Skip to main content
Main

To Clarify Fat

A method for extracting clarified fat from meat by boiling and straining.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
Jump to recipe ↓

To Clarify Fat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the fat into small pieces.

  2. Place the fat in a saucepan with 1 quart of water.

Render and strain

  1. Boil until all the water evaporates.

  2. Strain the melted fat into a basin.

  3. Repeat until all the fat is extracted.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Fat from meat
Supplies the fat that melts and is clarified for cooking.
Water
Boils off during rendering, carrying heat and helping separate the fat from solids.

The step that matters

Boil until all the water evaporates. Any water left in the fat can cause spattering and shorten its storage life. Once the water is gone, the fat can be strained cleanly.

“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.

You might also like