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I wrote this up quite a few years ago, edited it, and if you or anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer. (info on dangers of heated vegetable oil on previous page)

How I Make Ghee

I make ghee in a way that is said to be a “no no” in cook books, but it works, and I’ve been making ghee for more than 40 years. Ghee is considered by Ayurveda to be very healthy, and darkfield blood studies have shown (from articles I’ve read) that people who eat ghee exclusively have very good blood activity - the various cells work as they should better than in other people.

Use unsalted butter. It’s generally fresher, you get more ghee, and the salt is just a plain nuisance in the ghee process, and makes it burn more. It still works with salted, but if you have a choice get unsalted.

Use a large heavy pot, unwrap the butter and melt it on high, making sure it doesn’t burn. As soon as it is all melted, turn the heat to low (as low as or lower than cooking rice). Stir occasionally, really keep your eye on it - not constantly, but don’t forget about it for a half an hour, you’ll be sorry. Stir it more often rather than less often.

Two things happen when butter turns into ghee - the water content boils away, and the milk solids toast up and turn from gooey whitish stuff into dark golden/brownish sandy looking (and tasty if using unsalted butter) crunchy stuff. So stirring helps the water part cook off and keeps the milk solids from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. Sometimes if you don’t stir it, the moisture will boil up in a small explosion and you’ll have ghee on your stove (or blouse) and a mess to clean up. Stirring also speeds up the whole process and keeps the butter/ghee from sticking.

Now, you can do one of two things: keep on cooking it on top of the stove, or put the whole pot into the oven. I’ve been opting for the oven - I start about 225, and as the ghee gets more clear and golden and the milk solids start drying up and looking sandy, I turn it down to about 170 (that’s the lowest setting). I still stir and check, but it can hardly burn unless you forget about it for hours.

How to tell when it’s done?

When you stir and nothing foams to the top; perhaps a small amount of bubbles but no real foam; and when the milk solids are a darkish golden brown and very sandy looking, and the ghee itself is totally clear and golden. It also has a heavenly smell.

Then let it cool down until it is merely hot, and pour into jars. I use pint mason jars and I heat the jars and lids in the oven for a while. 180 for a half hour or so sterilizes them and they are hot enough. I don’t mess with pouring it through cheesecloth, wastes too much ghee and a horrid mess to clean up. I used to use an old thin piece of cotton slip, but now I just pour through a very fine mesh stainless steel strainer.

When you pour, be very careful so not a drop of ghee gets on the jars or the lids won’t seal. If need be I keep a piece of paper towel, very slightly damp, to wipe off any ghee on the jar edge. I pop the lids and rings on, and the jars seal while they cool. Write the date and store in a cool dark place I’ve made ghee this way and it keeps for a year or so if stored in a cool dark place or in the fridge. I try to make enough for about 6-8 months at a time.
Nothing tastes as good as ghee. I rarely deep fry, only on very special occasions. But anything deep fried in ghee is - well, tastes better than anything cooked in oil.

PS - the ghee solids that get strained out should be used in a few days (depending on if you keep them in the fridge). They are tasty and can be stirred into soups, rice, vegetables, or even spread on bread (I’ve seen it, not done it!), They are just toasted milk solids.

I have heard of people using crock pots for ghee, sounds good as long as your pot is detachable from the electric part, otherwise it would be really hard to clean it.

Regarding temperature, starting on high to melt the butter and then turning it lower as it cooks works best. And stirring - all cook books say don’t stir. I used to do it that way - they say to skim off the foam as it cooks. I find that troublesome, wasteful and messy. The way I describe above works better, less mess, and no waste. I don’t know why all the cookbooks don’t teach it MY way!

Regarding graininess, it can get like that when it cools down; in cold weather my ghee is totally solid and hard, warms up to liquid in very hot weather. I don’t use it on toast as it is too intense for me plus I like the saltiness of butter, but I know people who do like in on toast.

When vegetable oil heats (exact temperatures vary depending on kind of oil) it polymerizes - the molecules stick together in long chains (kind of how they make plastics from oil...). Think of how cooking oil residue sticks to stoves and cooking ware - I’ve had to scrape if off with razor blades when I used to clean houses. Ghee, OTOH, does not do that so not only is it easier to clean up (hot water and dish soap does it easily) but those polymerized chains don’t clog up in your innards either. Nor does heated ghee produce free radicals in the innards.