Clarified Butter

Butter is said to be “clarified” once the milk solids, which are proteins, and the water contained in the butter are removed. Clarified butter can be used for sautéing because it burns at a very high temperature—much higher than whole butter, which, because it contains milk solids, burns at a lower temperature. It can also be added to emulsified egg yolk sauces, to which it adds body and its beautiful buttery flavor without thinning the sauce (whole butter, which contains water, will thin an emulsified egg yolk sauce).