Chicken Fat

My doctor says I am to cut down on my fat intake and strip the skin and fat from chicken and other poultry.

So I do.

But please read " What is it good for?" below.

In this sauce pan is the skin and bits of fat trimmed from four chicken thighs, which I have split in two (thigh and leg) to boil up in a spicy tomato sauce; I've run out of curry powder.

I put the pan on the lowest heat possible on a small electric ring.

Forty-five minutes later I can see some clear liquid fat distilling out of the skin.

An hour and a quarter- the volume of liquid fat has increased.

At 90 minutes I drain off the liquid and leave the sauce pan to render down a bit more.

Here is the liquid in a white porcelain bowl.

The last bit of fat has come out.

... and I've topped up the bowl.

I pour the liquid fat into an empty yeast jar with a crew lid and store it in the refrigerator.

What is it good for?

To my great surprise the rendered chicken fat is near-tasteless.

I thought it would taste like chicken, but I suspect it is "pure fat" that has distilled out, rather like distilling "pure alcohol" from a variety of different products of fermentation.

I have found this solidified fat ideal for greasing baking tins for cakes and cookies; I can't taste the residue, and it is a more effective greasing agent than butter or margarine or cooking oil.

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