The Science of Ghee

Ghee, also known as clarified butter, is an Āyurvedic superfood. The Āyurvedic classical author Charaka states that “ghee alleviates pitta and vāta . . . provides relief from burning sensation, softens the tissues, improves voice and complexion.” Ghee is an ideal fat to cook with for people predominantly expressing pitta or vāta in their constitution. It is safe to consume for people with lactose intolerance.

Ghee is butter without the water and the hard to digest, cholesterol and pro-inflmamatory milk solids. Although it’s readily available at many stores now, freshly made ghee is delicious and easy to make, if a bit messy and time-consuming.

Like baking bread, making ghee is an art, a meditation, and a labor of love. Ghee is highly concentrated and thus also concentrates toxins if made from impure ingredients. As such, we suggest buying organic, unsalted butter made from grass-fed cows only.

Modern science reveals that ghee is a good source of vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and conjugated linoleic acid. And because it’s a food rather than a powdered synthetic supplement, the vitamins are much more bio-available.

Ghee is the highest and healthiest food source for both butyrate and a newly identified essential fatty acid (the first in 90 years!) called pentadecanoic acid. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that supports gut and brain health. Aptly named, pentadecanoic acid is essential to the functioning of every tissue in the body but especially important for healthy, cells, mitochondria, immune regulation, controlling inflammation, blood sugar regulation, brain function, sleep, and mood. Whoo! The term “essential” implies that we cannot make it internally but need to get this nutrient from our diet.

Eating between 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon per day of grass-fed, cultured ghee supplies us with the optimal amount of this rejuvenative nutrient. If you have health issues with your lipids, it can also be taken as a supplement with a typical dose is 100 grams.

As with any food, your unique constitution plays a part in whether or not and how much ghee is ideal for you to use, so do be mindful of how your unique constitution responds to ghee.

Ghee is made by boiling the water out of butter. Sugar, proteins, saturated fats, and the milk solids precipitate out and settle to the bottom. Then the ghee is poured through a cheesecloth or similarly fine filter. The entire process takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of days depending on the intensity of the heat, the quantity of butter you are using, and the amount of water in the butter.

Enjoy!

Basic Ghee Recipe

You'll need:

  • 2 pounds *unsalted* butter

  • a deep pot with a thick bottom

  • a stove top that can sustain a low, consistent heat

  • a medium sized spoon

  • a spatula (optional but convenient)

  • a ladle (optional but convenient)

  • a medium sized sieve/strainer

  • 24” x 6” (minimum) square of cheesecloth, folded over on itself at least 4 times so that you have 4 layers of cheesecloth measuring 6” x 6” making sure that it covers your strainer or sieve

  • a medium sized bowl, larger than the sieve/strainer

  • a clean, dry, sterilized 16-ounce glass jar with a lid for each pound of butter

    Heat the butter on low until the butter bubbles and froths. The froth and and snap-crackle-pop sound indicates water boiling off. That’s good! Continue cooking the butter on low until it becomes a translucent gold color and the smell is reminiscent of popcorn. **Mind the butter carefully at this point and beyond, this is the most likely time it will burn.** Tiny white balls will form and sink to the bottom of the pan, that’s the milk solids separating out. Once the milk solids become light to medium brown, turn off the heat. Allow the ghee to cool to a temperature that you’re comfortable handling. Place the cheesecloth into the sieve, and rest the sieve in the bowl. Using the ladle to slowly pour the liquid through the cheesecloth. Use the spatula to scrap the pot. Once all the liquid is strained through the cheesecloth and strainer, pinch the edges of the cheesecloth together. Lift the cheesecloth out. With one hand holding the edges closed, use the other hand to squeeze the cheesecloth wrapped around the milk solids gently, being careful not to squeeze any of the milk solids out of the cheesecloth. Discard the milk solids and cheesecloth. Pour ghee into glass jar and store in a cool, dark place.