What are the pros and cons of using clarified butter as opposed to regular butter?
I am about to start making clarified butter and I want to know how removing the milk solids affects the end result when sauteing, making flavor bases and other things. I like the idea of cooking with butter that is harder to burn but I want to know what I am giving away here.
Best Answer
Pros:
Higher smoking point. Regular butter's smoking point is 325-375F while clarified butter is around 485F. But it can still smoke and burn! However the higher smoking point means it'll be much more applicable in terms of sauteing food without worrying about burning the butter.
100% fat. Often times its hard to calculate the exact replacements in baking when you want to replace a fat with butter because regular butter isn't 100% fat. Using regular butter, you would need to factor in how much extra water you are introducing into the recipe.
Longer shelf life. Without the water and milk solids, the shelf life of the clarified butter will be much longer. Can even be stored without refrigeration.
Cons:
- Less buttery flavor. The milk solids that you are removing makes up a lot of butter's flavor. By removing this, you are removing flavor.
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Quick Answer about "What are the pros and cons of using clarified butter as opposed to regular butter?"
- Higher smoking point. Regular butter's smoking point is 325-375F while clarified butter is around 485F. ...
- 100% fat. ...
- Longer shelf life.
Why do chefs use clarified butter instead of regular butter?
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 saut\xe9ing.Is clarified butter healthy?
Clarified butter is chock-full of healthy fat\u2013soluble 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.Can I use clarified butter instead of butter?
You can use clarified butter the same as you would regular butter, but I tend to reserve clarified butter or butter ghee for dishes where you're really going to taste the butter in the dish.What is the difference between clarified butter and regular butter?
Clarified butter is butter with the water and milk proteins removed, leaving a composition of 99-100% pure butterfat. Before that, butter is 16-17% water and 1-2% milk proteins (also known as milk solids). To make clarified butter, you simmer unsalted butter in a pan over low heat.Clarified Butter VS Regular Butter on Steaks - Which one is Better?
More answers regarding what are the pros and cons of using clarified butter as opposed to regular butter?
Answer 2
It depends on the recipe but, clarifying butter removes fat, milk, sugar, etc from the butter. Leaving a pure (clean) product. Clarifying it will remove any likelyhood of contamination (spoilage) and will reduce separation.
Try cooking green beans (or any veggie) in a pot with water and add a significant amount of butter, then put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, the butter will have created a hard, fatty-like, milky layer on top of the water. This is an example of non-clarified butter. That whitish-yellow layer that separates from the water and green beans below.
Now, clarifying butter won't do this, which is why so many sauce recipes (such as Hollandaise or Bearnaise sauces) require clarified butter. So it will store well, not separate, stay creamy, and last longer.
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