When using melted butter, is rendering (clarifying) always preferable?

I was looking at this question:

How do I butter popcorn without making it soggy?

And it got me wondering: is there any instance, either using melted butter for popcorn or in some other application, where simply melted but not clarified/rendered butter should be used?

butter dairy

Best Answer

Essentially clarified butter is butter that has all it's water and milk solids removed. All that is left is butterfat.

Pros and Cons of Clarified/Rendered butter:

Pros:

It can be stored longer than regular butter
It has a higher smoke point so can be heated higher without burning
Does contain negligible lactose for those lactose-intolerant

Cons:

Effort. It requires so time to melt the butter, boil off the water, filter out the milk fat, and resolidify the butter again.
Taste. Because the milk solids are filtered out, it has a milder "butter" taste than unclarified butter. Of course it will still be much more rich and buttery compared to regular vegetable oil.

With this information in mind, I will leave it to yourself to decide when you should and should not use clarified butter.

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Quick Answer about "When using melted butter, is rendering (clarifying) always preferable?"

It can be stored longer than regular butter.

It has a higher smoke point so can be heated higher without burning.

Does contain negligible lactose for those lactose-intolerant.

Why would you clarify butter?

The purpose of clarifying butter is to raise its smoke point. The smoke point of regular butter is 350 degrees F. The smoke point of clarified butter is 450 degrees F, allowing you to use it - instead of canola oil, which has a smoke point of 400 to 450 degrees F - to get a good, flavorful sear.

When should you use clarified butter?

When Do I Use Clarified Butter? Use clarified butter to dip cooked seafood, like crab or shrimp. It is great for saut\xe9ing fish, cooking vegetables, or making hollandaise or other sauces. It's also perfect for delicious buttery popcorn.

How do you clarify butter for Cannabutter?

Instructions

Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Don't let the butter reach a boil.

Once the butter has thoroughly melted, skim the milk solids off the top using a spatula.

Remove from heat and carefully spoon the clarified butter from the original saucepan into another saucepan for storage.

The Correct Way to Clarify Butter - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Ivan Samkov, Ivan Samkov, Barbara Olsen, SHVETS production