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Clarifying Dripping

A method to clarify dripping by adding baking soda and cooling to separate fat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Clarifying Dripping

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Clarify the dripping

  1. Pour hot dripping into a basin with cold water.

  2. Add baking soda and stir a few times.

  3. Set aside to cool; the dripping will firm up.

  4. Remove any impurities from the bottom.

Alternative method

  1. Alternatively, pour liquid dripping into boiling water and let it boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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

Dripping
Provides the fat that is clarified and used for cooking, carrying flavour from the roasted meat.
Baking soda
Helps break down impurities so they separate and can be removed from the fat.

The step that matters

Removing impurities from the bottom. Water and residues settle beneath the fat as it cools; leaving them in place can cloud the dripping and shorten how long it keeps. Removing them cleanly gives a clearer, purer fat.

“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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