To Clarify Butter for Potting
Ingredients
Directions
Make the clarified butter
Place fresh butter in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of cold water.
Heat over low heat until melted.
Skim off the foam and let it sit until the sediment settles.
Pour off the clear oil.
Finish
When the oil starts to congeal, pour it over the other ingredients.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Fresh butter
- Provides the fat that becomes the clear golden oil once milk solids and water are removed.
- Cold water
- Helps the butter melt gently and lets milk solids sink so they can be separated from the fat.
The step that matters
Heating over low heat. Butter is an emulsion of fat, water and milk solids. Low heat melts it gently so the water evaporates slowly and the milk solids settle without scorching and browning, which would give a burnt flavour.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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