Glorious Golden Ghee!

I hate recipes that come after a bazillion pictures so I’m not going to bury it. But do scroll past the pictures for all the health benefits and reasons not to be afraid of butter!!! 

Here’s the short version:

All in all this recipe will take you about 45 minutes. It’s not hard but you do have to keep an eye on it. 

1lb of butter -Organic & Grass Fed if possible. I buy Kerrygold it’s hard to find both in one.

1 pint jar, Ball or Mason are good choices -just make sure it’s glass

Heavy bottomed deep pan –No teflon pans, use glass or stainless steel. 

You’ll need a slotted spoon or screen to skim the butter as it cooks

and cheesecloth 

No plastic utensils, use metal or wood.

Melt the butter at a Med heat. Once the butter melts lower the temperature to Low. Warm enough to cook but not enough to bubble.

Cook for 25-30 minutes Skimming off the white floaty bits (milk solids) as it separates.

After you skim the top you’ll see bits at the bottom browning. Turn the heat back up to Med Low, you want to brown those bits but don’t let them burn. The butter will stop making any noise. The Ghee is done when those bits are brown and the ghee is quiet. Strain into a glass jar and store at room temp. Don’t keep it in the fridge or the moisture will cause the ghee to go bad. Don’t use a wet spoon either. Water in your ghee will cause it to go bad.

A note about your BUTTER

If you can get your hands on Organic and GrassFed butter do it! You can most likely get Kerrygold Grassfed butter. It’s what I used. This website will give you more info on Kerrygold and why the kind of butter you buy is so important. Sign the petition while you’re there!

On with the picture show!

Start with good quality butter

Melt at Medium, Medium Low.

You don’t want the butter to bubble the picture above left is a little to high. You can see the little bubbles.

Below you can see the white bits, aka milk solids, are starting to separate.

This is when you’ll want to start skimming, a small screen would be better but this is what I have! Just don’t use plastic. Wood or Metal only.

Above: The skimming halfway through.

Below: These are the brown bits, it’s time to strain!

Layer the cheesecloth so no small bits get through. 
The browned bits post straining.

The final golden result!

Recently is was discovered -or I guess rediscovered with scientific backing, that CLA is a naturally occurring GOOD trans fat! This is found in the meat and milk of grassfed cows, sheep, and goats.

The only place this is found in the vegetable kingdom is traditionally fermented foods like sauerkraut but the amount is barely traceable so it’s not a very beneficial source.

The Nourished Kitchen blog is so good on this topic that I don’t feel the need to re-invent the wheel. Check it out for more info into the science behind it all.

Here are the Ghee highlights:

Current research on conjugated linoleic acid and its benefits to health indicate that it can be effective in the fight against various cancers including breast cancer. Going so far as to say post menopausal woman has 60% less risk of breast cancer!

Which could also be because you need fats to detox properly. Your body stores toxins in your fat because they would otherwise be in your organs causing even more chaos. If you eat fats your body will release those toxins as a safe way to eliminate them.

You need certain vitamins like A and K. They are found in grassfed butter and Ghee is an excellent source. These vitamins are essential to your hormonal balance which leads me to 

Weight Loss! You read that right. In order to lose weight you need to eat your fats!!! I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true. 

Eating Ghee all day long isn’t a good idea, you want to have 1-2 Tbs a day. No more especially if you have a history of cardiovascular disease in yourself or your family history. If you stay at this level tho studies have shown that it can actually REDUCE cardiovascular risk, assuming that the other 90% of your fat intake is from a plant source so think avocados, coconut and olive oils!

Now you’re asking about cholesterol. Good question! It’s up for debate, but the problem is cholesterol is up for debate. It used to be that high was bad, now we know that there are two kinds (so far) and that one is bad but the other is GOOD. Dr.s tell us now that it’s the ratio of bad to good that’s important, but there are multiple ways of testing. Here in the states Dr.s don’t even know that! So, if you have serious issues with cholesterol my advice is talk with a holistic or integrated Dr. as well as a Health Coach. Have people supporting you and start slowly. Ghee is VERY healing and I’d hate to put something that’s so overwhelmingly good aside because science hasn’t caught up, yet.