Great trick to lessen fat in soups

saweetie

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 9:52 am

I saw this on Rachel Ray a few years ago, and just remembered. If you put a piece of clean lettuce in your soup as its boiling, it absorbs all the fat and then you just throw it out. It's really cool and great for chicken soup which gets very oily looking from the chicken. It does not take out any flavor. Great for all you dieting ladies out there Smile

IloveHashem613

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 10:19 am

saweetie wrote:

cool trick! also, once u refrigerate the soup, all the fat rises to the top in those clumps and you can just spoon out globs of fat (I know gross) from the top before you boil it again

saweetie

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 10:21 am

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

Great idea!

Any kind of lettuce?

When do you put it in? Beginning, end?

I think any kind. I use romaine and you do it as its boiling up...about at the end. in the beg the fat hasnt all come to surface

TranquilityAndPeace

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 10:24 am

Thanks for this idea!

I know about skimming the fat, but I make a HUGE pot every 2 months, put it away in containers while warm, and heat up the frozen containers right before Shabbos, so I don't have the opportunity to skim it when it's cool.

Ice cubes? That would just dilute the soup, not absorb the fat and be removed, as this lettuce will do.

OOTBubby

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 10:28 am

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

I know about skimming the fat, but I make a HUGE pot every 2 months, put it away in containers while warm, and heat up the frozen containers right before Shabbos, so I don't have the opportunity to skim it when it's cool.

I do the same, but I let it defrost on Friday which leaves the fat in a hard layer on the top and very easy to remove before heating.

lollygirl

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 1:44 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

The ice really works the same as the lettuce. You just skim it over the top of the soup and it picks up the fat. I never heard of leaving ice/lettuce IN the soup. AFAIK, it's just easier than using a spoon to skim the fat.

Chaya Braun

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 1:46 pm

delete please, I was logged in with wrong sn!

Last edited by Chaya Braun on Thu, Oct 27 2011, 1:49 pm; edited 1 time in total

Liba

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 1:50 pm

When my soup is frozen or even cold from the fridge I just use a spoon and scrape the fat off. I can't see use lettuce or paper towels unless I was cooking the soup at the very last minute.

de_goldy

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 1:59 pm

I do all my cooking Friday. If there's extra and I fridge or freeze it, I'll remove the rest of the fat then - but on Fridays I use papertowels.

zaq

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 3:19 pm

de_goldy wrote:

You can also use papertowels to soak up the fat. Is there any advantage to the lettuce leaf over the papertowel?

if you always have horrid limp lettuce in your fridge that will end up being thrown out, using the lettuce in lieu of paper saves trees, and allows the lettuce leaf to go to its final reward with the sense that it hasn't lived in vain.

Grandmama

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 8:15 pm

I don't remember when was the last time I bought a head of lettuce, unless you count in the head of Romaine I bought for the Pesach seder. Who still sells/buys lettuce? If I want to eat lettuce I buy the kind that is prechecked and cut up in pieces. I have honestly not seen a head of lettuce in a long time.

I tried the papertowel and had a hard time making it work.
Best method is to freeze soup on Thursday night, and by Friday afternoon its quite easy to remove most of the fats on top. I usually skim the soup right when it starts to bubble up, and remove most of it like that.

OOTBubby

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 8:20 pm

Grandmama wrote:

You don't need to freeze it. Refrigerating it will work perfectly.

de_goldy

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 8:44 pm

Grandmama wrote:

You are definitely missing out! Heads of lettuce taste so much better than the cut up bag lettuce. We use 3 heads every night for salad and more on Shabbos. I can only think of two people I know who use bagged lettuce and both hold that you have to check it anyway!

ra_mom

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 9:00 pm

I'm with flowerpower. I remove all skin from chicken and bones, and clean everything very well, before I start my chicken soup. There is barely any fat in my soup, not enough to skim or soak up for sure.
I just strain my soup after it cools, so that it's totally clear without any little impurities floating around.

As far as vegetable soups, no need to add much fat. 2 Tbsp of oil is enough to saute onions for a fut soup.

But this trick is great when you end up with too fatty a soup. My mom taught it to me too a number of years ago.