Pure ghee manufacturers are a quality conscious ghee producers.

No matter the manufacturing process is used, a quality ghee producer takes diligent care for his produce, ghee, regardless it is produced from the milk f cow, sheep, or buffalo. Worldwide there are plenty of ghee manufacturers, but all of them do not follow the same process of ghee production. Although the prime objective of a quality ghee producer is manufacturing the best and purest form of ghee, different processes are there for enduing quality production.

Pure ghee manufacturing processes

In the dairy industry, five methods are used for making ghee, especially cow ghee. In ancient ages, ghee was produced mostly in India and in Middle East countries. Nowadays ghee is produced in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, apart from India and UAE, and all over the world, 5 methods are applied for quality ghee production. 

In ancient times, ghee was made at home. The produced ghee was used in different chores. Later on, ghee came to be produced commercially and on a large scale. So instead of homemade delicacy, ghee became a product of commercial interest and demand of ghee-produce was increased. Instead of the homemade course of pure ghee manufacturing processes, pure ghee manufacturers now use commercial advanced processes for bulk production and catering it systematically. The five most popular ghee manufacturing processes are, 

• Indigenous (Desi) method
• Direct cream method
• Creamery butter method
• Pre-stratification method
• Continuous method 

Indigenous (Desi) method of ghee production is the traditional process and is mostly the domestic process of making ghee. However, this process is not appropriate for producing a large volume of this dairy staple.

Except for the Indigenous method, there are four other means that pure ghee manufacturers mostly avail. However, the desi traditional process has some drawbacks, which are:

• The quality of ghee is highly changeable in terms of biochemical and sensory quality.
• The method is not suitable for large-scale production.
• The recovery of fat is indeed low.
• Acidity is high and hence keeping quality of the ghee is low.
• Manufacture and storage of ghee may not be sterilized.
• Ghee residue is not usable as it is highly acidic.

However, a few steps/precautions can improve this indigenous method. These are:

• The manufacturer can always pre-filter or strain the milk before the use.
• The milk should get thoroughly boiled before the curd is made.

Cool milk to room temperature (22-30 degrees Celsius) and then add starter culture for curd preparation. The setting of curd should be done under controlled conditions. 

• Usually, the manufacturer incubates milk until curd is set and desired acidity (0.80%) is developed. It normally requires about 16-18 hours in winter and 8-10 hours in summer.
• Curd is churned by an electrically driven beater or butter churn.
• Pure ghee manufacturers use of cold water during the churning in summer months is suggested to curtail the tendency of fat loss thereby it enhances the fat recovery rate in ghee.
• Pure ghee manufacturers make ghee preferably from the fresh milk-butter or store it in a refrigerator.
• Pure ghee manufacturers process needs heating of milk butter at sufficiently high (more than 100 degrees Celsius) temperature for making ghee.
• The small scale pure ghee manufactures invest time to strain ghee appropriately to make it entirely free from the ghee residue.

Direct Cream method

The direct cream method is one of the popular manufacturing processes that most of the small scale pure ghee manufacturers follow. In this process, centrifugation is used to separate cream from milk ghee is prepared from the milk-cream.

There are certain advantages to this process:

• Butter churn and butter storage facilities are not required, therefore, the process turns cost-efficient.
• The refrigeration facility is not required for the preparation and storage of butter.
• Recovery of fat on the basis of total butterfat is higher than the indigenous method and pure ghee manufacturers can skip the butter making phase.
• The storage quality of ghee is better.

 There are certain drawbacks to this manufacturing method. These are:

• The direct cream method demands a longer boiling/heating time to eliminate the moisture.
• High content of serum solids in the cream mostly produces a highly caramelized flavor in the ghee.
• This method leads to about 4-6% loss of total butterfat in the ghee residue or during the handling operations, which depends on the fat content of the cream. However, the pure ghee manufacturers can recover the large quality of fat from the ghee residue.

 Creamery Butter Method

Creamery Butter Method is the standard pure ghee manufacturing process than standard producers mostly follow. In this process, unsalted white butter or creamery butter works as the ghee raw material. There are some obvious benefits pure ghee manufacturers enjoy this ghee making process.

The advantages:

• This method produces pure ghee of the best and the consistent quality.
• Quantity of the ghee residue is very less, hence the method helps in less fat loss.
• The Pure ghee manufacturers can store cooking butter in lesser space.
• The energy requirement is minor than direct cream and desi indigenous methods.
• Produced ghee offers longer shelf than the indigenous method

Disadvantages

• The flavor of ghee prepared by this method may not be of the highest aroma level.
• The granulation in ghee is also poor as compared to other ghee manufacturing methods.

Pre-stratification Method

The ghee boiler used in the pre-stratification method is somewhat modified. A faucet is offered at the lower end of the boiler to eliminate most of the buttermilk (moisture and SNF). In this method, white butter is heated at a temperature of about 80o C and left uninterrupted for about 30 minutes at this temperature.

The melted butter stratifies into 3 layers, consisting of a top layer of floating (denatured) curd particles, a middle layer of fat, and the bottommost layer of buttermilk. This separation of butter into layers is termed as pre-stratification. The bottom layer of buttermilk contains 60-70% of milk solids-no-fat and also over 80% of moisture present in the butter. Once the buttermilk is routinely removed without disturbing the top and middle layers, ghee is prepared from the 1st and second layers.

Advantages

• The economy in fuel consumption to an extent of 60% as compared with direct clarification.
• The acidity of ghee is less, which results in longer keeping quality.
• Exposure to high temperature for lesser time.
• The amount of residue formation is reduced.

Disadvantages

• It is essentially a batch method unsuitable for the continuous production of ghee.
• The flavor of prepared ghee is very mild or rather flat.

Continuous Methods

When pure ghee manufacturers want to produce a huge quantity of ghee at one go, they use this continuous method of ghee manufacturing. This is a large scale process of ghee manufacturing and often manufactures cum exports use thus production method in their plant.

Ghee manufacturing machines

The ghee manufacturing plants use almost the same types of machinery no matter pure ghee manufacturers follow one of the four producing methods. The basic machines required in ghee manufacturing plants are:

• Steam heated double jacketed kettle made of stainless steel
• Agitator
• Steam regulator valve
• Pressure and temperature gauges
• Movable, hollow, stainless-steel built tube centrally bored in the kettle
• Thermometer
• Weighing scale
• Balance tank
• Plate heat exchanger for heating or pasteurization
• Pre-concentrator
• Separator (optional) for “buttermilk” from the pre-concentrator (4)
• Buffer tank
• Homogenizer for phase inversion
• Plate heat exchanger for cooling
• Final concentrator
• Balance tank
• Plate heat exchanger for heating/cooling
• Vacuum chamber
• Storage tank

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MANUFACTURE OF AMF FROM BUTTER

Production line for AMF from butter.

1. Melter and heater for butter
2. Holding tank
3. Concentrator
4. Balance tank
5. Plate heat exchanger for heating/ cooling
6. Vacuum chamber
7. Storage tank

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Based in New Zealand, Milkio Foods is one of the leading pure ghee manufacturers and exporters. The company produces wide varieties of ghee including Organic Cow Ghee, Grass-Fed Cow Ghee, High Aroma Cow Ghee, High Aroma Sheep Ghee, Infused Ghee [Lime and Garlic], and Blend Ghee. 

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Ref Links:
1. Organic ghee
2. Organic clarified butter