whey skin, pour the liquid fat off of the casein
residue, and the purification is complete.
Frying with Butter Butter is sometimes used
for frying and sautéing. It has the advantage
that its largely saturated fats are resistant to
being broken down by heat, and so don’t
become gummy the way unsaturated oils do.
It has the disadvantage that its milk solids
brown and then burn around 250ºF, 150º
below the smoke point of many vegetable oils.
Adding oil to butter does not improve its heat
tolerance. Clarifying does; butter free of milk
solids can be heated to 400ºF/200ºC before
burning.
Margarine and Other Dairy Spreads
Margarine has been called “a creation of
political intuition and scientific research.” It
was invented by a French chemist in 1869,
three years after Napoleon III had offered
funds for the development of an inexpensive
food fat to supplement the inadequate butter