To Clarify Fat
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the fat into small pieces.
Put the fat into a saucepan with the cold water.
Leave the lid off and boil gently for about 1 hour, until the water has evaporated.
The fat will be clear, and the skin will be shriveled and dry.
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 scraps
- Provide the rendered fat that is clarified into a clear, pure cooking fat.
- Cold water
- Gently heats the fat and evaporates away, leaving only the melted fat behind.
The step that matters
Boil gently with the lid off until the water has evaporated. Water in the pan keeps the temperature near boiling while it cooks off. Only once it is gone can the fat rise above that point and render cleanly. Rushing with high heat or leaving the lid on can let the fat spatter, scorch, or stay cloudy with moisture.
“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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