Clarified Butter

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart (1.9 L) light-colored heavy saucepan
• •Shallow skimming spoon
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Clean dry muslin or three layers of cheesecloth
• •2-cup heatproof measuring jug
• •1-pint heatproof storage jar with lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare dry equipment

   Set a clean, completely dry heatproof jug beside the stove. Line a fine-mesh sieve with clean dry muslin or three layers of cheesecloth and place it over the jug. Water makes hot fat spit, so the pan, spoon, sieve, cloth, and storage jar must all be dry.

2. 2

   Melt without stirring

   Put the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, which gives it twice the room it occupies, and place it over the lowest heat. Let it melt undisturbed for 10 to 15 minutes. White foam will gather on top, clear golden fat will form beneath it, and pale milk solids will sink. The surface should foam quietly, not spit. Do not stir, because stirring sends the solids back through the fat just when they are trying to separate.

   If the sediment starts coloring, lift the pan from the heat at once and set it on a cool burner. Pale cream solids are fine; brown solids with a nutty aroma mean you have made beurre noisette. Keep it for another use and begin again if neutral beurre clarifié is required.
3. 3

   Skim the foam

   As the foam becomes thick enough to lift, skim it gently with a shallow spoon without disturbing the sediment below. Work around the surface rather than digging into the butter. You needn't chase every small white fleck, because the muslin will catch what remains. If you skim away some clear fat with the foam, let the skimmed portion settle in a small cup and return only its clear upper layer to the saucepan.

4. 4

   Let layers settle

   When the butter looks transparent and the bubbling has nearly stopped, remove the pan from the heat and leave it untouched for 5 to 10 minutes. The clear fat should sit distinctly above a milky layer and pale sediment. If the butter remains cloudy because the pan was jostled, rewarm it just until fully fluid and let it settle again. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Decant and strain

   Pour the clear golden butter slowly through the muslin-lined sieve into the heatproof jug. Keep the saucepan tilted gently and stop as soon as the milky liquid approaches the lip; leave that final spoonful behind rather than muddying the whole batch. Do not press the cloth. If sediment slips through, let the strained butter settle for another 10 minutes and decant it through fresh dry muslin into a clean vessel.

6. 6

   Cool and store

   Transfer the beurre clarifié to a clean, dry, room-temperature heatproof jar. Let it cool uncovered until it is only faintly warm, then seal and refrigerate. It will set opaque and pale gold in the cold, then turn clear again when melted. Use a clean dry spoon each time and keep it refrigerated for up to one month, or freeze it for up to six months.

Chef Tips

• •Use unsalted butter. Salt concentrates in the milky layer and makes the separation harder to judge; unsalted butter gives you clean flavor and a clear view of what the heat is doing.
• •A pale, heavy saucepan is useful because you can see the sediment before it begins to color. The pan must hold at least twice the butter's original volume, since the foaming can rise unexpectedly.
• •Beurre clarifié is for sautéing, searing, roasting, and butter sauces that need stable fat. It does not replace whole butter everywhere: the water and milk solids in whole butter still matter when mounting a sauce or building an emulsion. C'est la même grammaire, but a different sentence.
• •Save cleanliness for the jar as carefully as for the saucepan. A wet spoon introduces water, encourages spoilage, and makes the fat spit the next time it meets a hot pan.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the beurre clarifié up to one month ahead and keep it sealed in the refrigerator. Portion it with a clean dry spoon so the main jar stays free of crumbs and moisture.
• •For longer storage, freeze it in small covered portions for up to six months. Thaw only what you need, since repeated warming and cooling invite moisture into the fat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 14g)