How do you make shmaltz?

amother

Hyssop

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 5:38 pm

Buy a package chicken fat from your butcher. Then cook it on low until the water has evaporated. Let it cool. Remove the skin pieces with a slotted spoon, then poor the liquid into a container and refrigerate.

amother

NeonOrange

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 5:42 pm

https://www.chabad.org/recipes.....s.htm

It's very easy. I take the chunks of chicken fat, put it in a frying pan with some onions and salt, and let it cook until there is a lot of liquid. Then I scoop out the liquid into a container (if it's really "dirty" looking I'll strain it using a fine mesh strainer) and leave over the onions and gribenes.

I usually eat some of them (very rich and delicious but a little gross texture) and throw out the rest.

Two packs of shmaltz (about 1 lb each) left me with a 16 oz container of clean shmaltz.

It adds incredible flavor to food, if you haven't had scrambled eggs with shmaltz you haven't enjoyed Pesach!

amother

Hyssop

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 5:46 pm

I find shmaltz to be very salty on its own and don’t add any salt but this might depend on the butcher . Any food that I cook with shmaltz needs less salt added to it

amother

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 6:47 pm

amother NeonOrange wrote:

https://www.chabad.org/recipes/recipe_cdo/aid/5846247/jewish/How-to-Make-Schmaltz-Rendered-Chicken-Fat-and-Gribbenes.htm

It's very easy. I take the chunks of chicken fat, put it in a frying pan with some onions and salt, and let it cook until there is a lot of liquid. Then I scoop out the liquid into a container (if it's really "dirty" looking I'll strain it using a fine mesh strainer) and leave over the onions and gribenes.

what are the chunks of chicken fat? is it the skin of the chicken? can I just remove a bunch of skins and cook that?

amother

Hyssop

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 6:49 pm

amother OP wrote:

what are the chunks of chicken fat? is it the skin of the chicken? can I just remove a bunch of skins and cook that?

You can but you’ll get very little shmaltz. Skin isn’t the fat, although skin can have some fat attached to it.

amother

NeonOrange

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 6:49 pm

amother OP wrote:

what are the chunks of chicken fat? is it the skin of the chicken? can I just remove a bunch of skins and cook that?

It's the fat, like the lumps of fat you pull off a chicken leg when cleaning it. Before Pesach many stores sell packs of just the fat. That's what I usually get, much easier.

Amarante

Mon, Apr 10 2023, 6:52 pm

amother OP wrote:

what are the chunks of chicken fat? is it the skin of the chicken? can I just remove a bunch of skins and cook that?

This is how it was done traditionally. My Bubbe would save the skins and excess fat and freeze until she had enough.

I wouldn’t add salt when making because yiu can always add salt to a dish when you are cooking but hard to make a food less salty. Kosher chickens are essentially brined so they have salt content in them as part of the kashering process.

effess

Tue, Apr 11 2023, 12:42 am

Don’t throw out the chunks!
That is precious gribenes.
It’s delicious in mashed potatoes or heated in a skillet till crispy.

Rappel

Tue, Apr 11 2023, 8:59 am

amother OP wrote:

what are the chunks of chicken fat? is it the skin of the chicken? can I just remove a bunch of skins and cook that?

Yes. We used to do it with 20 chicken skins. Once you strain out the shmaltz, the skins themselves are an incredible crunchy treat!

Btw - I've never found the need to add salt. The chicken itself is more than salty enough

amother

Brunette

Tue, Apr 11 2023, 9:25 am

amother OP wrote:

what are the chunks of chicken fat? is it the skin of the chicken? can I just remove a bunch of skins and cook that?

Yes, this is what I do. A family pack of chicken leg skins will yield me about 1 inch of shmaltz in a pint Deli container. I only use it for shabbos eggs and Mashed potatoes so it's plenty. It's the grieven that are delicious though. Make sure to remove the pot lid as it finished cooking so they get crispy.

amother

Cappuccino

Tue, Apr 11 2023, 9:42 am

amother OP wrote:

I want to try to make shmaltz if it's not too hard. Can anyone tell me how?

You might want to ask, but according to our minhag this can only be done before pesach. Similar to the way liquid sugar is prepared only before.

Amarante

Tue, Apr 11 2023, 4:40 pm

Gribenes are Jewish chitlins 😂😂

many Bubbe says for Pesach they would fatten a goose to have enough fat. She said that her Bubbe would force feed the goose to increase fat.

She would say it was like the French with their four gras 😂 She would also sniff at vichyssoise and say her potato soup was better. 🤷‍♀️😂😂

WitchKitty

Wed, Apr 12 2023, 4:09 pm

Amarante wrote:

Mine would get the goose for chanuka and start freezing the fat then.

SYA

Thu, Apr 13 2023, 10:47 pm

amother Currant wrote:

How many of you still use shmaltz for pesach?
We do! We don’t use any oil.

Shmaltz only