To Clarify Butter

Melt the required quantity of good butter (preferably fresh) very gently in a heavy saucepan or a frying pan. The butter must not colour at all, but should bubble for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to settle for a further 3 or 4 minutes. Fold a piece of butter muslin or an old handkerchief so that two thicknesses cover a basin or jar. Pour through it the still warm and liquid butter. Alternatively, place a sheet of kitchen paper in the bottom of a fine sieve or strainer and pour the butter through this. The liquid butter may be reheated almost to boiling and poured straight on to the prepared pots of meat, or it may be stored in the refrigerator for later use. If this is done, it is best to lift out the solid cake of butter when it is quite cold and wrap it in foil for storage, as a little liquid and sediment may have formed under it.