Clarified Butter (Ghee) - Топлёное масло

Clarified butter and, the closely related, ghee are simply butter that has been cooked to remove any water and solids. Turning butter to clarified butter also gives the fat a higher smoke point (which means you can cook with it a high temperatures) and lengthens the shelf life of the resulting fat.

Clarified Butter
Melt a pound of unsalted butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat and slowly cook until the bubbling ceases and the liquid turns clear, 30 to 40 minutes. Strain and cool, being sure to leave any solids in the bottom of the pan. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Ghee
Melt a pound of unsalted butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. As soon as it liquefies, turn the heat up to medium. When it finishes foaming, turn up the heat a little bit more and wait for it to foam a second time. Ghee is done when a second foam forms on top of butter, and the butter turns golden, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Brown milk solids will be in bottom of pan. Gently pour into heatproof container through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in an airtight container, being sure to keep free from moisture. Ghee does not need refrigeration and will keep well in an airtight container.

How to Make Clarified Butter Video

Ghee has a much higher smoke point than non-clarified butter, so you can cook it a high temps or mix it with lower-smoke point oils such as olive oil. To be technical, the smoke-point of ghee is 250 °C (482 °F), which is well above typical cooking temperatures of around 200 °C (392 °F) and above that of most vegetable oils. So it makes an excellent cooking oil.

Ghee has a shelf life of about six months when stored at room temperature. If kept in a cool area and clean of any food bits or other adulterations, it has been reported to last almost indefinitely. Some sources claim their canned ghee has kept for up to ten years.  Use your own judgment and of course refrain from eating anything that appears, smells, or tastes off.