🔄 Slow baking
Also known as: clarifying
Long simmering at ~90 °C: baked milk, ghee.
Slow baking is long heating of milk or butter just below boiling point. The milk does not boil but simmers gently for several hours at 85–99 °C, usually around 90 °C. At a plant, pasteurised milk is kept in closed tanks for at least three hours and stirred so no skin forms. In villages, people used to put a pot of milk into a heated stove overnight or for a whole day.
During this time the milk changes. Milk sugar reacts with proteins; this is the Maillard reaction. The milk turns creamy-coloured and gets a caramel taste. Some of the water evaporates, and the milk thickens. It loses some of its vitamins C and B1. If this baked milk is fermented, it becomes ryazhenka and varenets.
Butter is treated this way too. Butter is heated slowly for a long time: the water evaporates, and the protein solids settle and separate. The pure fat is poured off. This is how ghee is made, the clarified butter of the Indian subcontinent with a nutty taste. It does not smoke until 250 °C, so it is good for frying. Other products are also linked to this method: the Ethiopian spiced butter niter kibbeh, North African smen, and English clotted cream.
How it connects to milk
🔄 Slow baking → gives → 🧀 Baked milk → made from → 🥛 Milk
Links
- What it yields
- 🧀 Baked milk, 🧈 Ghee, 🫕 Smen, 🧈 Niter kibbeh, 🫖 Clotted cream
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between baked milk and boiled milk?
Boiled milk is simply brought to the boil. Baked milk is heated for several hours just below boiling, so it becomes creamy, thick and gets a caramel taste.
How is ghee made?
Butter is heated slowly over low heat for a long time. The water evaporates, the proteins settle and are removed, and the clear fat is poured off. The result is ghee with a nutty taste.