How To Render Chicken Fat (Schmaltz)
In this tutorial I show you how to easily and cheaply render chicken fat to produce a healthy, mild tasting and versatile cooking fat.
Equipment
- heavy bottomed pot
- strainer
- cheeesecloth or cotton tea towel
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken skins and fat pieces this amount will produce approx 300ml rendered fat
Instructions
- Make sure to dry all the chicken skins well.
- Chop all the skins and raw fat pieces into small chunks. The smaller the pieces the faster they will render, but don't obsess over it - I try to chop them into half inch chunks.
- Place in a heavy bottomed pot and turn the heat on low.
- Simmer, stirring occassionally until most of the fat has turned into golden liquid and the skin pieces are small and crispy.
- Strain through cheesecloth into a jar.
- Let it cool, cover with a lid and store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Your yield will vary depending on how much chicken scraps you use. I usually collect all my scraps in a ziplock bag in the freezer until I have a decent amount (at least a kilo).
The finished fat will keep in the fridge for many months.
The leftover crispy chicken pieces or cracklings can be used warm on top of roast potatoes, eaten with some salt on a slice of sourdough bread or used as treats for pets.