Clarified Butter

Or Drawn Butter
How To Make It

When you remove milk solids from butter you increase its heat tolerance and you have Clarified Butter, also called Drawn Butter. It does not burn as easily as regular butter because the milk solids (whey) have been removed.

Once accomplished, you can use drawn butter for making dishes that benefit from buttery flavor but must be cooked over moderately high heat, such as sautéed potatoes, eggs, fish, and many other items. It is also used to make hollandaise sauce and several other similar sauces.

To make drawn butter (clarified) you slowly heat butter (unsalted or salted) over low heat until the butter separates into three layers. The top layer is a foam (the whey) and should be skimmed off with a spoon. A milky layer on the bottom of the pan is the milk solids. In between is a pure golden-yellow liquid called drawn butter.

Once separated you skim the foam off the top, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for a few minute. You then strain the remaining mixture into another container through a very fine sieve or you can pour it through cheese cloth.

The resulting liquid is the drawn butter (butterfat) that can be covered and stored several weeks in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen. If you freeze it, do so in small batches.

To clarify butter: