Let's begin by talking about the giant elephant in the room. Cooking with duck fat is not for everyday cooking. Duck fat is not healthy, at least in the unclogged artery sense of the word. It is, however, amazingly flavorful, and nice to have on hand to add something special from time to time. Also, if you're going to cook duck, might as well keep the fat!
If you're roasting duck, you can add trimmed fat/skin to the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover that with water. Excess fat will drain from the duck, adding to the mix. Make sure that the fat remains covered with water. When duck is finished cooking, strain the fat/water mixture into a smaller pot.
*If you're not roasting duck, and just happen to have trimmed fat/skin from previous duck cooking in the freezer, place directly into a small pot, and cover with water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Allow water to cook out. This will take about 45 minutes. The mixture will gradually become more golden as the water evaporates. It will bubble, slowly at first, then increasing. Once the bubbles bubble at a steady quick pace, remove from heat. Strain through a fine sieve, and store in an airtight jar.
Duck fat will keep in the fridge for at least a year. Sweet! You'll know it's turned bad when it smells...bad. Before that happens, it's going to smell like heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment