Seems a shame to toss it.
candle making?
Cook it down and put it in a soup? It’d probably be tasty in a lintel or bean soup
Take from this what you will, but when I make jambalaya I take andouille sausage out of the casing and break it up in the pot. It’s the first thing I cook. Once cooked down a little and it’s released some fat, I take that sausage out but leave the fat. I then cook everything else (veggies, chicken, ham, etc) in the sausage fat. It’s not healthy by any stretch, but it adds so much flavor to the entire dish.
So, I’d say collect the fat and cook something in it!
:cheers:
Dribble over your dog’s or cat’s dry food. Or re-fry beans.
Adjunct for a Farmhouse Ale?
Do you have any cast iron to season?
I’d just dump the crap. but I despise chicken. I’d go with the cat/dog food idea.
Matter of fact I do. Can you enlighten me? Thanks
Cook with it, definitely…a little bit is great for “sweating” the vegetable ingredients destined for a soup (especially gumbos and the like). A much more flavorful alternative to vegetable oils (and no worse for you when used in reasonable amounts).
I always saved the fat skimmed from a pot of chicken soup, from roasted chicken pan juices, and fat rendered from trimmed off skin or fat. I’ll use it as a starter as mentioned above, but the primary use for the stuff is when I make matzo balls for soup, or bread dumplings to include in a pot of stew.
I also use it added to duck fat if necessary when I’m putting up some confit duck legs and I don’t have quite enough duck or goose fat on hand (what can I say…to us Hungarians those things are staple items!)
Matter of fact I do. Can you enlighten me? Thanks[/quote]
Well take your cast iron and heat it up, but not too hot as to burn the fat or get it smoking. You can do this all in the oven if need be. When your hot just spread on the fat with a paper towel and cover everything real nice like. You can leave it on the heat for quite a while: the idea is to cook in the grease into the cast iron pores. Wipe it clean when done and repeat after you use it. To properly season and create that flavorful non-stick coating can take a bit.
Matter of fact I do. Can you enlighten me? Thanks[/quote]
Well take your cast iron and heat it up, but not too hot as to burn the fat or get it smoking. You can do this all in the oven if need be. When your hot just spread on the fat with a paper towel and cover everything real nice like. You can leave it on the heat for quite a while: the idea is to cook in the grease into the cast iron pores. Wipe it clean when done and repeat after you use it. To properly season and create that flavorful non-stick coating can take a bit.[/quote]
Correct me if I am wrong on this as well, but when you clean your cast iron, do you use soap? I have a cast iron griddle like pan, perfect for grilled cheese and pancakes…I never wach it with soap. After use I run it under the cold water…typically the steaming off of the cold water on the hot pan is enough to clean everything off. Occasionally I will give it a wipe with a wet paper towel. Is this similar to how you clean yours?
You are correct; you should not have to use soap if it is properly seasoned. However, if you do have to really clean it just use a scrubber and hot water. You will just have to reseason, but I do that after every time I use it anyways. I clean it out with a wet paper towel right after I am done.
+1 to only using hot water to clean your cast iron.
Also, it helps if you let the cast iron cool down as slowly as possible after you season it. Just shut off the heat and let it do its thing. But, I really like to season mine on an open fire and allow to cool as slow as possible.
To season cast iron: make sure it’s free of debris, coat with a light layer of fat/??uhh…crisco (I use bacon grease) place upside down in a cold oven(put something on a rack underneath to catch drips), turn on to 350 bake for an hour then turn off the oven leaving the cast iron in the oven to cool down slowly. repeat if necessary. the more times you do this the better patina you will end up with. after each use lightly coat with oil to maintain the finish.
+1 to all of above.
I also use chicken fat as a starter for gravy to make a roux. Equal amounts fat + flour. Fry in a pan to cook out the flour flavor til it’s slightly browned/tan and like a paste. Slowly whisk in chicken stock & it’ll thicken up and be really tasty chicken gravy. I do this with Turkey drippings at Thanksgiving too. Really, any fat + flour makes a great roux.
Make schmaltz!
