Beef Fat, How To Buy

[fooey]

I've heard it three time this week: beef fat for frying frites/chips/french fries, and nothing short of beef fat.

How do I get some? Go to the butcher and ask for beef fat and render it on the stove?

It's not like lard, which is still available in some areas, albeit not as much as it used to be.

I've always been partial to peanut oil, but I have to try beef fat.

[Chris Hennes]

I'd definitely go with rendering your own beef fat, since I think that many of us who use lard render that ourselves too, even when the packaged stuff is available (it's not very good).

[David A. Goldfarb]

I get most of my rendered beef and chicken fat from making stock. I let the stock cool, remove the fat layer and heat it to frying temperature to boil off the water, strain it through cheesecloth, and store in a plastic or ceramic container in the refrigerator.

[Lindsey]

How lucky am I - I can buy the most wonderful cream coloured beef dripping from my butcher, in fact all butchers here sell it. If you are really lucky you can get the jelly underneath as well, a real treat. Try it on hot toast - pure heaven

[fooey]

If you are really lucky you can get the jelly underneath as well, a real treat. Try it on hot toast - pure heaven

I love that jelly. When I make beef roast, it congeals. I'll try it on toast!

Do you use beef fat for your chips, Lindsey, re: batter thread?

Edited August 26, 2009 by fooey (log)

[fooey]

I get most of my rendered beef and chicken fat from making stock.

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Can you get enough fat from making (one pot of) beef stock, say from that beautiful copper stock pot in your avatar? I guess it depends on what you use to make the stock. I use bones, bones, and more bones and seldom get more than a cup or so of beef fat from a 40 quart pot. Not enough...

What do you use the chicken fat for?

[David A. Goldfarb]

Can you get enough fat from making (one pot of) beef stock, say from that beautiful copper stock pot in your avatar? I guess it depends on what you use to make the stock. I use bones, bones, and more bones and seldom get more than a cup or so of beef fat from a 40 quart pot. Not enough...

What do you use the chicken fat for?

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You must be using very lean bones. I guess the beef bones I use tend to have some fat on them, and there might be other beef trimmings involved, or after simmering for 8-12 hours a coarse straining and chilling overnight and removing the fat, I may make a boiled beef dish using more beef in the stock on the second day before straining and reducing it, so I'll get around 4-5 cups of fat from that 13 quart pot of stock. I don't skim the fat while it's cooking, though I do skim scum that rises to the top. I take it all the fat off after it's chilled.

For chicken stock, I'm using backs, necks, and trimmings and those put out quite a bit of fat, and after making the stock, I usually poach another whole chicken in the stock to strengthen it, and that renders more fat. Chicken fat makes the best caramelized onions and adds good flavor to other sauteed or roasted vegetables. I've also made confit from chicken legs in chicken fat.

[Tri2Cook]

What do you use the chicken fat for?

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I use rendered chicken fat for these chicken biscuits. I've been hooked on that recipe since she posted it. I've also done a couple of my own variations on it. I've done a beef version and a bacon version so far and have a couple other ideas in mind that I haven't got around to yet.

It's great for lots of uses though. Google schmaltz.