One of the common questions we get asked is "can ghee be eaten by those wanting a lactose-free alternative?"
The short answer is yes, mostly... depending. Ghee has many health benefits, and being very low in lactose is one of them. If you have lactose intolerance, then yes, you can definitely eat ghee. If you are highly allergic, the answer is still yes, but don't.
I'll explain.
Transforming boring butter into the magical goodness of ghee requires a slow and consistent cook. During the process, all of the milk solids rise to the surface. Once risen, they then slowly begin to drop to the bottom of the pan to sit and become toasty brown (producing a gorgeous taste of caramelised, butterscotch toffee).
Once the cook is finished, the ghee is strained several times through layers of fine cloth.
This is to ensure none of the milk solids get into the final product.
The problem with saying ghee is 100% lactose-free is that, despite taking the ghee through the straining process multiple times, there's no guarantee all micro-particles are removed.
In fact, to ensure each and every jar of OMGhee is lactose-free, each jar would need to be put through a laboratory test. This would make the production of small-batch homemade ghee guaranteed to be 100% lactose-free unviable. So if you are highly allergic to lactose, we sadly recommend you're best to give it a miss.
That said, many lactose intolerant people use ghee as a butter replacement in their home, using it freely on a consistent and daily basis, and successfully experiencing the benefits of ghee without any negative side effects. We're confident that if this is you, OMGhee is the perfect ghee, and healthy butter alternative, for you.
Important: avoid purchasing ghee with the words clarified butter on the label, because 'technically' it's not real ghee. If you are genuinely seeking 100% lactose-free ghee, then you'd be wise to avoid ghee produced and sold as clarified butter. While ghee at one stage during the transformation process is technically clarified butter, it's not until it's cooked further that it becomes ghee, and lactose-free.
So in answer to the question, is ghee lactose-free? Mostly, maybe, depending, yes, no... see above.
PS: stay tuned for the experiments and yummy goodness we're creating from this golden ghee 'waste', think apple crumble taken to the next level.
