Ghee!

[lilly]

One of our real food pleasures is butter. The problem is we only have an ice box so keeping butter unrefridgerated for extended times isn't possible.A few years ago we 'discovered' a way of keeping butter unrefrigerated for weeks.
We make pint jars of ''Ghee. We keep them in the bilge. One pound of butter makes one pint of Ghee.
The secret is to ONLY use unsalted butter. Add salt later when you use it.
On very low heat slowly melt a pound of unsalted butter. In a while carefully skim off the milk solids that rise to the surface then continue to let the now clear butter simmer under VERY low heat. During this time (maybe half an hour) the water in the butter will evaporate. You will see/hear little 'blurps'. These are minute water drops coming to the surface. Then carefully pour the Ghee into a one pint canning jar. When the Ghee has cooled tighten the lid. Now you have delicious butter that will last for months unopened. Ghee has been a staple in India, where most have no refrideration, for centuries.

[GordMay]

Testing Clarified Butter (water is completely evapourated):
Pour heated butter into small piece of paper, and ight the paper on fire. If it gives crackling noise, it is indicating the presence of water, requiring further heating (evapouration).

[roverhi]

Why not just use canned butter??

We bought NZ canned butter for our cruise to SoPac. Kept unopened for at least 6 months, we ate up our original stock by then. After the original stock was gone, bought replacements as it was readily available in even the most remote areas of French Polynesia. We never had a problem keeping the butter unrefrigerated in 90+ air temp and 80+ water temp after it was opened.

We got the NZ butter in LA. It should be available in most major cities and probably via mail order.

Aloha
Peter O.