Earth Soy-Free Margarine; Straining Ghee

[Gloria]

I double-checked the list of ingredients on the Earth Balance soy-free margarine. I was dismayed to read that it contains pea protein, since I can't eat legumes. I guess it won't be an acceptable margarine for me and others with a legume intolerance.

I've been making my own Ghee for several months. I buy unsalted butter when it's on sale for $1.50 a pound. I'm able to make almost a pound of Ghee for considerably less than the $6-$9 for the premade jars in the store.

I have always struggled with how to strain it so that it's not messy and all casein particles are removed. I'm happy to report that I've found a solution.

I've used napkins, paper towels and even a coffee filter, but they are all messy and absorb the Ghee instead of filtering it. My solution? I purchased two identical strainers so that one fits inside the other. Then I used a square piece of pellon (polyester interfacing available in any fabric store) to line the strainer on the bottom. The strainer on the top caught all the large caked casein pieces and the pellon filter collected the remaining small pieces. It poured through the pellon in record time, leaving no sediment in the ghee.

It's very important that the casein be cooked long enough to turn into crumbly pieces instead of a milky liquid. The heating process takes about 45 minutes at low temperature. You'll see slightly brown matter on the bottom of the liquid and white crusty matter on the top. The filter removes both, leaving only the liquid.

If you buy Ghee, you might want to try making it yourself when butter is on sale.

Gloria

[tex]

Gloria,

Thanks for posting that. You've really got the process perfected. I agree that the filtering is the most critical step. Good thinking.

Tex

[mbeezie]

Hi Gloria,

I looked into the margarine issue a while back. From other websites I visited, it appears that the only commercial margarine available that is dairy free and soy/legume free is Fleischmann's Light - it has corn and canola oils and lots of nasty chemicals, like sodium benzoate.


Mary Beth

[Gloria]

Mary Beth,

I think I've heard about Fleishmann's Light before, but when I've looked at it, I haven't been impressed with the ingredients either. I never liked light margarine before MC because it has too much water.

I use the margarine and Ghee primarily for cooking and baking. It looks like I'll be sticking with the Ghee-Spectra combination, unless I can get more Mother's Margarine during Passover next year. I couldn't find any this year.

Gloria