Help -- Defatting stock without cooling?

[Emily_R]

Hey folks --

Tomorrow I'll be making some vietnamese-style oxtail soup... Normally I make this the day before and then refrigerate overnight so I can skim the fat off... But I won't be able to and have to make it the day it gets served. Oxtails have SO much fat... Any suggestions for particularly effective skimming techiques? I've tried the back of a spoon deal but this usually still leaves (for me) a pretty greasy liquid...

Emily

[Dave the Cook]

Gravy separators work pretty well. They're not as effective as an overnight rest, but I think they meet the 80/20 rule.

[monavano]

Hey folks --

Tomorrow I'll be making some vietnamese-style oxtail soup... Normally I make this the day before and then refrigerate overnight so I can skim the fat off... But I won't be able to and have to make it the day it gets served. Oxtails have SO much fat... Any suggestions for particularly effective skimming techiques? I've tried the back of a spoon deal but this usually still leaves (for me) a pretty greasy liquid...

Emily

←

Get a fat separator-

http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Good-Grips-Separ...p/dp/B0002YTGIQ

[Anna N]

Gravy separators work pretty well. They're not as effective as an overnight rest, but I think they meet the 80/20 rule.

←

And if you don't have and can't get a fat separator, let the broth cool a bit, pour it into a resealable plastic bag that you have opened over a container, snip a small hole in one corner. Let the broth drain out. Watch carefully and when you see the broth has drained and all that is left is fat, quickly move the bag over to another container and let the fat drain out and discard. It requires a bit of dexterity but works well! Don't try pouring boiling hot broth into the bag though.

[Pam Brunning]

Hey folks --

Tomorrow I'll be making some vietnamese-style oxtail soup... Normally I make this the day before and then refrigerate overnight so I can skim the fat off... But I won't be able to and have to make it the day it gets served. Oxtails have SO much fat... Any suggestions for particularly effective skimming techiques? I've tried the back of a spoon deal but this usually still leaves (for me) a pretty greasy liquid...

Emily

←

Cool, drain off into a glass bowl and use a bulb baster to draw the stock off from the bottom.

[zoe b]

another trick--carefully ladle the top four inches or so of the stock into a bowl or measuring cup--try and make sure you get all the fat --stick it in the freezer for 1/2 hour or so--the fat should harden and you can put the rest back in the pot

I have a flat ladle--if you have something flattish more than bowl shaped use that--eve a large spoon.

Edited June 9, 2009 by zoe b (log)

[insomniac]

lazy way but I just carefully lie paper towels on top of the stock til soaked with the fat, remove, discard, repeat til fat gone...

Edited June 9, 2009 by insomniac (log)

[HungryC]

A very fine mesh skimmer (the kind used for skimming scum off of broth) works wonders for removing fat. If you dip it into the broth (all the way to the bottom of the pot), a layer of liquid saturates the fine mesh, which allows the skimmed liquid fat to float over the mesh opening. I was quite surprised at how well it works. Here's a link to the kind of fine mesh skimmer I'm trying to describe: http://www.amazon.com/Off-Top-Skimmer-Larg...d/dp/B000YOPA48

[project]

Start by putting essentially all the liquid into a carefully selected smaller container. A good container: Has transparent sides so you can see the line between the fat and the water-based liquid. Has a lot of height compared with width to make the fat layer thicker. Has only a little more volume than the liquid to make the fat layer more accessible.

Then just use a spoon, etc., to get nearly all the fat off the top and/or use a bulb baster to get nearly all the liquid from under the fat.

If the remaining volume of desirable water-based liquid is small, then discard it and the fat and continue with the roast. Else put the remaining liquid into a smaller carefully selected container and continue.

If have a lot of fat on the inside of the roasting pot, maybe remove the contents and wipe down the inside of the pot to remove fat.

With the resulting water-based liquid, pour that back into the roast. Likely some fat will rise to the surface. Then use paper towels to remove that.

Done carefully, can get rid of all visible traces of fat with very little loss of water-based liquid.

Here is a more powerful variation: In the first carefully selected container, use a spoon, etc. to remove ALL the fat and, thus, likely some of the water-based liquid. Put all the liquid removed into a smaller carefully selected container. Now proportionally the fat is a larger fraction of the total and easier to remove without removing any of the water-based liquid.

Now have the same separation problem with about the same proportion of water to fat but a significantly smaller total volume. So, keep iterating this way until the final volume is trivial, discard it, and declare an essentially perfect separation!

Another variation: Pour nearly all the fat into a sauce pot, add an equal volume of flour, make a roux, and add the rest of the liquid, maybe some soft butter or heavy cream, make a sauce, and pour that over the roast!

[Emily_R]

Thanks for all the replies folks! In the end I did my own mish-mosh of strategies... First I roasted the oxtails to help render as much fat as possible before adding liquid -- this rendered at least a half cup. Then I made the soup, took all the large solids out, and strained the broth through a colander lined with cheesecloth. This took out all the remaining scum and I think some of the fat clung to the cloth. Finally I used a couple of pieces of old sandwich bread that had been languishing in the kitchen to soak up the fat on top. Worked pretty well -- certainly not totally fat free, but plenty good for my taste.