--- title: "Clarified butter: what it means in cooking — Tiny Plates" description: "Clarified butter is butter with the water and milk solids removed. It can fry at high heat without burning and keeps longer. How to make it at home." url: "https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/clarified-butter" --- # Clarified butter Clarified butter is butter with the water and milk solids removed. It can fry at high heat without burning and keeps longer. How to make it at home. Also called Drawn butter, Skirat smör. Clarified butter is pure butterfat. Butter is about 80 percent fat, with the rest water and milk solids. When you melt it gently and remove the water and solids, you are left with a clear golden fat that tastes of butter but behaves more like an oil. ## How to do it 1. Melt 250 g (2 sticks) of unsalted butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Do not stir. 2. Let it bubble gently for a few minutes. White foam rises to the top and milky solids sink to the bottom. 3. Skim off the foam with a spoon. 4. Slowly pour the clear yellow fat into a jar, leaving the milky layer behind. For a cleaner result, pour it through a sieve lined with [cheesecloth](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/cheesecloth). You will get about three quarters of the weight you started with. ## Why it works The milk solids are what burn first when you fry in butter. Without them, the [smoke point](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/smoke-point) rises from about 175°C (350°F) to roughly 230°C (450°F). That makes clarified butter good for searing, frying potatoes and making crisp pancakes. With no water, it also keeps far longer and makes smoother emulsified sauces. ## How to use it * Fry steak, fish or potatoes at higher heat than whole butter allows. * Brush it over pastry such as filo. * Make [hollandaise](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/hollandaise) and béarnaise. The sauce is less likely to split. * Serve it warm as a dip for lobster and crab, where it is often called drawn butter. ## How to store it Keep it in a closed jar in the fridge for up to 3 months. It sets firm but melts quickly in a pan. ## Common mistakes * Using high heat. The solids brown and you get [brown butter](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/brown-butter) instead. * Stirring while it melts, which mixes the layers back together. * Mixing it up with [ghee](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/ghee). Ghee is cooked longer, until the solids brown and are strained out, so it tastes nutty. Clarified butter tastes clean and mild. They can swap for each other in most recipes. ## Recipes that use it 1 recipe from the sites we collect. * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Cauliflower-Rice-Chicken-Biryani-1-1.jpg)Cauliflower Rice Chicken Biryaniwww.skinnytaste.com · 30 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/cauliflower-rice-chicken-biryani/) ## Related terms * [GheeGhee is butter cooked until the milk solids brown and are strained out. It tastes nutty, fries at high heat and keeps for months in a cupboard.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/ghee) * [Brown butterBrown butter is butter cooked until its milk solids toast and smell nutty. It takes about five minutes and adds deep flavor to pasta, fish and baking.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/brown-butter) * [Smoke pointThe smoke point is the temperature at which an oil or fat starts to smoke and break down. It tells you which fats suit searing and frying.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/smoke-point) * [HollandaiseHollandaise is a warm sauce of egg yolks, butter and lemon, whisked into a smooth emulsion. It is the sauce on eggs Benedict and asparagus, and can split.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/hollandaise) * [CheeseclothCheesecloth is a loose cotton gauze for straining stock, draining yogurt and cheese, and tying herb bundles. Here is how to use it and what to use instead.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/cheesecloth) [More in pantry ingredients](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/category/pantry-ingredients)[Every term from A to Z](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary)