Good advice, Italy. Treated this way, ghee will keep indefinately on the countertop, even in the summer. It doesn't tend to go rancid like polyunsaturated oils do.
Mine keeps for very long periods of time like this. Also time to make some more. I ran out and I can see the definite difference of eating plain butter vs ghee.
I notice a real difference in quality of the ghee depending on the butter used. For a while, I was using Mother's Choice, or something like that (organic) because it was very inexpensive. My ghee never properly hardened at room temp, and the texture was not smooth. It was actually kind of grainy.
Last night, I went back to my Horizon organic sweet butter, and the ghee turned out perfectly satin-smooth and creamy and this morning it was solid like an ice-skating rink! (A chilly morning in Oregon)
I use ghee for anything I used to use butter for, and by the way, over the years of doing this, my cholesterol ratio has gotten steadily better.
Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. ~Mary Jean Irion
Thanks guys. I am definitely going to have to try ghee again. I definitely think I was double dipping in the ghee, NOT watching about keeping it clean. Maybe I reacted to it because of that.
Well, at this Indian store in Nashville, they carry big jars of it, but I'm leary to use it. Should I be or not? It is REALLY cheap, which kind of bothers me, I hate to say. It may just be so widely used in India and the Mid East that it is abundantly available.
Any thoughts? I am more apt to buy than to make it. Got enough on my "plate" with two little boys and a babe on the way!
Rh-, dx w/Multiple Sclerosis Spring '04 Autumn: Harvest, success.
Posts: 356
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Location: Southeast USA
Hi Tina,
The ghee I buy from Whole Foods is Purity Farms brand. The jar label says that it is made from organic, non gmo butter. That is really, really important to me because chemicals and environmental poisons are stored in FAT. Obviously, this is as concentrated a fat as one could consume. For that reason I do not eat butter (actually only eat ghee, now) that is not organic.
Read the label on the ghee in question and see if you can discern anything from there. If it gives you mfg. or distributor info, contact them and see if you can ask them some questions. Organic butter is expensive and you lose quite a bit of that turning it into ghee, so I can't imagine how it could be inexpensive. (Well, that's relative, isn't it!) But the 7.5 oz jar of Purity Farms ghee is $5.69 at WF currently. Not inexpensive to me. Of course it lasts much longer than butter (no milk solids, or whey) so it is worth it.
I want to try making it, you guys make it sound like a wonderful experience, but I don't see it costing less, necessarily with how much you lose in the process. So I just buy this wonderful brand, knowing after I've spent $5.69 I will have almost a half a pound of edible ghee! I am going to get brave when it gets cool here and make at least one batch. Just gotta compare!
"Some people look out and see a land of giants while others look out and see a land flowing with milk and honey." (As BTDers, please substitute your most desirable, delightful bennie for the figurative 'milk and honey'!)
Rh-, dx w/Multiple Sclerosis Spring '04 Autumn: Harvest, success.
Posts: 356
Gender: Female
Location: Southeast USA
Quoted from Victoria
I don't find that I lose much in the making. Starting with 16 oz. unsalted butter, I end up losing maybe 2 or 3 Tb.
Wow! That would certainly make it worth me learning how to make it . . . maybe even BEFORE cool weather, here! Thanks Victoria!
"Some people look out and see a land of giants while others look out and see a land flowing with milk and honey." (As BTDers, please substitute your most desirable, delightful bennie for the figurative 'milk and honey'!)
SWAMI Warrior ~ Taster, NN, ENTJ Sun Beh Nim Moderator
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Quoted from Victoria
I don't find that I lose much in the making. Starting with 16 oz. unsalted butter, I end up losing maybe 2 or 3 Tb.
I usually start with a pound of butter and end up almost filling a 16 ounce glass jar. All this time I've thought that the end result was cut in half, but now that I'm typing it out, I see that I get a similar result to Victoria.
LuHu, ghee in the oven is sooooooooooo simple. I use a pound of butter, throw it in a dish, turn the oven on 300, let it bake for an hour. Do nothing to it in the meantime. Skim off the stuff on top, use it for flavoring if I'm "in the mood". Strain the rest, throw the gunk away and wahlah!!!!!!!!! Yummy ghee!!
Rh-, dx w/Multiple Sclerosis Spring '04 Autumn: Harvest, success.
Posts: 356
Gender: Female
Location: Southeast USA
I am so very happy to hear that losing a lot of the original butter when making Ghee is not a factor. There is a wonderful cultured organic butter that I just loved that I stopped eating once I chose to use Ghee exclusively. Now that I know I won't be throwing away half the butter I use to make my Ghee I can have my cultured butter and eat Ghee, too! (so corny) Happy, happy, happy!
Italy, I will try the oven method first as it sounds more foolproof. You said that you use a dish to put the butter in when going into the oven. Is that a better choice than a saucepan, in the oven? Does it do better "spread out flatter" like in a baking pan or is deeper (like in a saucepan) better, or does it not make a difference?
Apologies if the answer to this could be found somewhere in the 10 pages of the "All U Ever Needed to Know About Ghee" thread.
"Some people look out and see a land of giants while others look out and see a land flowing with milk and honey." (As BTDers, please substitute your most desirable, delightful bennie for the figurative 'milk and honey'!)
Italy, I will try the oven method first as it sounds more foolproof. You said that you use a dish to put the butter in when going into the oven. Is that a better choice than a saucepan, in the oven? Does it do better "spread out flatter" like in a baking pan or is deeper (like in a saucepan) better, or does it not make a difference?
I just use a glass oven dish. Mine is actually oblong.
Quoted from LuHu
Apologies if the answer to this could be found somewhere in the 10 pages of the "All U Ever Needed to Know About Ghee" thread.
Well if it is, 20 lashes w/ a wet rice noodle for you missy!!!
Last night, I went back to my Horizon organic sweet butter, and the ghee turned out perfectly satin-smooth and creamy and this morning it was solid like an ice-skating rink! (A chilly morning in Oregon).
Oh great, when I bought butter today, I made sure to buy Horizon because of V's post.
I agree w/ Victoria when she says "Once you successfully make your own ghee, you'll never look back!" I was so scared to even try it, but it's easy as pie. Easier!
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