Of all the fat out there, butter is the best tasting one to me. Since it burns easily when cooked at higher temperature and I don’t use vegetable oil, with the exception of olive and coconut (here is why) – clarified butter or ghee is a perfect solution for me. As opposed to lard or tallow, which I use sparingly because of their very pronounced flavors, clarified butter has a great neutral taste that goes with everything.
Butter consists of fat, milk solids and water. The heating process removes water, and separates the fat from the milk solids. Clarified butter or ghee is pure fat with the solids removed. Clarified butter is done cooking when the milk solids start to separate. Ghee is cooked a little longer until the solids become brown, it has a stronger flavor and a longer shelf life because more water evaporates during the process. I’ve made both and don’t really notice much difference in taste whether the milk solids were still white or brown when I strained the fat.
I’m lucky to have a great store in my neighborhood that sells the best dairy products – Amish Healthy Foods, check it out if you are in Chicago. I don’t use salted butter because salt can mask the off flavors that come from storing it for too long. It is super easy to learn how to make clarified butter and ghee in slow cooker because it’s virtually fool proof. It’s very easy to burn it on the stove top but impossible in the slow cooker. I use ghee in virtually all of my cooking, spread it on toast, and even as a moisturizer, adding it to body butters, my homemade lotion bars, and even use it on my hair.
INGREDIENTS
Butter. Any amount you have available. I used three pints of awesome pure raw Amish butter.
EQUIPMENT
- Slow cooker
- Spoon for skimming
- Ladle for pouring
- Mason jars (I use pint and half pint size)
- Metal funnel
- Fine strainer, or regular strainer with a coffee filter
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut butter in chunks and put it in your slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker on high.
Foam like this will appear within 45 minutes or so. Keep cooking until the white foam starts turning very light brown. About another hour and a half, depending on the model of you slow cooker.
Skim the foam with a spoon. You can use it to top your toast or sprinkle on popcorn, it’s beyond delicious.
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Put funnel and strainer in the prepared mason jar, and use a ladle to scoop the golden yellow liquid into the jars, trying not to touch the sides and the bottom of the pot where the milk solids collect.
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- Butter, any amount
- Cut butter in chunks and place in your slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker on high.
- White foam will appear within 45 minutes or so. Keep cooking for another hour until the foam starts turning very light brown, about another hour and a half, depending on the model of you slow cooker.
- Skim the foam with a spoon.
- Put funnel and strainer in a prepared mason jar, and use a ladle to scoop the golden yellow liquid into the jars.
- Use a paper towel to cover the jars until they cool down. Put lids on.
- Store in the fridge for up to six months.
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HOW TO MAKE CLARIFIED BUTTER AND GHEE IN SLOW COOKER
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15 comments
I have been making Ghee in stove top and in slow cooker for long time and like you said it is pretty easy. If cooked properly it would stay fresh for months even at room temperature.
My ghee came out the color of deep Amber. Not as golden as yours. What did I do wrong? Is it still good?
Hi Suzanne, it’s still fine! The color varies from light to deep yellow or amber, you probably cooked it a bit longer, which intensified the color, I actually like the darker ghee, it’s more flavorful 🙂
It turns into a more golden color once it has cooled down and has started to set. Fine every time!
You say to put our crock pot on high temp. All 3 of my crock pots at high would boil this butter at that temperature. Are you sure about that temp?
Hi Missy, it should come to boil, then cook on low to medium heat, to allow moisture to evaporate; my crock pot accomplishes that, I wonder if it’s just not very powerful. You should certainly cook it on low if your crock pot gets so hot on high, you don’t want a rolling boil, lol!
So, do you use both the solid and the liquid when it is finished? I have never heard of Ghee before, so I am very new at this. Do I understand that you use the solid part that was skimmed as a butter, and then the liquid is the Ghee used in other recipes?
Hi Kari, during cooking everything is liquid; milk solids get separated (discarded, or eaten) from the butter fat, which is ghee in order to prevent ghee spoilage. ‘Milk solids’ is probably a confusing term – it’s like brownish crust forming on top of butter fat. Water evaporates, and any milk proteins (or solids) that were in butter come to the top during cooking, form a crust and we skim it. The liquid ghee solidifies when cooled.
Ok, silly question-when you are cooking it in the Crock-Pot, do you put the Crock-Pot lid on? Just thinking if it gets hot in there and then gets moisture on the lid and that moisture drips down, would that affect the ghee?
Hi Molly, I always keep the lid open for that reason exactly – moisture should escape otherwise ghee would go rancid quickly 🙂
This sounds really cool. What size crock pot did you use? My pot is 6 Qts and it seems like it would be too big. I am wanting to cook 4 sticks of butter into ghee. I’d probably need a smaller crock wouldn’t I?
Hi Artess, I think I have four crock pots 🙂 I usually use my medium one for this, I believe it’s 4 Qts. But before I had it, I used to make it in my large one and it didn’t seem to be much different at all.
I use my small 2 qt crock pot. It is perfect for two pounds or less of butter.
Thank you, Valeria, for the beautifully illustrated recipes. They are most welcome as an inspiration at this point in my life. Bless you!
Hi Valeria, thanks for the great blog. I just subscribed. Your recipes look amazing! I’ve been making ghee for years, and this time I got distracted and it browned too much. I found your wonderful washed ghee recipe while trying to figure out how to save my almost-burned ghee. I’m definitely eager to try the face cream! I successfully saved a batch of burned ghee once but can’t remember how. The coffee filter wasn’t enough this time. Do you have any suggestions? Moving forward, I’ll definitely try the slow cooker next time. I’ve been using a cast-iron skillet with the rule that I broke this time: Never leave the kitchen!