How can I remove excess fat from stews or soups without refrigerating?

Question

I've read that adding cork (from wine bottles) absorbs the fat. I'm not sure if this works or not.

Is there a way to remove excess fat without standing there and spooning out or refrigerating and then removing the solidified fat?

Answer 1

If you want to be really lazy about it, just get yourself a fat separator. Pour in the soup, the fat will rise to the top, and you can do what you want with it (i.e. dump it).

If you're reading this in an emergency, you can do this with just a strainer. You'll get better results if you chill the strainer before each skim, i.e. by rinsing it with very cold water. The fat will tend to congeal on the cold strainer the same way it congeals when it's actually chilled.

I've also heard that the fat will cling to certain leafy vegetables, like lettuce. If you have a lettuce head kicking around, try peeling off a leaf and dusting the top of the pan with it.

Answer 2

If you pour the liquid into a narrower vessel to settle, the fat layer on top will be thicker and therefore easier to remove with spoon, paper towel, or turkey baster. Something like this thermos or this ice tea jug would work without needing to cool it down too much.

It is best done before any thickening with starch/flour.

Since some spices are oil soluble, you might end up straining out some of the flavor, and need to re-adjust the spicing slightly.

Answer 3

One quick way I have seen is to put a few ice cubes into your soup/stew. The fat will congeal around the ice cube so if you take them out before they melt you can get rid of most of your fat.

Answer 4

So long as the liquid isn't being mixed (and bubbling from simmering or boiling counts as being mixed), it'll undergo what they call "type 1 settling", where oil floats to the top, and particulates fall to the bottom.

You can either let it stand in a gravy separator, or just let it come to the top of the pot, and either ue a paper towel, like Darin mentioned, a strainer like Aronut mentioned, or even a frozen bottle of water (which will chill the fat so it sticks to the bottle, where you ca wipe it off then try again).

Personally, I normally use the 'spooning' method, but use a laddle rather than a spoon, so it goes much faster.

Answer 5

you could let it settle so the fat rests on the top then use a turkey baster or syringe to suck the fat off the top.