Rendering Duck and Goose Fat

[Bicycle Lee]

I was just wondering what the best way to render duck fat is....

Anyone?

[mikeycook]

I won't claim it's the "best" way, but I usually put the skin and fat in a cast iron pan and heat it very slowly with a little water until all the fat has been rendered (the water quickly evaporates.) You can easily tell when there is no more fat to render. You wind up with delicious cracklings as well.

Edited September 17, 2003 by mikeycook (log)

[Bicycle Lee]

could you do the same type of thing in a low oven?

[mikeycook]

I have never tried, but can't see why not. Anyone tried this?

[melkor]

I always render chicken/duck/etc fat in the oven, I just toss all the skin and fat into a baking dish and leave it in the oven for a few hours at 300 or 350.

[Wolfert]

I used to do it on top of the stove or in the oven as described above and both work very well. Now I use a small crockpot set on low and just leave it all day. I think I get more fat out of the skin by the very slow cooking.

[Suzanne F]

I just did it with the skin/fat from a piece of pork, and it worked very well (at 300, I think). Remember that you DO have to stir it from time to time, but mostly it does the work all by itself.

Edited to add: Thanks for the tip, Paula! Yet another use for the slow cooker.

Edited September 17, 2003 by Suzanne F (log)

[bloviatrix]

I created my technique after reading an article by Amanda Hesser in the Times (1/19/00). She gave a recipe from Greg Sonnier of Gabrielle in New Orleans.

I place the duck in a dutch oven along with diced root vegetables, some sprigs of thyme and salt and pepper and put it in the oven at about 300 for 2 1/2 hours. Then I pull the duck and vegetables out and strain the fat. I save the fat for future use. Roast the vegetables at a high heat and quickly crisp the skin of the duck in a saute pan.

[mikeycook]

I used to do it on top of the stove or in the oven as described above and both work very well. Now I use a small crockpot set on low and just leave it all day. I think I get more fat out of the skin by the very slow cooking.

If I recall correctly, I think I got my method from you. Think I will try my crock-pot next time.

Edited September 17, 2003 by mikeycook (log)

[fifi]

I used to do it on top of the stove or in the oven as described above and both work very well. Now I use a small crockpot set on low and just leave it all day. I think I get more fat out of the skin by the very slow cooking.

OMG! What a great idea! I know how I am going to make my next batch of lard. If I want the cracklins I will just put those in a pot on the stove later.

[Wolfert]

Don't forget to do it on low temperature. 300 might turn the color too much.

A bit of Trivia :

A very similar method as described above at the Gabrielle restaurant is based on a very old recipe from the catalans. In fact, Eliane Comelade-Thibaut, author of La Cuisine Catalane, discovered this method of extracting fat from ducks in the archives in Mahon, on the island of Minorca before teh second world war.

[russ parsons]

i read somewhere in teh last couple of years that it was better to cook the fat in a LOT of water so that it didn't color, then lift the duck lard off. i tried it. didn't think the fat was that much better than the other way, plus you didn't get any cracklings. so it wasn't. uh, never mind.

[Wolfert]

what I do to get the cracklings dark is to lift them out of the fat and do them in a skillet so I can control, color and flavor.

you are right to use some liquid if you have very little fat, otherwise it will fry and not release all its fat.

Edited September 17, 2003 by Wolfert (log)

[Hobbes]

I won't claim it's the "best" way, but I usually put the skin and fat in a cast iron pan and heat it very slowly with a little water until all the fat has been rendered (the water quickly evaporates.)  You can easily tell when there is no more fat to render.  You wind up with delicious cracklings as well.

Using this method you can also add some dry white wine to the water which will add another level of flavor to your rendered fat if you so desire.

Hobbes

[sp1187]

The hunting season starts here Saturday with geese. In the past I have not plucked the birds, but opted to skin and bone them.

The questions I have are:

1).How do I render the fat from the skin?

2).Is there a difference between goose and duck fat?

3).Has anyone used wild fowl for this?

Thank you.

Mike

[melkor]

1) throw it in a pot with a little water over low heat, go to sleep, it'll be all rendered with chips of crispy skin left in the morning.

2) yes

3) yes

[plk]

This is the method I've used when rendering the fat from a duck. It destroys the skin, but you get absolutely all the fat:

*Remove fat and skin together

*Blend in the food processor until it's a nasty pink goo

*Put goo into casserole dish and into a low oven (probably about 200 F)

*Once the fat is melted, skim the pink foam from the top, leaving perfectly melted fat

[Prawncrackers]

Hi I usually buy wild geese and ducks in the winter months and found there’s not much fat on them to render. I have tried to (of course) but the rendered fat from such wildfowl had a slightly wiffy aroma. Put it this way, I wouldn’t fry my chips in them! The ones I get are usually hung and although I personally don’t like too ‘high’ a flavour more often than not it’s first detectable in the fat and skin.

If you’re shooting the wildfowl yourself though you will be able to ensure it’s freshness, so it may not be a problem for you.

As Dave put it so succinctly, there is a difference between duck and goose fat – one is from duck the other from goose!!! But seriously, I don’t think there is any practical difference between the two. Some may say that goose fat has a richer taste but I couldn’t live on the difference.

The smaller you cut the skin, the quicker it will render. I like to cut it into fingertip sized pieces so I can enjoy the crispy crackling straight after rendering – takes about 20-25 mins on a moderate heat regardless of how much you render.

Just one point, you will need to pluck the birds if you want to render the skins. Can you imagine the funky smell of you didn’t?

[Peter the eater]

I am a big fan of the Julia Child technique from "The Way to Cook": steam bird breast up for an hour, braise in oven for an hour, uncover and roast in oven until crispy brown.

It works well for geese and ducks although the bigger and fattier birds need more cooking time. In my experience, wild ducks can be very lean and may require no steaming at all whereas the grocery store geese seem to be the fattiest and may get two hours of gentle steaming.

[sp1187]

thank you everyone.

one more question.

how and for how long can I store it?

[Henry dV]

Hi I usually buy wild geese and ducks in the winter months and found there’s not much fat on them to render.

←

FWIW - I think you might find it`s actually illegal to buy/sell wild geese in the UK, also of the geese and duck I shot last year only the September shot birds were not worth the effort of skinning and rendering, but the later birds were as fat as butter.

SP 1187 - QUOTE**how and for how long can I store it?**

In glass jars when hot and then closed tight, I have some from october last and it`s still OK, however I use any that are opened within 3 months so they last at least that long.

2 more things, firstly, remember to cut around the preen gland and discard this as it has a very strange bitter taste, lastly, I too have an 11-87 and it`s a great gun, I hope to upgrade to the SP10 soon

Edited August 29, 2007 by Henry dV (log)

[Prawncrackers]

FWIW - I think you might find it`s actually illegal to buy/sell wild geese in the UK...

Thanks for the warning Henry dV, i didn't know that. I buy from a farmer's maket stall that usually sells their own farmed ducks. On a handful of occassions in the past few years the chap was selling wild geese and duck that he'd shot on his farm. If i see any this year i'll be more wary.

[budrichard]

THERE IS NO FAT ON WILD WATERFOWL BE IT GOOSE OR DUCK!

IN FACT IF YOU ATTEMPT TO COOK A WILD BIRD LIKE A DOMESTIC BIRD, YOU WILL END UP WITH A HOCKEY PUCK!

Wild duck should be cooked quickly in a hot oven until rare and not rested.

I breast out wild geese, cook the breats rare and braise the leg/thighs in sour cream.

I have been hunting waterfowl for 35+ years.-Dick

[Peter the eater]

THERE IS NO FAT ON WILD WATERFOWL BE IT GOOSE OR DUCK!

IN FACT IF YOU ATTEMPT TO COOK A WILD BIRD LIKE A DOMESTIC BIRD, YOU WILL END UP WITH A HOCKEY PUCK!

Wild duck should be cooked quickly in a hot oven until rare and not rested.

I breast out wild geese, cook the breats rare and braise the leg/thighs in sour cream.

I have been hunting waterfowl for 35+ years.-Dick

←

You have clearly never had a wild Snow Goose.

[sp1187]

THERE IS NO FAT ON WILD WATERFOWL BE IT GOOSE OR DUCK

don't know where you are gunning but the birds I shoot in Michigan have fat on them. heck the birds I shot in Manitoba last year had fat on them. Not nearly as much as domestic of course, but they have a useable amount on them.

as far as cooking them, I'm right there with you on your procedure.

I'm not rendering the fat from the birds in the cooking process but rather rendering after I skin them.