we tell you, neither is better or worse for you! They're just different and both are great additions to a healthy diet.

Pour hot water into a ceramic or glass cup or bowl (something that can fit over your butter). After a few minutes, dump the water out of the vessel and quickly cover your butter. The heat from the cup will soften your butter in just a few minutes. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention using your microwave.