How do you render chicken fat for cooking?

Question

Has anyone attempted to render chicken fat, also called schmaltz, as a form of cooking oil? How is it done?

Answer 1

Yummm give me some of that crispy chicken skin

Answer 2

Might be because I'm jewish, but I know Schmalz as goose fat. Still damn good for cooking just about anything.

Comments

Schmalz refers to any poultry fat in our Ashkenazi parlance. It's just that it was mostly goose fat due to larger amounts per bird and more frequent use.

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​@@justsomeofmyfavsThat something my great grandmother never mentioned in her stories. Probably because they were too poor to get any other fat to eat... But that's most Ashkenazi people back then

Answer 3

I'm gonna say this right now. Chicken fat and bacon fat are insanely underrated. I only started doing it a few months ago but I am never frying with oil ever again unless it's deep frying. You really do get a better flavor than using regular oil

Comments

Vegetable oil is lighter on the heart (less saturated/trans fats). So please use rendered animal fat measuredly. It does taste good but it's also heavier. Especially pork fat.

Answer 4

Duck fat is superior but damn if I don't give this a shot, thanks for the tip!

Answer 5

A Hebrew friend of mine calls it Jew Butter. LOL

Answer 6

Looks really nice

Answer 7

Ive been airfrying a roast chicken, then whilst it's resting roast potstoes in the chicken fat and they taste amazing

Answer 8

Duck fat will always reign supreme, but this is pretty good too

Answer 9

In traditional restaurants in south Germany, you get Schmalz with some bread or baguette before appetizer. It's like 'greetings from the kitchen'

Comments

With the exception, that it's very rarely Chicken. It's usually Pork or Goose if they're fancy. Also "Southern germany" is a bit vague, most swabian restaurants won't serve you Schmalzbrot as an appetizer, while it's fairly common in the northeast.

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Source: I've been living here for 32 years.

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Du hast recht. Meistens Gänse- oder Schweineschmalz. Ich komme aus Süd-Baden, da ist das ziemlich gängig in den feineren Restaurants. Also in der traditionellen badischen Küche zumindest.

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I'm also from the northeast: to me baguette sounds like white bread, which would be unusual with Schmalz here. Normally it is spread on a darker, mixed flour bread and often also with a pickle.

Answer 10

Gonna try to make brioche with it now

Answer 11

I do this with a microwave on low power.

Answer 12

Don't forget to incorporate the chicken skin into other dishes

Comments

Grabbing. Crispy chopped sjin.

Or Kosher bacon.

Answer 13

Love to use rendered fat from a Sunday roast spooned over roast potatoes for extra flavour.

Answer 14

I did this all the time before I became a 'chef'. My work colleagues thought it was gross, preferring to cook using that synthetic spray for some reason

Answer 15

Schmalz just means fat. What you got is Hühnerschmalz

Answer 16

Fantastic for deep fried chips, (fries).

Answer 17

Great for making sauces.

Answer 18

OBC chicken and meet in South Africa sells chicken skins to the poor and they grill the skins and it them with Pap a maize porridge.

Answer 19

Where is the CARTOUCHE ?! (honestly love your stuff)

Answer 20

THATS WHAT SCHMALTZ IS???

Comments

Interestingly, there's a very similar word in german: Schmalz, which means pork fat or animal fat

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Schmalzy means greasy.