To Clarify Fat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fat
Cut the fat into half‑inch pieces.
Place the fat in a saucepan over low heat until melted.
Strain the melted fat through fine cheesecloth.
Measure the strained fat.
Purify and cool
For every 4 cups of fat, add 1½ cups of boiling water and ¼ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.
Boil the mixture over moderate heat until the water evaporates and the surface is still.
Strain again through double cheesecloth.
Let cool.
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
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Helps neutralise acids and impurities in the fat, aiding a cleaner, milder result.
- Boiling water
- Carries away water-soluble impurities and drives off moisture as it boils off.
The step that matters
Boiling until the water evaporates. Any leftover water in the fat can cause spattering, spoilage and off-flavours. The surface going still signals that the water has boiled off, so the fat is dry enough to store.
“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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