On Sep 7, 7:00*pm, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Sep 2012 15:33:58 -0700 (PDT), Tommy Joe
>
>
>
> > wrote:
>
> > * *The topic was given a good going over only recently, but there was
> >so much conflicting information it only got more confusing. *My
> >question is this: *Can clarified butter be made in the microwave?
>
> > * * I sometimes put a tablespoon of butter in a tiny dish in the
> >microwave to use on popcorn. *I have noticed there is white stuff
> >floating on top, a small amount of course, because I only use a
> >tablespoon. *But when people talking about skimming the milk solids
> >from the top of a pound of clarified butter, is that the stuff they're
> >talking about?
>
> > * * I know a guy here in town who says he's been clarifying butter
> >for years and that cooking it down is not necessary - just heating it
> >till it's totally melted to liquid is good enough. *I would also like
> >to know if it's easier to skim off the milk solids or whatever they're
> >called after the butter is allowed to sit awhile. *It seems while the
> >butter is hot that the stuff on top is harder to skim off, if in fact
> >it's the right stuff. * I only want to use the clarified butter for
> >cooking. *Thanks.
>
> The foam on top bubbles forms from teh water evaporating an dsome
> schmutz that floats... should be skimmed off. *The milk solids sink to
> the bottom... the clarified butter is carefully poured off.
>
> Your friend is correct, to clarify butter melt at medium heat just
> until the milk solids sink to the bottom... cooking longer until the
> milk solids begin to brown is how ghee is made. *Ghee wouldn't make
> popcorn or dipping seafood taste very good, ghee doesn't have that
> fresh butter flavor, ghee is used as a cooking oil, for Indian cooking
> often it's flavored with spices... you may like curried popcorn.
>
> How much popcorn do you make that one tablespoon of butter is
> sufficient, do you count out like twenty five kernals? *For popcorn
> it's not necessary to skim or separate the milk solids, you won't
> notice on popcorn.... for dipping seafood you'll see all the schmutz
> and it won't look very attractive.


I was not trying to make clarified butter for popcorn, only using
the microwaved butter as an example of what I wondered clarified
butter should look like, although my grandmother used it all the time
I never bothered to inspect it or write a dissertation on it. I still
don't understand it. Does the butter have to be cooled. I know the
stuff that rises to the top, a froth of sorts. I never skimmed it off
for the popcorn, I merely mentioned it wondering if that is the stuff
that should be skimmed off for clarified butter. Yeah, I don't care
about ghee or flavorings, I just thought it would be nice to have the
clarified butter around for browning some things, certain dishes. As
for my popcorn making, I use those single-serving bags that have as
little oil or fat in them as I can find. I micro the bag, then micro
the butter - unzip the bag and pour into a bowl and then drizzle with
the butter. I still don't get it about the clarified butter. The
stuff on top is to be skimmed off, the stuff on the bottom sort of
remains on the bottom, and what's in the middle is the clarified stuff
- right? Well, how long does one wait to pour out the butter after
it's melted to insure that the unwanted stuff stays on the bottom and
does not come out with the clarified stuff? See how confusing this
is, one answer forcing another question, round and round we go and
where we're going to stop nobody knows.

Can you clarify that? Seriously.
TJ