ghee

“Anyone know a good source to get this?”

“butter??”

“Yes, it's clarified butter. Someone told me you could get it already made up in little packets. I was just wondering, since I have never seen it around here (IN).”

“Ghee is easy enough to make. Put a pound of butter in a cast iron skillet and bring it to a boil over medium heat. When the top is covered in foam reduce heat and simmer for forty-five minutes. The milk solids will brown in the bottom. Carefully pour the liquid through several layers of cheese cloth. Don't get greedy. The solids need to stay in the skillet. If the ghee is not perfectly clear strain it again.

Or you can buy it Gheehere.”

“No...GTE!”

“Is that the Cingular answer?”

“Thanks everyone!”

“haw”

“I had a conversation about this with a solo backpacker as we were approaching Shepherd's Pass last year. He was hiking out of the Sierras and offered me the ghee he hadn't used up. He makes it himself. Apparently ghee keeps well, while butter doesn't. Is that correct? Great stuff to have if you plan to cook some trout!!!”

“Yes it keeps longer and does not need refrigeration, even off the trail.”

“how do ya pronounce that one?”

“ghuh...like in guts.....ghee
i make my own and yes it keeps very well”

“Willow,
You're from Indiana?! That kicks ass. So am I. What part of the state you in?”

“I'm from Indy. Grew up by Lieber in Cloverdale. How 'bout you?”

“I'm from Noblesville, but I'm going to school at Purdue right now.”

“So this ghee is a substitute for butter?”

“Not so much as a substitute, as it IS butter... in a clarified form. Since it's without the fat content (which would turn rancid with time in a hot backpack), it will keep much longer... certainly long enough for most BP hikes of a week, and probably two.”

“I cant believe its not buddur,hehehe!”

“LOL, hyper.

I gotta get or make some of this stuff.”

“Obi, you're right that ghee is clarified butter, but it's actually missing the milk solids not the fat. If it had no fat, there'd be nothing left! It's my understanding that it's the milk solids in the butter that actually contribute to the spoiling. :o)”

“Thats my sense of it to medic girl. Ghee is more like oil (fat without the solids)... and thus lasts longer. All that cooking must eliminate most or all of the water, and the solids all precipitate out during the cooking.

BTW, what are the calories per ounce in ghee? Around 215?”

“I just use corn, peanut or olive oil and it is good in food too. Medic Girl said what I had been taught about clarified butter but I don?t care for the taste of real butter anyway.”

“I stand corrected, MG... (I knew that).

No... I didn't. I made a mistake. "Just Shoot Me"

LOL... thanks!”

“I think enertia trail foods carries it in individual packages. The have an online store.”

“Ghee is the solids, not the oil. It is butter clarified to minimize the oil content thus reducing the chance of it going rancid. It is primarily used in East Indian cooking.”

“Hammock, I know ghee is used by the East Indians for cooking... I've pretty much grown up on their food. How can you minimize the oil content in butter, since(as far as I know) oil doesn't evaporate??? And if you're keeping the solids(which would have to be the milk solids, unless you mean the butter fat which solidifies at colder temperatures anyways) what is the brown stuff that separates out & floats to the bottom during the clarifying process?
Please, enlighten us with the source of your wisdom....”

“bpbaby, Thanks that is just exactly what I am looking for. I like the powdered sour cream too. Has any one tried the butter powder from this place? I've heard it taste better than the Butter Buds. I think I will try them all. Thanks again.”

“from the krishna cookbook
"the higher taste"
paraphrased....ghee is the essence of butter....butter is 80% fat(oil) and the other 20% is water and milk solids (protein).....when you make ghee, you cook it until it froths, removing the water, then the solids settle to the bottom, and also a small crusty top layer of solids forms...which you skim, then you want to collect the golden clear oil , leaving behind the solids on the bottom, you strain the oil to further remove any solids.
ghee is the oil , not the solids...i think medic girl had it right before.”

“How about olive oil?

Wouldn't that be easier, or will that spoil?”

“LOL WC.... I think any oily product will go rancid if left alone for too long... I'd say you're pretty safe with it though. You should ask Tommy... he seems to have the market cornered on the whole olive oil issue! ;-)

BTW, thanks to you OM... I was pretty sure I wasn't shooting wind, but it's nice to have someone back you up with an actual source!”

“I ordered some stuff from Enertia and it arrived in two days. I was surprised to see that it was dehydrated food and not freeze dried. Oh well, today they sent me a second shipment identical to the first. I hope they don't bill me twice!

I got some of their ghee too. I like the individual servings.

Enertia”

“wow,,individual ghee packs....great idea.....thanks for the link....”

“"I can't believe its not budder."

Eeewwwhhhh!”

“I made the chowder last night and my daughter even liked it. I would give it about an eight, not because it tasted all that great, but the cream sauce was something I don't normally get in the backcountry.”