How to make Ghee/Clarified Butter in a crockpot-with step by step pictures

Ghee is the new buzzword in healthy cooking and eating. Being an Indian I have eaten Ghee all my life. Mom used to make it at home from the Cream/Malai that used to collect on top of the milk. She would first churn it into white butter and then cook it on a stovetop to get yummy, delicious ghee. The flavor of ghee is so amazing, to me personally I think, a spoonful of ghee just makes everything taste better!!!If we had chapped lips, ghee was applied, cut, bruise anything, mom would rub ghee. In fact, I never saw mom buy any moisturisers or fancy lotions. While boiling Milk in the morning, she would just rub the fresh cream from the milk on her face or apply ghee to hard working hands. She looks great even now at 78!  I had seen dad use ghee for havans performed regularly at home as well as for daily puja rituals. Ghee was a part of growing up without ever thinking about it.

It wasn’t until I moved to a small town in USA 20 years back,(without an Indian grocery store) that I started missing ghee. Had to figure out a way to make my dals/lentils taste like back home, served with a good serving of ghee on top. Got a block of unsalted butter from the grocery store and tried to recreate what I had seen mom do at home with the white butter.  It was surprisingly very good!  Since then its been no looking back. Now in fact I make a big stash and cook pretty much everything in it.

About 10-12 years back, when Low carb and High fat was all the craze, my friend decided to join a diet program. It focused heavily on meats and fats, including bacon and sausage,with some vegetables and limited fruits, but what was the surprise element to me at that time was they allowed you to eat GHEE. What did they know about ghee that it was allowed on a diet plan. It definitely intrigued me.  I was surprised that people in the US even knew what was ghee. Fast forward to the present, and my family does the Whole30 detox for 30 days and the only Dairy item allowed on the plan is Ghee!! Yes Ghee is allowed and you bet my food tastes pretty good when cooked in it.

So why is ghee allowed on a detox plan when dairy is forbidden? From making ghee at home, I know that we start with unsalted butter and cook it to a point when the milk solids settle at the bottom, and all that is left is Casein-Lactose free goodness, that’s why its called clarified butter. I read further about  the Whole30 and all that was mentioned was that the cooking and skimming removes the milk protein essentially making it dairy free.

Another positive thing about ghee is that it has a very high smoking point. What does smoking point mean? It means when you cook at a very high temperature, like we do for Indian cooking, the oil starts to break down and releases free radicals and acrolein which gives foods that burnt acrid smell and flavor. If you have had to open your windows while frying, because your eyes are watering and your house is smelling, thats beacuse the oil has reached its smoking point and releasing all those radicals into the food. Just for comparison purposes the smoking point for Ghee is 450 F, Canola Oil is 400 F , Butter is 350 F and Extra Virgin Olive Oil is 325-375 F.

Ayurveda talks so much about the health benefits of Ghee that I could dedicate an entire article to it, but for right now we will focus on How to make Ghee at home, in a crockpot and discuss the benefits of ghee and all other fats in a future post.

Coming soon-How to use the solids left at the bottom of the crockpot to make a delicious snack.

Here is the step by step pictorial recipe

64 oz of Unsalted Butter and 6 quart crockpot

Unwrap the butter and start the crockpot on HIGH and leave it UNCOVERED

After one hour, its just about melted

After two hours, a little bit of foam is starting to form

After three hours, more foam!

After four hours, the top is covered with foam

After almost 5 hours, the foam is starting to brown and crust and the solids at the bottom have browned too.Its Ready!

 Strain into glass bottles

Enjoy

Please like my Facebook page to continue to get healthy,easy and tasty recipes from me

For Instant Khaman Dhokla with Tips/Tricks for Soft,Spongy Dhokla,click here

For Kulfi-Indian Ice Cream, click here

For Palak ki Puri/Paratha click here

For Kalakand- 3 Ingredient, One pan, Microwave Recipe-Indian fudge Recipe,click here

For Dates Walnut Cake- An Eggless Vegan Cake,click here

For Brown Rice Dosa,click here

For Coconut Chatni for Dosa/Idli/Uttapam/Appe,click here

For Moong Dal Appe-South Indian style,click here

For Mexican Spirals/ Black Bean Pinwheels,click here

For Ma ki Dal/ Dal Makhni in Crock Pot-recipe for 20-30 people, click here

For How to organize/ plan the best stressfree dinner party , click here

For How to lose weight while watching TV and I don’t mean on the treadmill , click here

For Miracle oil for Hair Loss and Frizziness , click here

For Quinoa-A basic no frill recipe click here

 For How to make Ghee/Clarified Butter in a crockpot-with step by step pictures, click here

For Spinach Potato cakes/Palak Aloo ki Tikki with Almond Flour and Flaxseed, click here

For Perfect Puffy Puris-Fried Indian Bread,click here

For Sooji ka Halwa, Parshad for Navratri, Sheera,click here

 For  Meethi Mathi,click here

For Green Moong Dhokla/ Mung Bean Dhokla,click here

For Besan/Gramflour Ke Laddoo-Indian dessert,click here