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How to Render Fat

2/5/2015

In these days of $4/lb. butter, it's a smart thing to make your own fat for cooking. I love using bacon grease for cooking, but recently I've also been using rendered chicken fat- quite tasty for frying eggs. This method can be used with any kind of fat. I have done it with venison, but prefer to use harder game-y fat for making soap.

1. Separate the fat/skins from the meat.

Left: fat. Right: meat.

2. Put the fat/skins in a pot with some water; 2-4 cups.
3. Let the fat boil or simmer for a couple hours.

4. Strain out the solids and put jar of liquid in the fridge so the fat can separate.
5. Peel fat from the top of the jar; put in separate container to keep in the fridge. Discard liquid.

Fat on top; water underneath.

And that's all there is to it! From one pile of scraps, I probably got 1/2 cup of usable fat. That's as much as one stick of butter, or $1 worth of fat. I'll take it!

How do you save money on fats and oils?

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Making Bone Broth in a Pressure Canner

2/3/2015

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A New Way to Make Stock

Now this tutorial differs from every other stock/broth tutorial that I can find on the internet. Most people make the stock and THEN use, freeze, or can it. I've figured out how to make stock AND preserve it all in the same step. The secret is a pressure canner.

1. Find some clean and/or sterile quart jars.
2. Drop the following into each jar:

1 slice of onion
1 piece carrot
1/2 tsp. salt
1 splash (1/2 tsp.?) vinegar
2 prepared chicken feet
1 wing, neck or other bony part >> OR you can just use all chicken feet or all bony parts. At least 3 pieces is a good rule of thumb. A wing will give you some flavor, as opposed to using all feet or just bones.

3. Fill the jar up with water, leaving a 1" headspace.
4. Sterilize lids and screw on bands.
5. Follow your pressure canner instructions for processing meat. My instructions are to process 1 hr. 15 min. at 10 lbs. pressure.

And that's it! To make sure the gelatin hasn't broken down, put a jar in the fridge overnight. If it gels, you're good to go. When you are ready to make soup, open the can and peel the fat off (if desired). Gently heat the broth until it is liquid and strain out the feet & meaty parts. If you want, you can pick the meat off the bones and use it in your soup.

I've made so many batches of stock that, for one reason or another, don't gel up. I really don't make chicken broth for the flavor, but for the gelatin. This method of using chicken feet in the pressure cooker gives me consistent results. I look forward to trying this method with bones as opposed to feet.

How do you make bone broth? Do you have a favorite method that works great?

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How to Render Fat

Making Bone Broth in a Pressure Canner

Bethany

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