[Culprit]

Originally Posted by UniChef

Wambly is right-

Drawn butter is butter that has been melted, solids left in.

Clarified butter is melted then the solids removed.

Seems to me that, if drawn butter is simply melted butter, we'd call it "melted butter". Why would we need a special name for it?
When a recipe calls for drawn butter, I use clarified butter. When it calls for clarified butter, I use clarified butter. Never had a problem following this line of interpretation. Seems a lot to do about nothing...

[Free Rider]

I was perusing my "Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques" book last night and stumbled upon the entry for "clarified butter". "Also called drawn butter," the book says. It then describes the procedure for removing the solids from the melted butter. The controversy continues.

[mudbug]

In some regions the terms are colloquial but for the most part, think of it this way:

All carified butter is drawn butter.
But not all drawn butter is clarified.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the term was in 1879 by M. C. TYREE Housekping Virginia p102 Dish, and serve with drawn butter and parsley.

[Free Rider]

That Housekeeping in Old Virginia book is on the same link as for The Epicurean that I posted some time ago. I took a look and found the following reference, as you've stated:

"TO ROAST SHAD.

Fill the inside with forcemeat, sew it up and tie it on a board, not pine, cover with bread crumbs, a little salt, and pepper, and place before the fire. When done one side, turn it; when sufficiently done, pull out the thread; dish and serve with drawn butter and parsley.--Mrs. D.

[castironchef]

Wikipedia to the rescue:

"Drawn butter can refer to a number of butter preparations, including:

A sauce made of butter, flour, and water.
Melted clarified butter.
Melted butter.
Is the same thing as Indian Ghee "

So there! You're ALL right.

[Suzanne]

What I remember from my days of eating lobster out is that it was served with "drawn butter" that was just melted butter. Maybe they wanted to sound fancy so called it that but didn't want to go to all the trouble of really clarifying it.To make clarified butter, in restaurant school we were taught not just to melt it and pour off the fat, but to skim, skim, skim all the stuff that floats to the top, and then to let all the moisture boil off. So what came out was pure butterfat with neither milk solids nor water.

My preferred version of Joy of Cooking (1975) says:

Drawn or Clarified Butter or Ghee

There need be neither mystery nor mystique about this substance: it is merely melted butter with the sediment removed. But, as it is used in so many different ways -- among others as a sauce for cooked lobster, to make brown and black butter and as a baking ingredient -- here is the recipe;
Melt completely over low heat:

Butter

Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes, allowing the milk solids to settle to the bottom. Skim the butter fat from the top and strain the clear yellow liquid into a container.

[mudbug]

On Ghee:

Ghee is a type of clarified butter, but not all clarified butter is ghee.

Ghee is cooked longer until the milk sugars are just about to caramelize after it foams twice so that it has a more nutty flavor. However this is most likely the simplified version. In native countries however, ghee is extremely specific. Based on region, the animals, the land, and the technique as can be viewed here.

[Shefood]

Drawn butter and clarified butter are the same exact thing. Period. Terminology in context is the only difference. Yes this is achieved by melting until the milk solids sink to the bottom. The drawn,or clarified butter has a much higher smoke point for cooking, takes longer to go rancid because of the absence of milk solids, and is also served here in Maine for lobster and shellfish.
The reason clarified butter is also referred to as "drawn butter" is because of the better, but harder way to prepare it. You melt the butter and simmer until the water contained in the butter evaporates. The milk solids will then start to fry in the clear fat. When this occurs, you remove the pot from heat and pour through a strainer lined with DAMP cheesecloth. (Oil & water don't mix, so if the cheesecloth is damp it will not absorb the clear butter fat). This will contain the golden brown milk solids. The remainder of the butter that is DRAWN through the cheesecloth is quite a bit more clear by using this method. Hence the alternate name for clarified butter: "drawn butter".

[DC Sunshine]

I've never drawn butter - it just ends up a really boring picture

[Psycho Chef]

If I was at a restaurant ordering lobster and the menu said drawn butter I would not be suprised to get just melted butter. If it came clarified, no shock there either. I never use the word "drawn" on my menus, always "clarified". To me "drawn" is too vague a term and has no real culinary currency these days. But now that I think about it, this thread started like 8 years ago....

Melted just sounds lazy...drawn makes it sound sound like a process

Thanks for "THE REAL ANSWER!" Shefood.

They are not the same- but are often used interchangably.

Drawn butter is simply melted butter with foam removed from the top, meant to be served as a dipping condiment- most commonly served over a votive-warmer with lobster, crab and other shell-fish.

Clarified butter is used for sauteeing and has been gentle-heated over a flame in a heavy-bottomed pot for a duration long enough to simmer off all of the butter's natural water, whey and cloudy impurites. The clarifying is necessary to rid butter of anything that will singe, scorch and burn while pan-frying/sauteeing, so the cleanest clarification possible is desirable for this purpose.

[mjpcobb]

I would think that drawn butter would be melted butter in which the surface has been skimmed of all impurities and we all know what clarified butter means...right? ok.

[teamfat]

I can't beleive people are arguing about this - one is used for making stock, the other for making broth

mjb.

[mjpcobb]

I didn't post for the sake of arguing, I just wanted to state what I thought was true, and find out if that was actually right. Your pin-headed demeanor sucked but I do appreciate your precision. This was the first time I participated in a forum on this website, I can't believe that this kind of *******-ish attitude was the response.

[boar_d_laze]

You know how definitions work -- truth comes from whomever is feeding you.

There is such a thing as "drawn butter" or "drawn butter sauce" which is different from clarified butter -- no matter what is in the pot at the local "fine dining" establishment. It's an emulsion made of melted (whole, not clarified) butter, water, and (sometimes a little) flour. If you know saucing it's very similar to beurre monte, but with slightly more water. It's typically served with steamed or boiled shellfish.

Hope this clarifies,
BDL