Add the butter to medium-sized saucepan and place over a medium heat. Do not cover. Gently melt the butter over the medium heat. Avoid stirring while it's melting.
Once melted, the butter will continue to heat over the medium heat and begin to boil slightly, once bubbling reduce the heat to bring to a simmer. You want a steady bubble, but not to where butter is spraying out of the pan. Gently stir occasionally.
You will notice fairly quickly that it will start to separate into three separate layers. Foam will appear on top (this is the butter's water content boiling off), milk solids will drop to the bottom of the pan and the clarified butter will float between the two. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until completely separated, the middle layer should be fragrant, much more golden than when you started and clear. The bits at the bottom may start to brown slightly.
Remove the pan from the heat and skim off whatever is left of the top layer, until the ghee looks clean (minus the bits in the bottle). Return the pan back to the heat, a medium-low and cook another 10 to 15 minutes, until there is barely any bubbling and the bits at the bottom of the pan begin to brown and caramelize, just don't let them burn. You will notice a rich aroma, slightly like popcorn. If those bits do burn, the ghee will have a burnt taste. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Do a final skim of any foam on top then carefully and slowly, pour the golden ghee through a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Discard the bits.
Carefully pour the golden oil into your clear, dry, airtight containers.
Use in stir fries, sautés, it's great with roasted veggies,when solid spread as you would butter
STORAGE: If you get all of the solids out and used clean and dry utensils you can store the ghee at room temperature for up to 2 months, if kept in an airtight container and moisture free. Otherwise store in the refrigerator, where it can be stored for 6 months to a year. Once cold, ghee is solid, opaque and super smooth.
Notes
NOTES:To strain the foam and solids you can also pour the hot melted butter into a container and allow it to separate on its own while cooling, and then refrigerate. After it has solidified, you can easily scrape off the hardened foam on top.Use a gravy or fat separator to make the skimming easier.Strain the melted butter through a typical coffee filter.You don't HAVE to discard the little brown bits. According to reader Sam "...they don’t have to be discarded. If one is dairy tolerant, these bits can be used in several ways. Our grandmother would knead these into chickpea flour and make a delicious pancake. Similarly these could be mixed with raw honey and shaped into balls to make a fantastic crunchy dessert."