Tuples and Attributes

For those of you who have not used ghee, it’s basically clarified butter that is simmered longer so that it acquires a “nuttiter” taste. It has a very high smoke point, over 400°F, which is really useful for browning or frying items. I love the stuff. I mean, what’s not to like about cooking food in butter? It is my “oil” of choice.

What I do not love, however, is making ghee. Here are the instructions from the “RealSimple” website:

To make ghee at home, melt at least one stick of butter in a small saucepan over low heat (you can easily melt several sticks for a larger batch of ghee). Within five to ten minutes, the milk solids will begin to separate from the melted butterfat and the water will evaporate. Turn up the heat to medium and continue to brown the sunken milk solids while allowing the remaining water content to evaporate. As the butter simmers, a layer of milk solids will form a white foam on top— this should be skimmed off. Continue to cook for another five to ten minutes until the milk solids have completely browned and you can smell notes of toffee.

Slowly strain the butter through a cheesecloth or sieve into the container of your choice, being careful not to get any milk solids mixed in. This product is pure butterfat, which is often referred to as “liquid gold” (aka ghee). Discard the last few tablespoons of butterfat and milk solids that remain in the pan.

https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/how-to-make-ghee

That is most definitely not my idea of simple or easy, so I buy the stuff when I can. It used to be hard to find; I originally found it at Trader Joe’s, but even there it was fairly costly. I used it to make baklava, but not much else.

Now you can find it in most grocery stores, but it’s still a pricey item: generally a $1.00 an ounce or more. Imagine my joy, then, when I found it at Costco for a much more reasonable price. As a result, for the past year or so, I have been using ghee for almost all my frying, sauteing, or other cooking methods.

Two weeks ago, I opened my cupboard to find a near empty jar of ghee when I had thought I had a nearly full one. I immediately went online to see if I could get more from Costco. No joy, they don’t list it. Afraid that this meant they stopped carrying it at all, I braved the Costco parking lot and managed to get inside the store without being run over by cars or carts.

And joy of joys, there was my ghee sitting on the shelf. Costco sells it as a 2-pack of 22.5-ounce jars for just under $25. About $0.55 cents per ounce then. Way, way cheaper than I can find it anywhere else and worth every penny as far as I’m concerned.

Other nice characteristics of ghee are that it is shelf-stable for years and doesn’t even need to be refrigerated after opening. Also, it doesn’t turn rancid quickly like many oils.

Let’s just say I stocked up while I could and there are now several jars resting in the dark in my pantry.