Make Ghee in the Microwave Because You’re Lazy and Smart.
If any cooking oil is worthy of the title “liquid gold,” then it must be ghee. Ghee is clarified brown butter, which means it has the high smoke point of ghee and the nutty flavor of brown butter. In my book, this is as close to perfection as possible.
Unfortunately, ghee is expensive to buy and surprisingly frustrating to cook. When making homemade ghee recipes, you usually need to hover over a skillet of hot butter to skim the foam and then strain out the solids with a strainer lined with cheesecloth – two of my least favorite cooking methods. What I really wanted was to throw some oil into the microwave and be done with it.
I quickly realized that microwave ghee was more, but not much. There are three important tricks to success: First, use the largest microwave-safe bowl so that the oil has enough room to bubble without exploding. (I used a 4 liter glass bowl for four sticks of butter.) Second, do not cover the bowl until needed. Butter solids contain water that must evaporate before they turn brown; leaving the oil open while it melts and foams, let the steam go somewhere.
The third trick is my favorite: if you let the oil cool long enough, you won’t have to filter it at all. As the oil cools, all the solids sink to the bottom of the bowl, so all you have to do is drain off the fat.
To cook ghee in the microwave, you will need:
- 1 or more sticks of butter
- Large microwave-safe bowl, preferably glass.
- 2 microwave-safe plates large enough to completely cover the bowl
Cut each part of the butter into about eight or ten parts and transfer to a bowl. Place the bowl on one of the bowls and microwave on high power until the butter has melted, one to three minutes, or more, depending on the amount of oil and the power of your microwave.
After the butter has melted, it will begin to foam and splash or burst. As soon as you see foam or hear a popping sound, open the microwave door and leave the oil alone for 30 seconds to release the steam. Cover the bowl with a second plate and microwave at one minute intervals at high speed, checking in between until the milk solids turn dark yellow and you smell brown butter when you open the door. It took me about seven or eight minutes, but I used a huge bowl and a full pound of butter.
Hissing, spitting, and popping sounds are common during this step, which is why the size of your bowl is so important. If there is not enough space between the boiling oil and the top plate, the pressure rises so much that the plate is deflated – and the entire microwave is splattered with butter:
When the butter is browned to your liking, very carefully remove the very hot bowl from the microwave and place it on a heat-resistant surface to cool. At this point, the butter will become frothy and mixed with brown milk solids. Do not worry! Everything will settle down as it cools.
Open the bowl and let it cool for at least 20 minutes, or until you can comfortably hold the bowl with your bare hands. If solids are still floating on the surface, gently push them out with a spoon until they sink. Skim off any remaining foam and carefully pour clear fat into a storage container, leaving crispy solid particles behind. Throw away the solids or save them for future baking – a little extra brown oil never hurts.
Use ghee immediately or refrigerate until it hardens. It will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for almost unlimited time, but I think you will find it used up quickly.