On Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 10:54:59 PM UTC-10, W wrote:
> I make my own Indian Ghee from grassfed butter, using these instructions:
> http://thehealthyfoodie.com/homemade-ghee/
>
> I have done this maybe 15 times, always successfully, and I end up with a
> golden honey color. Today I tried a new local butter, and I ran into
> disaster and need to try to understand what happened.
>
> Normally what happens is in the last five minutes, the butter starts to give
> off a burning smell and the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan. You
> pour this over a good filter and what gets through is a pure fat without the
> dairy proteins (purified butter).
>
> Today, the ghee turned black, almost like a cup of coffee. Normally what I
> see happen is that the milk solids burn off and separate from the ghee.
> This happened this time, but in addition it looks like the ghee itself has
> been burned, maybe ruined. I am typically cooking the ghee at under
> boiling temperatures for water, so I don't see how this is even possible.
> Purified butter has a smoke point of 450 degrees and I am not cooking at
> anywhere close to that temperature.
>
> Half of me is wondering if the butter still has dairy solids bound into it
> and needs to be cooked even longer to burn these off. The other half of me
> thinks maybe the butter I am using (Strauss Family Creamery) has some
> characteristic that makes it difficult to use for ghee:
> http://strausfamilycreamery.com/products/organic-butter
> and I have ruined the batch.
>
> I don't understand how ghee could end up black and looking and smelling
> burned. Does anyone have a theory about what went wrong here, and is there
> anything that can be done at this point?
>
> --
>
I'm guessing that you can't do a thing about the taste. Next time watch the pot more carefully once the water has boiled off. When that happens, the temperature will rise rapidly. My guess is that you were distracted sometime during this critical period. Maybe your eyesight is getting bad. Better luck next time.