Clarifying Dripping and Fat
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the dripping
Break the dripping into small pieces and place it in a large basin.
Pour a kettleful of boiling water over the dripping.
Let it stand until completely cold.
Cut the solidified fat out of the basin and scrape off the dark underside.
Empty and wash the basin, then break up the fat again.
Pour another kettleful of boiling water over the fat and repeat the process two more times for best results.
Optional rendering
For optional method, place scraps of fat in a saucepan with enough water to cover them and simmer, stirring occasionally until the water evaporates.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Beef fat or dripping
- Provides the fat that is clarified, forming the final cooking fat once impurities are removed.
- Boiling water
- Melts and washes out water-soluble impurities and meat residue from the fat as it cools and separates.
The step that matters
Repeating the boiling water washes. Fat and water separate as the fat cools, so the solidified fat must be scraped clean of the dark underside each time. Skipping washes leaves residue that can make the fat taste stronger and spoil sooner.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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