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Is it safe to pressure cook fatback without water?


torolover

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I want to render fatback into oil.  I want to pressure cook a couple of pounds of fatback directly in the pot.  Is this safe? Do I need to add water?

 

I'm also thinking of pressure cooking fatback with lots of garlic, onions, are carrots.  Any dangers to be aware of?

Edited by torolover (log)
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If you don't add water it will burn. Add water, pressure cook, natural release, strain, and chill until you can scrape the solidified layer of fat off the top. Alternatively, you can grind the fatback, put it in a mason jar, barely tighten the lid, and pressure cook the jars with a few cups of water. This will keep the fat and the water separated.

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250F?

You're talking about heating oil in a pressure cooker not water.

Oil can get much hotter.

This is a bad idea in so many ways.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

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Let me put it in a way that you can understand:

 

Animal fat have a melting temperature of 184 °C, (327.2 F) a boiling point of around 200 °C (392F) and an ignition point of 280 °C (536F) where it will burst into flames without spark.

 

Because there is no water in the pressure cooker, there is nothing to keep temperature low. Temperature will continue to rise to 392 F, boiling point of fat. At that point, pressure starts to builds up, and the pressure will allow the temperature to continue to rise to beyond 536 F and up and up until the safety valve fails.

 

At that point, fat will jet out and atomize from the safety valve. The atomized oil at above 536F will self ignite, and atomized oil is highly explosive when ignited.

 

dcarch

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Animal fat have a melting temperature of 184 °C, (327.2 F) a boiling point of around 200 °C (392F) and an ignition point of 280 °C (536F) where it will burst into flames without spark.

What the hell are you talking about? Animal fats have a melting point around body temperature, anyone who's been around a deep fryer knows they obviously don't boil at 200C (they don't actually have a boiling point since they decompose before they boil) and while they might ignite at around 280C, since they're not vaporizing and they're in a non oxygen rich environment, they'll more likely just decompose into unpleasantly burnt tasting tars.

PS: I am a guy.

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What the hell are you talking about? Animal fats have a melting point around body temperature, anyone who's been around a deep fryer knows they obviously don't boil at 200C (they don't actually have a boiling point since they decompose before they boil) and while they might ignite at around 280C, since they're not vaporizing and they're in a non oxygen rich environment, they'll more likely just decompose into unpleasantly burnt tasting tars.

 

You are talking about oil. The OP is talking about fat. Not the same.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_fat

 

Are we talking about a pressure cooker? Oil can indeed boil, and pressure can build up in a pressure cooker. Under pressure the temperature can get higher then the boiling point. Then the valve can fail, and then the oil can atomize thru the failed valve.

 

Please find out what can happen with atomized oil when ignited, 

 

dcarch

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OK, now I'm confused.

 

So is it OK to pressure cook a couple pounds of pork fatback in my pressure cooker without using mason jars?  If I have to use water, how much water do I need use?

 

Thanks!

 

 

No need to be confused. You need a good amount of water in the pressure cooker to keep temperature at the designed temperature (pressure ) of your PC. Typically 15 psi and 250F. The amount of water depends on cooking time and stove flame temperature. Water can still evaporate thru the pressure release "jiggler" or valve.

 

dcarch

Edited by dcarch (log)
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You are talking about oil. The OP is talking about fat. Not the same.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_fat

 

Are we talking about a pressure cooker? Oil can indeed boil, and pressure can build up in a pressure cooker. Under pressure the temperature can get higher then the boiling point. Then the valve can fail, and then the oil can atomize thru the failed valve.

 

Please find out what can happen with atomized oil when ignited, 

 

dcarch

The only difference between oils and fats is whether they are solid at room temperature. I don't know where the Wikipedia article got it's info from as it's uncited but it's obviously wrong since it's contradicted by it's own sidebar. Just apply a bit of common sense, animal fats have a melting temperature of well below 184C as anyone who has deep fried using lard or tallow knows. All culinary fats have a smoke point below their boiling point. Putting fat in a pressure cooker would *raise* the boiling point, increasing the gap between smoking and boiling.

PS: I am a guy.

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The only difference between oils and fats is whether they are solid at room temperature. I don't know where the Wikipedia article got it's info from as it's uncited but it's obviously wrong since it's contradicted by it's own sidebar. Just apply a bit of common sense, animal fats have a melting temperature of well below 184C as anyone who has deep fried using lard or tallow knows. All culinary fats have a smoke point below their boiling point. Putting fat in a pressure cooker would *raise* the boiling point, increasing the gap between smoking and boiling.

 

What are the definitions of fat and oil based on WiKI, and common sense definitions can be debated. What cannot be debated is the topic of this discussion, that in a PC environment, the pressure and temperature will continue to rise after fat becomes oil. There is not really a limit as to how high the temperature of oil boiling point can rise, regardless of smoking point, until the safety valve fails. When that happens, there can be extreme explosive consequences.

 

dcarch

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torolover, what kind of pressure cooker (brand and model) do you have?  That and processing time will determine how much water you need.  And, yes, you need water to operate the cooker as designed.  AFAICT, no one has suggested otherwise.

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