Schmaltz is easily one of the least well-known fats to most people at the moment, despite its use over millennia as a staple cooking fat.
Made from rendered chicken fat, schmaltz is perhaps the most commonly used fats among Jewish and Muslim communities, because it is made from chicken, instead of pork.
However, despite its versatility and deliciousness, it is still incredibly expensive to buy at the store, so why not learn how to make it yourself?
How Can I Use My Homemade Schmaltz?
Schmaltz is essentially pure chicken flavor, rich in umami goodness, and also a surprisingly effective cooking fat.
You should use schmaltz how you would use any other kind of cooking fat in the kitchen; whether to cook a steak, dress a salad, or just make some eggs, schmaltz is worthy of being a direct replacement for basically every fat out there.
What Kind Of Special Equipment Do I Need To Make Schmaltz?
Making schmaltz is as simple as rendering out some chicken skin in a little bit of water, and separating out the browned chicken skin from the rendered fat.
So the only special equipment you need is a good saucepan to contain the chicken skin and a strainer to help separate everything at the end.
Ingredients
1 pound of chicken fat and skin
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon salt
How To Make Homemade Schmaltz
Step 1 – Slice up your chicken fat into smaller strips, so that they don’t all clump together.
Step 2 – Add your chicken fat strips and salt to a saucepan and cover with the water, ensuring that it completely covers everything.
Step 3 – Bring the whole thing by lowering it to medium-low when it starts to bubble, and stir it frequently until all of the fat has rendered, the water has evaporated away, and the chicken skin is brown and crispy, around 45 minutes.
Step 4 – Strain everything through a fine mesh strainer to catch the browned chicken skin, and then store your rendered chicken fat in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Troubleshooting Tips
• One frequent problem you will run into when trying to render out your chicken skin is that the bottom layer of chicken skin sticks to the bottom. The best way to prevent this is to be constantly stirring and agitating your chicken skin as it cooks, to ensure that no bit spends too long on the bottom surface. If you do end up with some burnt-on chicken bits, though, don’t worry – you can just scrape it off of the bottom with a sharp spatula scraping underneath to reveal the stuck-on layer.
• If you notice that all of your chicken skin pieces are starting to get stuck together while rendering them, you might have cut the skins into too few pieces. If they have already started to get brown and you are noticing them getting all tangled together, the only solution other than just removing them and cutting them up even finer is to just keep them moving, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon to ensure everything gets mixed properly.
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Nutritional Facts
For the health-conscious out there, here are the nutritional details for ¼ cup of schmaltz.
Calories: 461
Total Fat: 51.2 grams
Saturated Fat: 15.3 grams
Cholesterol: 44 milligrams
Sodium: 581 milligrams
Total Carbohydrates: 0 grams
Dietary Fiber: 0 grams
Sugars: 0 grams
Protein: 0 gram
Potassium: 0 milligrams
FAQs
This recipe works best when you are working with a large quantity of chicken skin. The best way to get this large amount of chicken skin at one time is to break down a whole chicken, ideally as part of an entirely different recipe.
You can also just remove the skin from a large quantity of chicken thighs, again ideally as part of a different recipe to use up the chicken, as the chicken skin just peels right off.
The leftover bits of chicken skin that get browned and crispy after rendering out all of their fat is the perfect chef snack!
Just make sure to drain them of all of the fat that they are holding, both because you want to save the fat and because too much liquid fat kept in the scratching might cause them to taste a bit too greasy.
After that, season them simply with salt and black pepper, or go crazy and season them however you like with all kinds of different savory spices to make your very own flavor of chicken scratching!
One secret trick that a lot of home chefs aren’t aware of when rendering their own fat is that there is nothing stopping you from flavoring the oil itself with whatever you like!
Instead of just plain chicken fat flavor, you could add all kinds of flavorings to it, like whole onions or garlic, to end up with a richly flavored and totally unique schmaltz!
How to Make Your Own Schmaltz
Ingredients
1 pound of chicken fat and skin
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Step 1 – Slice up your chicken fat into smaller strips, so that they don’t all clump together.
Step 2 – Add your chicken fat strips and salt to a saucepan and cover with the water, ensuring that it completely covers everything.
Step 3 – Bring the whole thing by lowering it to medium-low when it starts to bubble, and stir it frequently until all of the fat has rendered, the water has evaporated away, and the chicken skin is brown and crispy, around 45 minutes.
Step 4 – Strain everything through a fine mesh strainer to catch the browned chicken skin, and then store your rendered chicken fat in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
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