Why didn't my clarified herb butter solidify?
I was making spicy clarified butter but wanted to avoid the flecks of red or black that can throw off the color of a dish. I decided to steep some basil and a few other herbs with an habanero in the butter and then remove them.
The butter did not come out nicely AT ALL. Despite letting it cool for some time, the butter never re-solidified. I was rushed and didn't have cheesecloth so I might have done a poor job at removing the solids. At the normal temperature of my kitchen, butter, clarified or otherwise, will solidify - but not this stuff.
Is it possible that the oils from the herbs and pepper prevented it from setting up?
I wouldn't think a handful of herbs and a singular hot pepper would have enough oil to prevent 12+ ounces of clarified butter from setting up.
Best Answer
I can only guess that something from the herbs has "disturbed the balance of the mix" and is preventing it from setting.
Putting my chemist's hat on, the problem is similar to what happens when a solid reaction product forms an emulsion and refuses to precipitate. When that happens, there are ways to induce precipitation, but not all of them can be applied to food.
Try adding a pinch of salt - mix, and wait.
If that fails, smear a knife blade with some fresh butter and stir the mix with it.
If that fails, try cooling it.
If that fails, try mixing in a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.
There are other suggestions, but I assume you want to eat the butter once it solidifies. Ideally, you want to find that happening after one suggestion has worked. If it takes a succession of suggestions to find a way to solidify it, this is about as far as you can go without the product starting to "lose its intention".
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Why is my butter not solidifying?
Try adding a pinch of salt - mix, and wait. If that fails, smear a knife blade with some fresh butter and stir the mix with it. If that fails, try cooling it. If that fails, try mixing in a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.How do you harden clarified butter?
Let the melted butter sit for 10 minutes and then skim off the milk solids floating at the top with a soupspoon. Cover and refrigerate until the fat solidifies, which will take at least 4 hours.Will clarified butter solidify in the refrigerator?
Butter rendered and clarified is a fat used in cooking, baking or frying. It is liquid when heated, but it solidifies at cool room temperature or when refrigerated.Will melted butter harden again?
Bring melted butter back to solid form! Revive over-softened butter by giving it an ice bath. Place the butter in a small bowl, and place the small bowl in a larger one filled with a few handfuls of ice and some cold water.Why Didn't You Stop Me?
More answers regarding why didn't my clarified herb butter solidify?
Answer 2
Take out the ghee in a dry and clean stainless steel pan, melt the ghee on low heat until it’s clear liquid, and carefully pour it back into the jar. Alternatively, you can simply fill a pot with hot water and submerge tightly closed ghee jar in it to melt the ghee. Keep the water level below the lid. The idea is to melt the ghee completely until it is transparent liquid. Immediately place the jar in the refrigerator (do not freeze) overnight. Take out of the jar from refrigerator next day and leave it on the counter-top. Ghee will stay solid now even at room temperature.
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