Learn how to make clarified butter in the microwave in just 5 simple steps. Drawn butter is perfect for your favorite seafood and so easy to make!
How to Make Clarified Butter in the Microwave
I've probably mentioned like a thousand times by now that Fall is just super crazy for us with all three of our kids' birthdays, plus the hubby's, happening in a short 6 week span. And that's just in our little Gracious house. What I haven't mentioned is that we also have 6 more birthdays (that I can think of at this particular moment... there might be more... I'm pretty scatter-brained...) in the extended family. Add that to Christmas and we have quite the expensive last third of the year going on!
To combat the expense, my dad decided to do a communal birthday celebration. Instead of having individual grown-up-style birthday parties we would just have one big celebration that he named "Festival of Seafood." It was lots of fun last year, and we'll be repeating the experience this year again in just a few short weeks. We finally nailed down the menu, so hopefully there will be a few new seafood recipes coming your way shortly.
Anyway, one of my jobs last year was making clarified butter. I had basically no idea what I was doing. We live in the Midwest, so not too much fresh seafood or drawn butter action happening in these parts too often. This project required lots of research (I didn't want to waste the 4 pounds of butter I was in charge of!) and a little experimenting, but I found a ridiculously easy way to make drawn butter in the microwave.
So basically, when you're making clarified butter, you're just looking for the butter to separate. The clear, yellow part is pure butter fat and also the part that you keep. The other part is kind of brine-y milk proteins. That's what you're getting rid of.
If you want to be real particular about the straining process, you can use cheesecloth or even a coffee filter if you're doing it on the fly. But if you care a little bit less and you're just using it for a little seafood dipping like me, you can just carefully pour it to separate it. I didn't have any issues, and the stuff that did get through, I just skimmed off the top with a spoon.
Homemade Clarified Butter
Homemade Clarified Butter
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter or more. I would not make a batch larger than 2 cups
Instructions
- Place butter in a microwave safe bowl, preferably clear.
- Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes. DO NOT STIR.
- Check butter. If the butter is totally melted and there is a yellow clear layer on top with a lighter opaque layer on bottom, it's done. If butter is still cloudy, microwave for an additional 1-2 minutes until separated.
- To remove the the clarified butter, you can either strain all liquefied butter through several layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter If you're not too picky about it you can also spoon or carefully pour just the top clarified butter into a separate dish for storage.
- Cool completely before refrigerating in an airtight container for up to six months or can be frozen for up to a year.
Did you like this How to Make Clarified Butter tutorial? Find more on my In the Kitchen and Dip It! boards on Pinterest!
If you liked this How to Make Clarified Butter tutorial, you might also like
Garlic Parmesan Shrimp and Angel Hair
Never Miss a Thing!
Join our newsletter to get new recipes, tips, tricks, and tutorials every week!
Helene says
That is a really handy recipe! I am going to check out some of the other seafood ones too!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
I have to admit, we're normally lazy and leave it all together, but this is so easy. Crab legs here I come.
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
You make this easy! Thanks for sharing on the What's for Dinner linky
Bjd says
It is very easy. But you’ve got to watch the butter because it quickly foams over the lip of the Pyrex cup onto the floor of the microwave. I strained it thru a coffee filter and it’s pretty pure.
Michelle says
Yes, definitely keep a close eye!
Marlene Ebinger says
Great directions thx! Any ideas on what to do with the solids? Hate waste. All else fails my dog will enjoy it 😘
Michelle says
I don't make it that often, so we usually just throw it out. But that is a great question! I will definitely be looking into uses!
James says
Every recipe I find for this says to spoon or pour of the butter. Why not just put the measuring cup into the fridge, let the butter solidify and the pop the butter disc out of the cup and dump the water? Or am I missing something?
Michelle says
You're not separating milk fat from liquid. You're separating the fat from the protein solids. So if you put it back in the fridge, the whole thing will solidify with the solids at the bottom.