I keep seeing references to clarified butter.What is it, how do I make it and when should I use it? ?!
Answers:
Creaming Butter II
My wife says I have to cream butter and sugar with electric beaters in one direction only!. She says this will help incorporate the air into the mix and make it creamy!. I seem to be getting results moving the beater through the mix ad hoc!. Is there any science to beating in one direction for the purposes of creaming butter!?
--Ling
Because of its complexity and the fact that cooking has evolved over thousands of years, it tends to be filled with both sound, provable science and popular folklore!. For example, one similar "rule" is that you need to stir in one only direction when making a custard and that changing direction or whisking in a random pattern will cause the custard to curdle!. I can say with certainty that the custard thing is false, because I never bother to stir in just one direction and my custards don't curdle!.
I know of no science that would either support or disprove your wife's theory but looking over my various references, I can't find any that say creaming needs to be done by beating the ingredients in only one direction!.
On the face of it, I also can't think of any good reason why it would be so!. As I explained in the posting "Creaming Butter" the purpose of creaming is to incorporate air into the butter to help leaven the final product!. According to Corriher, creaming is perhaps the most important step in making good cakes!. Air bubbles are incorporated both from the air trapped between grains of sugar when mixing starts, and then by air blended in by the mechanical action!. Neither of these would appear to depend on what direction the beaters move during blending!. In fact, at the level of the beaters, regardless of how you move your hand, one blade is going clockwise while the other goes counterclockwise!
To test whether the direction of beating makes a difference, you would need to compare cakes made by creaming the butter by beating in only one direction versus cakes made when the beating is in random directions!. You would need to be careful to control every other aspect of the cakes -- the ingredients would need to be accurately measured, the butter would need to be at the same temperature starting and ending, and the beating time would need to be the same duration!. The cakes would then need to be cooled to the same temperature and under the same conditions!.
After all of that, what I'm guessing you would learn is more likely that there are so many steps, involving so many factors, that ascribing differences in the result to the direction in which the butter is creamed is too simplistic!.
The bottom line is that if your "ad hoc" beating technique produces good cakes, then you have shown that direction doesn't matter!. Now, go and enjoy your cake!.
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My wife says I have to cream butter and sugar with electric beaters in one direction only!. She says this will help incorporate the air into the mix and make it creamy!. I seem to be getting results moving the beater through the mix ad hoc!. Is there any science to beating in one direction for the purposes of creaming butter!?
--Ling
Because of its complexity and the fact that cooking has evolved over thousands of years, it tends to be filled with both sound, provable science and popular folklore!. For example, one similar "rule" is that you need to stir in one only direction when making a custard and that changing direction or whisking in a random pattern will cause the custard to curdle!. I can say with certainty that the custard thing is false, because I never bother to stir in just one direction and my custards don't curdle!.
I know of no science that would either support or disprove your wife's theory but looking over my various references, I can't find any that say creaming needs to be done by beating the ingredients in only one direction!.
On the face of it, I also can't think of any good reason why it would be so!. As I explained in the posting "Creaming Butter" the purpose of creaming is to incorporate air into the butter to help leaven the final product!. According to Corriher, creaming is perhaps the most important step in making good cakes!. Air bubbles are incorporated both from the air trapped between grains of sugar when mixing starts, and then by air blended in by the mechanical action!. Neither of these would appear to depend on what direction the beaters move during blending!. In fact, at the level of the beaters, regardless of how you move your hand, one blade is going clockwise while the other goes counterclockwise!
To test whether the direction of beating makes a difference, you would need to compare cakes made by creaming the butter by beating in only one direction versus cakes made when the beating is in random directions!. You would need to be careful to control every other aspect of the cakes -- the ingredients would need to be accurately measured, the butter would need to be at the same temperature starting and ending, and the beating time would need to be the same duration!. The cakes would then need to be cooled to the same temperature and under the same conditions!.
After all of that, what I'm guessing you would learn is more likely that there are so many steps, involving so many factors, that ascribing differences in the result to the direction in which the butter is creamed is too simplistic!.
The bottom line is that if your "ad hoc" beating technique produces good cakes, then you have shown that direction doesn't matter!. Now, go and enjoy your cake!.
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Clarified butter is melted butter with the whey and milk solids removed!. Melt a pound of butter on low heat!. Turn off the heat and skim the foam off the top (whey)!. Ladle out the clear butter oil into a separate pan!. Discard the water and sediment on the bottom of the pan (milk solids)!.
Clarified butter has a higher smoke point then just plain melted butter!. You can pan-fry with it and it won't burn!. It is also used to make rouxs and hollandaise sauce!.
Ghee is a form of clarified butter used in Indian cuisine!. The butter is melted at a higher temperature!. The whey boils off and the milk solids at the bottom begin to caramelize!. The milk solids are not removed!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Clarified butter has a higher smoke point then just plain melted butter!. You can pan-fry with it and it won't burn!. It is also used to make rouxs and hollandaise sauce!.
Ghee is a form of clarified butter used in Indian cuisine!. The butter is melted at a higher temperature!. The whey boils off and the milk solids at the bottom begin to caramelize!. The milk solids are not removed!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Clarified butter is normal butter that has been heated so that the milk solids separate, then it is briefly simmered to evaporate some of the water content!. It is strained to remove the milk solids and can then be heated to higher temperatures than normal butter without burning!. In Indian and Arabian cookery it is known as ghee and samna and is used frequently for frying!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Xena, clarified butter is used in saute because it can be heated to a higher temperature without burning!. To make butter clarified, melt the butter, skim off the top bubbles, and pour into another container, but leave the solids at the bottom in the first container!. The second container will then contain the clarified butter!.
Regards,
DanWww@FoodAQ@Com
Regards,
DanWww@FoodAQ@Com
Clarified butte goes under the name, "Ghee"!.
It usually is sold out of the dairy products isle in the grocery store but it is not the healthiest way of living!.
It causes heart disease and blood clots and is very unhealthy in the long run!. Using it only occasionally is all right I suppose!.
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It usually is sold out of the dairy products isle in the grocery store but it is not the healthiest way of living!.
It causes heart disease and blood clots and is very unhealthy in the long run!. Using it only occasionally is all right I suppose!.
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Heat butter in sauce pan- when you see the white gunk- scoop it out!. The end product will be a clear yellow- the purpose- milk solids burn easily- taking them out gives butter a higher cooking temp!. also it makes great saucesWww@FoodAQ@Com
Clarified butter is the same thing as Ghee (found in Indian shops)!. It is usually used in situations when regular butter can't stand the heat!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
A very experienced cook I know who has entertained all her life (she is in her 70's now) told me it was a waste of time clarifying butter, made no real difference in recipes, so I have never bothered to learn how!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
check wikipediaWww@FoodAQ@Com