![clarify butter in microwave clarify butter in microwave](http://debbienet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/butter.jpg)
It's possible that working/kneading the butter might even that back out to some extent. That explains the graininess you noticed. The crystals that do remain or reform won't have the same structure as the original ones, since you didn't follow the same heating/cooling/storing regimen.
#Clarify butter in microwave free#
There's likely more free fat and less crystals, which explains why previously melted butter can be much softer than the original butter. You're disrupting the crystals, and potentially even rupturing a few more fat globules. So when you melt and resolidify butter, it's not just a simple solid to liquid to solid thing. These conditions control the relative proportions of firming crystalline fat and softening globular and free fat. The butter maker also influences consistency by the rate and degree of cooling to which he subjects the cream during the aging period, and by how extensively he works the new butter.
![clarify butter in microwave clarify butter in microwave](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8b/64/f9/8b64f9bba479f0924a85334e2dbb4187.jpg)
For example, from On Food and Cooking:įeeds rich in polyunsaturated fats, especially fresh pasturage, produce softer butters hay and grain harder ones. This also explains why butter isn't all the same texture. The fat crystals make it firmer, and the free fat and globules make it softer. So the final butter actually has three forms of fat in it: fat crystals, free fat, and fat globules. This evens out small amounts of buttermilk trapped in the grains, and fat crystals can also come together into larger networks. After draining off the buttermilk, the grains are kneaded together. This damages the fat globules, causing them to release fat, which forms much of the mass of the butter and lets it collect into grains. (The details of this process vary for example different temperatures can be used depending on the hardness of the milkfat.)Ĭhurning. The cream is heated and cooled, with resting periods at various temperatures, which encourages formation of certain kinds of fat crystals. Churning is the most well-known step, but there's more:Īging (heating, cooling, and storing the cream).
![clarify butter in microwave clarify butter in microwave](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/extra-crispy-media/assets/field/image/how-to-make-clarified-butter-hero3.jpg)
To back up a bit, let's look at how butter is made. That's also thanks to fat crystals, in that case in the cocoa butter. You might notice that this is similar to chocolate: if you take smooth, snappy tempered chocolate, melt it, and let it resolidify, the texture will often be grainy, soft, or even crumbly. Melting it disrupts all that structure, and it can't regain it just by resolidifying, so the structure of previously melted butter really is different. If the butter still hasn’t melted, take a spoon and stir it gently or tilt the bowl from side to side. Low power will lessen the chances of an explosion. Keep the container or bowl for 30 seconds in the microwave at 40 power. Butter may look totally amorphous, but there's actually a fair amount of structure in the fat, in particular fat crystals that make it firmer. Butter starts to melt at 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.