Should Ghee be Refrigerated?

Ghee, being a traditional household item, has acquired considerable importance in all the essential activities of life. As pure ghee is the synonym for sacredness, the dairy item is irreplaceable in every kitchen and place of worship. For delicate food items, rules exist for their storage without leaving any chance for its spoilage due to the atmosphere. Every Indian homemaker takes utmost interest and cares to store this cooking essential as it is one of their favourite items in Indian cuisine. This valuable food item is the essence of hundreds of delicious dishes that expert cooks invent almost every day to enrich the taste buds of innumerable food lovers.

With the advent of the modern age and increasing dependence on refrigeration of cooked foods and cooking items, questions are now being raised on health grounds about the negative impacts of storing ghee in the fridge.
Let's highlight this in the light of medical opinions to know the truth about the topic- "should ghee be refrigerated"?

Do we need to store it in a refrigerator?

Typically, the quality of ghee does not deteriorate when you store it under average temperature. You could keep it at a stable temperature for a year, and assuredly, it would not taste rancid. This period is enough to exhaust its stock through repeated uses in your daily cooking requirements. Usually, a household would not have the necessity to buy ghee in large quantities, unless required and the average purchase would not exceed a kilo or two in a month.

An unintentional mistake of using a wet spoon to scoop out ghee from inside the jar could be responsible for making the ghee stale or rancid. The use of a wet spoon to scoop out ghee from the jar creates fungus in the stock of ghee. Be careful to always use a dry spoon so the spent remaining stock of the ghee remains safe for longer period.

Quality of the product matters but storage doesn't!

When ghee is exhaustible as a household item, all you need to check is its quality. When the purity is high, the quality would naturally be high compared to substandard mixed products available in the market. Ghee with top-notch quality would keep its taste and nutritional value intact for a long period. The superior quality of the product would not deteriorate, and it does not necessitate it to get stored in the refrigerator.

Refrigerated ghee is not good after two years.

Could any food product remain safe for consumption after a time gap of two years inside your refrigerator? Not! Similarly, when it comes to the storage of ghee inside the compartment of the fridge for more than two years, the quality would surely go down, and on health grounds. Homemakers and cooks invariably cast glances at the manufacturing and expiry dates on the package of the ghee while they buy it. Like any other edible cooking oil, purchasing ghee depends on the monthly consumption quantity. But assuredly, the quality of ghee does not go down even for a year sitting in your kitchen cabinet.

Ghee is usually safe in your kitchen cabinet.

Let's discuss how, unlike the other dairy products, ghee does not turn stale after a small gap of time. Ghee is clarified butter with pure golden fat content. During the slow and meticulous process of its preparation, moisture is evaporated and only remnants of pure fat remain without any content of lactose, as milk solids are skimmed and strained. It is because of this process it turns into pure golden fat and does not get rancid for an extended period. Due to which, you do not need to store it inside the refrigerator to retain its quality.

Would you keep it in a tight jar inside the kitchen or compartment of the refrigerator?

For hundreds of years, the ideal place for storing ghee has been inside an air-tight container on your kitchen shelf. This powerhouse, full of Linoleic, Omega, and Butyric acids and vitamins such as A, D, E, and K, is pure golden fat that makes it non-perishable for a long time. Hence, it does not need to get stored inside a refrigerator.