Post by eljay on Jun 2, 2012 15:25:34 GMT -5
I love using ghee in cooking, but I don't like standing and stirring, because I usually have saved up a lot of butter to do this with and it takes over an hour. I thought I would give the crock pot a try. I've made it twice in the crock pot and thought some of you would like to hear how it went.
The first time I babied it. I put it in on low and stirred it carefully every 20 minutes or so. I kept it covered until it started to boil and then took off the cover. it was going slow so I turned up to high to get things moving. Then I was afraid it would burn so I alternated between high and low, stirring occasionally throughout the day.
This is what it looked like.
This went on for about 10 hours. I finally strained it and this is what I ended up with.
The white stuff under the ghee in the jars is sludgy. I didn't realize that it would slip through the filter or I wouldn't have poured it in. I think it's milk solid that didn't curdle up. My theory is that I didn't cook it at high enough heat. I considered it a failure because I really did spend nearly the same amount of time fussing with it and my goal was that it be easier.
So, I made ghee again in the crock pot. This time I started it with the lid off and on low only long enough to get some of the butter melted so that there wouldn't be any scorching. I left it on high, only stirring every half hour or so, except for 3 hours when I had to be gone and asked a kid to stir for me. He forgot so it just kept going on high with no attention. It still took most of the day to cook down, and there was still some sludge on the bottom. The rest of the curds had gotten nice and golden brown. If it wouldn't have meant leaving it on all night I would have left it go on high longer. I poured it into jars, being careful to keep the sludge out. It worked great. Cleaning the crock pot was even easier. I filled it with water and put it on high for a few hours and most of the cooked on stuff cooked off. I'd definitely do it again this way.
For those of you who don't know what ghee is here's a link to another discussion on ghee.
familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Food&action=display&thread=46423
Laura
The first time I babied it. I put it in on low and stirred it carefully every 20 minutes or so. I kept it covered until it started to boil and then took off the cover. it was going slow so I turned up to high to get things moving. Then I was afraid it would burn so I alternated between high and low, stirring occasionally throughout the day.
This is what it looked like.
This went on for about 10 hours. I finally strained it and this is what I ended up with.
The white stuff under the ghee in the jars is sludgy. I didn't realize that it would slip through the filter or I wouldn't have poured it in. I think it's milk solid that didn't curdle up. My theory is that I didn't cook it at high enough heat. I considered it a failure because I really did spend nearly the same amount of time fussing with it and my goal was that it be easier.
So, I made ghee again in the crock pot. This time I started it with the lid off and on low only long enough to get some of the butter melted so that there wouldn't be any scorching. I left it on high, only stirring every half hour or so, except for 3 hours when I had to be gone and asked a kid to stir for me. He forgot so it just kept going on high with no attention. It still took most of the day to cook down, and there was still some sludge on the bottom. The rest of the curds had gotten nice and golden brown. If it wouldn't have meant leaving it on all night I would have left it go on high longer. I poured it into jars, being careful to keep the sludge out. It worked great. Cleaning the crock pot was even easier. I filled it with water and put it on high for a few hours and most of the cooked on stuff cooked off. I'd definitely do it again this way.
For those of you who don't know what ghee is here's a link to another discussion on ghee.
familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Food&action=display&thread=46423
Laura
