5 Ingredients or Fewer

Beurre Noisette

by:
October 20, 2010
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0 Ratings
Beurre Noisette
  • Serves 1 1/2 cups
Author Notes

There is much debate on how to make clarified butter. There are also many ways to make clarified butter but this is my favorite. There are many reasons I like to make it this way. The first, when I use clarified butter I expect no water to be left in the oil. Water makes it splatter and explode when it hits a scorching hot pan. Second I don't want it to go bad and if you take the milk solids out it won't. And finally I want it to have a warm and nutty taste, hence noisette. —thirschfeld

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pound unsalted butter
Directions
  1. Place the butter into a sauce pan three time the volume of the butter. Place it over medium high heat and let the butter melt. As it melts it will start to bubble in tight and tiny bubbles.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir the butter to keep the milk solids moving. As the water starts to evaporate the bubbles will get bigger. Stir the butter again. It is important to stir so the milk solids don't brown and burn before all the water has evaporated.
  3. Watch the bubbles. They should be getting even bigger and you may notice little brown bits in the foam. The butter should start to smell warm and nutty. You should be able to see to the bottom of the pan and the solids should be turning tan.
  4. Remove the butter from the heat and let it sit. It will continue to cook the solids and brown them. Once the butter is cool ladle off the clarified butter into another container. Don't taste it or you might find yourself with a spoon eating clarified butter like it was ice cream.
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6 Reviews

BavarianCook
BavarianCook March 15, 2012
Oh my goodness, yes. So spot on with that last sentence. Thank you!
 
hennef7
hennef7 December 13, 2010
How long with this keep in the frig?
 
hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour December 13, 2010
Clarified butter keeps a long time in the fridge, months and months. Keep it in a well sealed container, as fats are great at picking up off flavors.
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld December 13, 2010
hardlikearmour is exactly right
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames October 20, 2010
This is how I make it. I use Julie Sahni's recipe for ghee. She has you listen to the crackling sound of the liquid in the milk solids evaporating. I like that instruction, because I really enjoy it when a cooking activity brings in all five senses. At the end of the process, after you've let it sit for a while and poured off the liquid stuff into a jar, you have the most lovely caramel left in the bottom of the pan. If it's apple season, I slice a few crisp apples into the pan, turn it on super low heat, and let the apples' juices and the browned butter residue on the pan work their collective magic. If it's not apple season, I scrape the stuff off and find some other use for it. (Steel cut oats, mine, and yes, I hoard this too, are the usual suspect.) I'm totally with you on eliminating the water. I also like the nutty flavor of slow cooked clarified butter. I'd never heard, before yesterday, of clarifying butter any other way. Thank you for posting this! ;o)
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen October 20, 2010
I love your fair warning at the end! Thanks, thirschfeld. Your recipes are always so easy (and fun) to follow!