Question for BBQBluesStringer concerning clarified butter

Mac in NC · June 2003

In an earlier post, you mentioned grilling steaks with clarified butter.[p] "Steakhouses will typically pan sear a fillet at 550 or more in a couple tablespoons of clarified butter (milk solids in regular butter burn too easily and taste nasty when they do)."[p]Could you help me to understand what type of butter this is? Is it something you buy or do you make it from regular butter. [p] Thanks in advance, Mac

Tim M · June 2003

Mac in NC ,[p]
I asked the wife the same question last night. She said you heat butter and let it cool and skim off the hard stuff on top. The liquid is the clarified butter. I think I got that correct.[p]Tim

Sundown · June 2003

Mac in NC ,[p]Tim has it right. But, it's easier to find an Indian or Southeast Asian store and buy it. In the indian store it's usually call Gee (or Geeh) I believe and you can keep it right on the counter for months. It doesn't seem to go bad . . . ever.
Sundown

BBQBluesStringer · June 2003

Mac in NC ,
Stolen from Martha Holmberg, Fine Cooking...[p]Clarified butter, sometimes called drawn butter, is regular butter that has been treated to remove any nonfat elements in order to improve its qualities as a cooking medium. Butter has two main components: butterfat and milk proteins; there's also a lot of water, sometimes up to 18 percent. Salted butter of course contains salt, too; for clarified butter, use only unsalted, as salt can lower the smoking point of the finished product and defeat the purpose of clarifying. [p]Without the milk proteins, clarified butter can be heated to higher temperatures without forming brown specks or eventually burning, so it's good for gentle sautéing, or for more vigorous frying when mixed with a little olive or vegetable oil to boost its smoking point. [p]The standard method for making clarified butter is to melt the butter gently in a sturdy saucepan until you see the butterfat separating out and forming a thick layer in the pan. Most of the milk solids will drop to the bottom of the pan, and a layer of white foam will form on top. Remove the pan from the heat--gently, so you don't disturb the layers--spoon off the top layer of foam, and carefully pour off the pure butterfat into a clean container. Discard the milky residue from the bottom of the pan. [p]Another method is to melt the butter and then actually boil it until the milk solids coagulate and clump together at the bottom of the pan and the butterfat floats on top. If this method is taken further to the point where the milk proteins harden and darken slightly, the butterfat intensifies in flavor and color and is known as ghee, which is a mainstay of Indian cooking. The smoking point of ghee is slightly higher than that of regular clarified butter. Again, carefully decant the clarified butter and discard the milky leftovers, or strain it through a sieve lined with paper towel or cheesecloth. [p]Once you've made clarified butter, you can store it in the refrigerator for several weeks, but be sure to keep it covered because fat absorbs odors easily. Use it for sautéing, for flavoring cake or crêpe batters, for tossing with steamed vegetables, or for brushing on a piece of poached fish for moisture and shine. [p]

GaDawg · June 2003

Mac in NC ,
I'm in agreement with everything posted below, but here's
another option. When I worked in a seafood restaurant a
looong time ago, we would melt butter in 5 pound batches
on steam tables. After about an hour or so the fat would
gather at the bottom and there would be a layer of water
above the fat and the rest (the stuff on top) would
be clarified. You could probably duplicate this in one
of those chocolate melter things. The key is taking
your time.
Chuck

The Naked Whiz · June 2003

Mac in NC ,
If you want to find an Indian grocery in Raleigh to buy some ghee, the best one for my money is on the hill above Crabtree Valley Mall. I think the shopping center is Kidd's Hill? Just be prepared for a heavenly experience when you walk through the door and take your first breath. The smell of that place is incredible![p]TNW

mollyshark · June 2003

Mac in NC ,[p]Cooks Magazine this month had a similar write up on producing filet mignon. Much of the cooking info was the same, but it was interesting to see the differences since they were using a conventional charcoal grill. They suggested a double layer of coals on one side and single layer on the other to produce 2 distinct temperatures. You sear on one side and then "roast" on the other side. They stressed how difficult it was to deal with a grill which is hot enough to produce a sear. I've actually never SEEN a conventional grill which goes hot enough to sear.[p]Maybe someone should make some suggestions to them??

djm5x9 · June 2003

Mac:[p]In the archives there are several threads regarding clarified butter. Sorry I cannot be date specific, but I think Spin had a great deal if information in his posts.
[/b]

YB · June 2003

djm5x9,
It was R&J that was a expert on Ghee.
Larry
[ul][li]Ghee[/ul]

Chubby · June 2003

Mac in NC ,[p]You can also find this product available @ Williams & Sonoma stores. They are located in most major US citys.[p]Chubby

BBQBluesStringer · June 2003

MollyShark,
Hmmm... I can't imagine how you could get that kind of temperature differential in a conventional charcoal grill. Maybe if you had something like a Charbroil CB940 where you could raise the coals up real high for the sear (such as it is) and then lower it for the roasting period. I just don't see this happening in your Weber Kettle.

The Naked Whiz · June 2003

BBQBluesStringer,
If you believe Hastybake, they say that one of their charcoal grills will do 225-800 degrees.[p]TNW

RRP · June 2003

The Naked Whiz,
har har har - if theirs can do 800° then my Ducane can do wheelies!

The Naked Whiz · June 2003

RRP,
Perhaps with appropriate modifications on that Ducane..... I love experiments![p]TNW

RRP · June 2003

The Naked Whiz,
Cool idea! Ever watch Monster Garage on the Discovery channel? That would be right up their alley - though I'll have to get the permission of Mother Mouse who converted the Ducane into a condo/birthing establishment for wayward young female mice!

mad max beyond eggdome · June 2003

Mac in NC ,
i recently posted, after some discussion on the forum about ruth chris's steaks which were done in butter, about doing a modified trex steak method, where instead of doing the 700+ sear direct, doing it in a cast iron pan w/ butter. ..it came out pretty good. . .what i did was heat up the cast iron in the egg up to the 700 + area. . .threw a half stick of un-salted butter in the pan, then seared my steaks in that for 1 1/2 minutes per side (i had put an additional pad of butter on top of each steak, so that when i turned them, there was already melted butter on top). ..while i got a lot of flame and spit from that butter on that hot skillet, and while pure clarified butter may have been better, i sure didn't get any nasty taste, especially after doing the 20 minute rest and then doing the dwell for about 5 minutes per side (these were 2" thick hand cut tenderloins that had been treated only with kosher salt and pepper). . .[p]the family really liked the steaks this way, and i'm not sure i'd go to the bother of clarifying butter to do this. ..this is all in my most humble of opinions of course. ..i think i would advise trying it both ways and then determining of clarifying butter is really necessary depending on what you're doing. .[p]good luck[p]max

djm5x9 · June 2003

YB:[p]Thanks for the memory jogger . . .
[/b]

BBQBluesStringer · June 2003

mad max beyond eggdome,
You are a great experimentor, and I love reading your results. Try this test at home... Get your skillet up to 700 degrees again, throw in a stick of butter, and let it sit for five minutes at temp. Remove it, let it cool, and see if it looks and tastes like anything you would want on your steak. The taste of burned dairy protien may not be noticable on a great steak unless you know what to look for. People get damn picky when they're paying $50 for a prime fillet in a restaurant. Using clarified butter is cheap insurance against having them sent back. It's especially important for presentation when treating a steak after cooking. Though the separated milk solids would not detract from the taste since they would not be charred, they definitely detract from the appearance of the steak.

mad max beyond eggdome · June 2003

BBQBluesStringer,
i absolutely understand what you're saying here, and don't disagree with any of it.. .when my skillet cooled after my experiment, what was left was plenty nasty, and i don't think i'd need to taste it to know it (and i've certainly scortched enough butter in pans on the stove doing simple things like scrambled eggs when i wasn't paying attention to know what it can taste like on those). ..but with everything else going on (i.e. the salt and pepper, the smoke in the egg, the rest and then dwell), i'm not sure that any of the nasty stuff really made it through to the final product. .. and i'm not sure how much of my 'char' was due to the sear on the pan, or the effects of the butter. ..[p]i must say, that after reading what others have said here, that i'll have to try the clarified butter route and see if it's worth the little extra effort to use clarified butter, both for appearance and taste. ..as a long time crab and lobster lover, i certainly know how good clarified butter tastes. . .[p]thanks a lot. . .this whole 'buttered' steak discussion has been fun, from char buddy's initial post about going to ruth chris's through my experiments, through this one. ..[p]best[p]max

JimE · June 2003

Mac in NC ,
If you have Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" you'll find this easy method to clarify butter. Simply melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat. When the butter reaches a certain temperature, it will start to crackle and pop.... apparently, this is what happens when the solids start to "disintegrate", for lack of a better word. When the popping almost ceases, and before the butter starts to burn, remove it from the heat, strain it, and let it cool. You now have clarified butter.

Mac in NC · June 2003

The Naked Whiz, I know it well. Never been inside but spent many a night shift sitting in the lot out front.
I'll be sure to check it out in the next day or two. Mac

Mac in NC · June 2003

GaDawg, I think your method seems the easiest. I'll give it a try. Thanks to everyone for their response to my question!!

3ggl0ver · March 2011

It's not the the hasty bake cooks at 800 degrees, it's that you can raise the charcoal tray just an inches under the meat to sear it, and then lower it a foot or more. Do the inverse square on that one - its all about what heat the meat can "see".
brian

Question for BBQBluesStringer concerning clarified butter

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