Scroll down to see 2018 update below
Ghee is Mother Nature's healthiest cooking substance from Krsna's favorite and the best of animals- mother cow.
A SUPER QUICK STOVE TOP METHOD
Put about 4 lbs of unwrapped butter into a large pot. Bring the butter to a boil.
STAGE ONE
It foams up in this initial stage, so make sure the pot is big enough that it won't boil over kept on high heat. You might want to stir it, but with experience you'll find it isn't necessary.
STAGE TWO
The next stage, the foam will go down and the texture changes to a glossy-like, oily looking consistency.
STAGE THREE
Keep cooking and stirring if needed until the ghee and ghee solids separate. It'll start looking more clear instead of opaque. Make a test by taking a little scoop with a measuring cup and examining it. The solids will settle at the bottom of the cup.
With experience you won't need to follow this step. Simply allow it to continue to cook until a new sort of bubbles begin to arise. You'll learn over time to recognize what I mean. But be careful not to cook too long or the ghee will start to foam and continue to do so uncontrollably if used later on for deep frying! Luckily, the ghee is still usable; just not a good idea to deep fry with. Trust me. Do not deep fry with overcooked ghee.
So after the new bubbles start to arise (not foam), you can turn off the ghee at this point, leaving it on the burner and usually the solids will settle to the bottom and brown a bit while sitting to cool. This will make it easier to separate the solids from the ghee when straining it through a cloth shortly afterwards while the ghee is still hot.
FINISHED!
Strain the finished ghee through a clean thin cotton cloth and wire colander into a suitable container, such as a moderately large, stainless steel can with a lid (A smaller jar may also be used to keep near the stove and refill from the larger storage container as needed).
First pour out as much ghee as possible into the cloth to drain into the can without getting any solids in from the bottom that may interfere with the drainage. Finally, toss in all the solids and scrape the pot to get them all out. Tie the cloth and it hang above the ghee container to let the last bits of ghee drip from the solids before discarding them.
You don't have to refrigerate ghee if its been made properly, but it is a good idea beforehand, whenever traveling with ghee, to prevent spillage.
Also it may be a good idea that after once using ghee for deep frying during a cooking session, use up that ghee by way of chaunce, to fry pancakes, etc. instead of deep frying with the same ghee over and over again. That way, since the ghee is not overly deep fried in, it doesn't get nasty looking like motor oil nor taste bad and nothing gets wasted because ghee that has been deep fried in many times is not even suitable for eating and should be otherwise discarded. Before getting to that point, therefore, it can be used in better ways.
If you hate to throw out the solids, a little can be used in soups for extra nice flavoring. Also stray dogs and cats like it (Unsalted butter only). Let the solids drain real well and then refrigerate a bit first, so that they are easier to remove as a semi solid lump from the cloth. There must be other things that can be done with it, too...perhaps a bird feeder (?).
UPDATE
My latest method for removing even more milk solids than ever before:
In step three lower the heat to a simmer. When the gher is clear and solids browned at the bottom, skim off the foam on top and set aside.
Ghee is Mother Nature's healthiest cooking substance from Krsna's favorite and the best of animals- mother cow.
A SUPER QUICK STOVE TOP METHOD
Put about 4 lbs of unwrapped butter into a large pot. Bring the butter to a boil.
STAGE ONE
It foams up in this initial stage, so make sure the pot is big enough that it won't boil over kept on high heat. You might want to stir it, but with experience you'll find it isn't necessary.
STAGE TWO
The next stage, the foam will go down and the texture changes to a glossy-like, oily looking consistency.
STAGE THREE
Keep cooking and stirring if needed until the ghee and ghee solids separate. It'll start looking more clear instead of opaque. Make a test by taking a little scoop with a measuring cup and examining it. The solids will settle at the bottom of the cup.
With experience you won't need to follow this step. Simply allow it to continue to cook until a new sort of bubbles begin to arise. You'll learn over time to recognize what I mean. But be careful not to cook too long or the ghee will start to foam and continue to do so uncontrollably if used later on for deep frying! Luckily, the ghee is still usable; just not a good idea to deep fry with. Trust me. Do not deep fry with overcooked ghee.
So after the new bubbles start to arise (not foam), you can turn off the ghee at this point, leaving it on the burner and usually the solids will settle to the bottom and brown a bit while sitting to cool. This will make it easier to separate the solids from the ghee when straining it through a cloth shortly afterwards while the ghee is still hot.
FINISHED!
Strain the finished ghee through a clean thin cotton cloth and wire colander into a suitable container, such as a moderately large, stainless steel can with a lid (A smaller jar may also be used to keep near the stove and refill from the larger storage container as needed).
First pour out as much ghee as possible into the cloth to drain into the can without getting any solids in from the bottom that may interfere with the drainage. Finally, toss in all the solids and scrape the pot to get them all out. Tie the cloth and it hang above the ghee container to let the last bits of ghee drip from the solids before discarding them.
You don't have to refrigerate ghee if its been made properly, but it is a good idea beforehand, whenever traveling with ghee, to prevent spillage.
Also it may be a good idea that after once using ghee for deep frying during a cooking session, use up that ghee by way of chaunce, to fry pancakes, etc. instead of deep frying with the same ghee over and over again. That way, since the ghee is not overly deep fried in, it doesn't get nasty looking like motor oil nor taste bad and nothing gets wasted because ghee that has been deep fried in many times is not even suitable for eating and should be otherwise discarded. Before getting to that point, therefore, it can be used in better ways.
If you hate to throw out the solids, a little can be used in soups for extra nice flavoring. Also stray dogs and cats like it (Unsalted butter only). Let the solids drain real well and then refrigerate a bit first, so that they are easier to remove as a semi solid lump from the cloth. There must be other things that can be done with it, too...perhaps a bird feeder (?).
UPDATE
My latest method for removing even more milk solids than ever before:
In step three lower the heat to a simmer. When the gher is clear and solids browned at the bottom, skim off the foam on top and set aside.
Strain all into a storage container. After it drains, scoop out tensing solids and the foam set aside to strain out more ghee.