How do I render chicken fat?

a Whole Foods Market Customer
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7 Comments

Author Comment
The question was "how do I render chicken fat"? To eat healthy , when cooking chicken, it is a good idea to eliminate the fat. When I cook chicken, without the fat, it is very tasty. Once or twice a year it is my purpose to render the fat for schmaltz. But, after I remove the fat I use the bird efficiently.
 
sarah K. April 21, 2011
It's only complicated if your sole purpose is to get some schmalz, not if you're trying to use the bird as efficiently as possible! ;) The chicken tastes better if you cook it with its fat, imho.
 
Author Comment
Sam, Sarah, your method is a little complicated to make chicken fat. Just cook the fat from the chicken before you cook the chicken. It has a better texture and taste than the way you are doing it. I have made chicken the way you describe and it is delicious. But...I never use the fat from the cooked chicken.. Check Mark Bittman. If you add some cut up chicken skin it crisps and is delish.
 
Sam1148 April 20, 2011
@sarah K

Yes, I've used it many times. I think it original was a "Frugal Gourmet" tech.
The trick is using a large stock pot enough to submerge the chicken.

Like you, I used to HATE boiled to death chicken until I did this tech. It's moist.


Ahhh...here's the full text of the tech. Mine is slightly modified due to the same concerns you have about it not being hot enough. I did test with a probe one time..and it was in the 'safe zone'. at it's peak of heat transfer.

http://www.food.com/recipe/boiled-chicken-chinese-style-358529

I fill it up with water. Put in the chicken and make a mental note of the water level--adding about 2-3 inches of water.

With just short boiling time it brings everything back up to heat. Then turn it off..it will cook the chicken perfectly in an hour.
I put on gloves and go at the chicken, pulling out the dark meat, white meat, and skin with my gloved hands.
The bones and skin go back in the pot. For a long simmer. The meat is put in tupperwear to store or freeze for later use. Then strain into a smaller pot (my fridge is usually crowded). And the fat forms a disk when cool. Take it out and store.

 
sarah K. April 20, 2011
Sam1148, Is this real? Really real? Does it solve the problem of yucky textured boiled chicken (with only 5 minutes of actual boiling)? And is there foam? I've never ever ever boiled a whole chicken, and it just seems too simple. Does the heat really get in there next to the breastbone and everything? And then, of course you could boil the neck, too, to further the stock, while you fry the livers and eat them because you're too hungry to wait an hour. I'm gonna try this today!

I always roast chickens whole, basted with some olive oil, and then boil the carcasses with every drop of what's left in the roasting pan (pour boiling water in the pan, heat on stove, stir with spatula to scrape up crispy bits), so the leftover fat is a mix of chicken fat and olive oil, but it's still yummy.
 
Sam1148 April 20, 2011
Take one whole chicken. One large pot of water that will cover the chicken. Carrots, celery, onions.

Bring the water to a boil with the veggies, put in the chicken. Bring back to a boil for 5 mins...TURN IT OFF. Cover wait one hour. Remove chicken and go at it with your hands to remove the meat. Which should be perfectly cooked through for other things (salads soups..etc.). Save the skins and bones.

Look, you have bones and skin left over..Put that back in the pot with water, simmer an hour or two.

Let cool and put in the 'fridge. The next day..you'll have a fat disk on top. and great chicken stock on the bottom. remove the fat disk and reserve.

This is a way to get Every BIT of a chicken to use. Skin bones, fat etc..and the meat.

strain the chicken stock and store/freeze.

 
Author Comment
Put the fat from a chicken (or chickens) in a pot, add some water ( for 1 chicken about a quarter of a cup) and a small amount of sliced onion. Add some chicken skin. Cook on a med. light. The water will cook away. When this happens add some more water to the bottom of the pot. The fat will dissolve and the skin will become crisp. Then it is done. Strain and refrigerate.
 
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