Questions tagged [fat]
The fat tag has no usage guidance.
192
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Why can applesauce be used in place of oil?
In many recipes, mostly desserts, it is suggested that you can substitute oil with applesauce to reduce the fat content. But why applesauce?
Is there something special about applesauce or are there ...
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What oil or fat to use for different purposes?
I understand that one of the main reasons to use different kinds of fat or oil is the temperature at which it burns, e.g. an extra-virgin olive oil to fry a steak wouldn't work. Taste is also a very ...
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Conversion rule: how to switch oil and butter?
Just a moment ago, I was making muffins. The recipe calls for 125ml oil.
As a footnote, it says that you can replace the oil with 125g butter.
Can you do so in every recipe (not just muffins or ...
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2
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Is it safe to cook with food grade mineral oil?
There is a thing such as "food grade mineral oil". Does "food grade" means it is safe to cook with?
I know it is used widely for oiling cutting boards. Also, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (...
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4
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Can I always use butter instead of margarine when baking?
Some recipes says use butter or margarine, some say use butter and some say use margarine. My question is, can I always use butter or does margarine have some property that butter doesn't when baking?
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14
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How can I remove excess fat from stews or soups without refrigerating?
I've read that adding cork (from wine bottles) absorbs the fat. I'm not sure if this works or not.
Are there any other ways to remove excess fat without standing there and spooning out or ...
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17
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2
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The science of confit
In recent weeks I have made both duck leg and pork belly confit with rich tasting and great texture results. I want to experiment with this technique further but to do so, and avoid wasting meat and ...
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3
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What job is the fat doing when I prepare bread dough, and what to expect if I use the wrong amount?
I've been baking bread for years and no longer really measure the ingredients. But I'm no expert on the science of what I'm doing. I add fat (lard) because I've always added fat.
What job does the ...
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16
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7
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Is bacon fat supposed to congeal at room temperature?
My grandma told me its a good idea to save the bacon drippings in a sealable container to cook with later. I remember when I used to watch her cook with it, it was always solid. I have started ...
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11
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Can ghee be used instead of butter in dessert recipes?
Butter is an inevitable ingredient in most of dessert recipes. By definition, ghee is just clarified butter, but to me, the taste is completely different. The taste of butter is more close to heavy ...
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How do you properly drain the grease after browning ground beef?
Whenever I try to drain the grease from the pan after I have browned ground beef, I always end up spilling a little here and there. I usually just take a spoon and "spoon out" the grease into a bowl.
...
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14
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7
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Can I store suet or home-rendered tallow at room temperature for a year?
This weekend I will be in possession of 100 lbs of beef suet (which I'll be getting from a butcher friend) and plan to render it into tallow. I can't even begin to imagine exactly what this amount of ...
- 8,446
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2
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Why does the fat on my chicken broth sometimes solidify, sometimes not?
I've been making chicken broth pretty much the same way for decades. I cut up a whole chicken, cutting through the bones of all but the breast and thighs (to release marrow). I pretty deeply brown the ...
- 58.5k
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Which oils or fats make the crispiest roast potatoes?
Which oil or fat is the best option for crispy on the outside fluffy on the inside roast potatoes?
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Does preparation of food change the nutritional content with respect to fat type?
I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge in how a fat comes to be saturated, and perhaps therein lies the answer to this question. However, due to my wife's gall stones I need to remove hard to ...
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What does to deglaze a pan mean?
A friend of mine described a recipe to me, and she said she deglazed the pan (I think I understood correctly). What does that mean?
- 7,052
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8
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Is “ghee” clarified butter or beurre noisette?
Reading the Wikipedia pages on “Ghee,” “Clarified butter” and “Beurre noisette” has left me somewhat confused as to what ghee is. Some statements on the pages seem to suggest that it's always ...
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Storage life for goose fat
When I roast a goose, I decant the fat, strain and freeze it. I typically get a pint or more. This seems to work well, I can chip off suitably-sized pieces from the frozen block and use them as ...
- 1,303
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Which type of oil/fat should I use for deep frying?
I just got my first ever deep fryer yesterday. Looking round in the shops, I found that I can get bottled frying oil, or a white solid block type of fat which I've never used before, I guess it may be ...
- 1,072
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1
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What milk and yoghurt is the best for mango lassi?
What amount (percentage) of fat does the typical plain yoghurt and a typical milk has? Or what is the best milk and yoghurt to prepare a mango lassi?
I'd like to prepare a typical mango lassi, based ...
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Rendering fat by sous vide
I've seen that fat will render at 55-60 degrees centigrade using sous vide - but my question is how long that would be expected to take?
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What can I do with the fat skimmed from chicken stock?
Two days ago I prepared some chicken stock. During the preparation, I took care to skim the grayish foam (as per procedure) and all went well. I usually freeze it for future use but this time I didn't ...
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At what temperature will the fats on meat render?
I am expectantly awaiting the arrival of a sous vide circulator. I saw a clip where someone cooked a duck breast sous vide, finishing it off in a frying pan to crisp the skin. That simply makes no ...
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What can I do with the meat and fat trimmed from the top of lamb ribs?
I'm making rack of lamb tonight. I got the rack at a local farmer's market and it was a bit less butchered than I expected. I can (and did) trim it myself, but there seems to be a lot of meat embedded ...
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Make seitan "fattier"
Any idea how to incorporate more fat into seitan? With the purpose to bind flavor for richer and more complex taste, similar to beef.
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why is cooking in oil or fat considered dry heating?
Why is cooking in oil or fat considered dry heating, while cooking in wine is considered moist heating?
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Why wouldn't you strain hamburger grease after cooking?
I've got a friend who makes many dishes involving hamburger, but doesn't ever strain it. The grease is added to a dish like Shepard's pie which to me just seems very gross. I see a lot of posts ...
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Why does Alton Brown call for three types of milks in a recipe?
I'm looking at the ingredient list for Alton Brown's aged eggnog recipe, and I see the following:
1 pint half-n-half
1 pint whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
Does the half-n-half play any specific role ...
- 215
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1
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Storing and re-using rendered duck fat
I recently made duck confit in my slow cooker. I purchased a 2 lb container of rendered duck fat for that purpose, which I'd like to save. Is it possible to re-use the fat? If so, how should I store ...
8
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Why does Béarnaise separate as opposed to crème brûlée or lemon curd?
When making creme brulees in the oven, they are heated to something like 100° C, or over. When making bernaise, heating it like that is a sure way of making it separate.
As far as I've understood, it ...
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3k
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How can I render bacon fat without frying it?
I wanted to render the fat from some bacon to produce bacon grease.
The usual advice that you see on the internet is to simply fry whole strips of bacon at a low heat, for a longer period, and the fat ...
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How much of the oil will stay in french fries?
Is there a fixed percentage of how much of the oil used to frying french fries will stay in the served french fries?
I guess that it depends on things like dimension of the french fries, frying ...
7
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4
answers
537
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Removing fat from a recipe
If I see a recipe I like and it includes a marinade or sauce where butter or oil is a significant ingredient, is there any way to substitute that fat and preserve a similar taste and texture? For ...
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What limitations are there to sauteeing with water?
I was recently helping with some recipes and was instructed to use water for "sauteing" onions, celery, garlic, etc. in place of oil (scare quotes on "saute" since it involves frying in oil or other ...
- 11.7k
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Fat content in homemade stock
First of all, I don't know the difference between stock, broth and bouillon in english (not my native language), but what I mean is when you cook for example a chicken carcass with vegetables for a ...
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How can I efficiently render 100 lbs of suet into tallow in a home kitchen?
As I mentioned in another question, I'm about to undergo a 100 lb suet-to-tallow rendering process. The problem is, as much as I love tallow, I've never rendered suet myself before and I have a ...
- 8,446
7
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2
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Why do some creams/fats whip better than others?
Wikipedia makes whipped cream look very simple: gas bubbles are trapped in the fat and create a colloid. However, we all know that you can easily come across "whipping cream" that just won't whip even ...
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White residue after putting bacon grease laden cookware in dishwasher
I scrape off most of the bacon grease then put it in a dishwasher. The residue doesn't feel very greasy, it has kind of a powder feel to it. There is only residue on the cookwares, and no residue on ...
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Fat sinking to bottom of stock
So I've made stock a couple of times in the last couple of months - one batch of chicken stock and one of beef neckbone stock - and I've come across a problem I've never seen before.
After cooling, ...
- 161
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1
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Tamales with rendered turkey fat and clarified butter - No pork?
A friend of mine is coming back into town tomorrow and I have been planning a dinner for the occasion. I have been planning on making tamales out of leftover turkey. We talked earlier and she told me ...
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Substitution for Suet in Christmas Pudding
I'm interested in making a traditional Christmas pudding but I've never seen suet available in the stores around here. Assuming I can't find any, what would be a good substitution?
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sous vide producing inedible food because of fat not rendered
I did a 36 hour sous vide ribs at 145 degrees F followed by a 5 min sear under the broiler.
The meat was soft, tender, full of juice and the fat did not render from my spare ribs.
The meal left me....
user62973
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2
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Is there a technique for making larger batches of roux?
Following along the approach of freezing roux, I would like to make some in bulk. I am also trying to do more batch cooking for freezing and making 8 quarts of mac and cheese ends up taking a lot of ...
- 11.7k
6
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1
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Benefits for different fats for flour tortillas?
There seems to be no standard fat for making flour tortillas. I've seen recipes using lard, shortening, butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil. Is there a reason I would pick one of these ...
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Keep or remove skin when grinding poultry?
After reading this I made "burgers" with ground chicken thigh. (Didn't have turkey thighs handy.) I have the feeling chicken thighs have plenty of fat, so less likely to dry out than turkey, but it ...
- 1,627
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Why does freezing vegetable shortening alter its appearance?
I got large container of vegetable shortening that I wasn't going to open right away, so I stuck it in bottom of the freezer (-14 F) to keep it from going rancid. I never really needed it, so I ...
- 1,420
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What causes congealed bacon fat to have a wrinkly surface?
Earlier this week I refrigerated some rendered bacon fat in a small metal prep bowl, for later use. Today, after making bacon again, I went to add more grease and saw a surprising texture on the ...
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How can I make my Tonkotsu broth less fatty?
I sometimes make a Tonkotsu broth for Ramen, but whenever I do, it seems to turn out very fatty (and basically tastes like gravy). It's so fatty you can feel the fat all over your lips after eating a ...
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What to do with the fat rendered when making beef stock?
I just made beef stock and after cooling the stock in the pot I skimmed the solidified fat off the surface and the walls of the pot. Since I often read 'keep duck fat' when making duck stock/broth and ...
- 1,083
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Minimum amount of fat in Roux
Most (all) recipes I know talk about 50/50 butter/flour for roux. However, at home I'm using something like a 40/60 butter/flour mix. It's thicker, but it works.
Does anybody know what the absolute ...
- 13.1k