Food Processor Method for Rendering Fat & Lard

[Chris Amirault]

Food Processor Method for Rendering Fat & Lard

I've been using fifi's lard rendering technique for a while now, and it works like a charm. However, when I was writing up the topic on emulsions, I started thinking that the techniques of emulsions as they apply, say, to a soufflé, could be useful in rendering animal fat. (I later spied this technique in Paula Wolfert's Cooking of SW France. Doh!)

Fifi points out that adding water can help nudge the rendering along. Given that, I thought, what if you create an emulsion with skin or fat and then beat in some water? By doing that, you'd create an emulsion where the fat molecules are sitting right next to a bunch of water molecules; stick that in a 220F (105C) oven, and when the water heats to boil and steams, it should render the fat very quickly. This would also enable you to keep the fat at a low temperature, which insures the highest quality fat.

The method works like a charm, and it's particularly useful if you want to get the most out of duck or chicken skin and don't want cracklin's (or gribenes) to snack on at the end. When making duck confit, for example, you'll want to get every little bit of fat from that skin. The next time you are skinning chicken breasts, save the skin, and you'll have some easy, wonderful schmaltz on hand later!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220F/105C.

2. Chop your animal fat or skin roughly. (It's a messy business, and the combination of dull knife, greasy hands, and slippery skin or fat is very dangerous.)

3. Place the fat or skin into a food processor and turn it on. Let it run for a minute or two, pulsing and scraping to make sure that you're chopping up the skin or fat as finely as possible.

4. With the motor running, pour in some cold water, about 1/2-1c (100-200ml) to form the emulsion. It should take only a few seconds for the fat to absorb the water and make a foamy fat frosting.

5. Shut off the food processor and scrape the emulsion into a thick pot that can go in the oven. (A cast iron dutch oven is perfect for this purpose.) Place the pot into the oven.

6. Every 10-15 minutes check the pot and break up the emulsion with a wooden spoon. When all of the emulsion has rendered into clear fat, there will be a tough raft on the top of the proteins that remain.

7. Gently strain the fat from the pot into a clean glass jar and store in the fridge indefinitely.

Keywords: Easy, Food Processor

( RG1947 )