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To Clarify Dripping, Lard, and Suet
100. To Clarify Dripping or Skimmings, put either into a clean saucepan over a stove, hot plate, or small fire. Melt it very slowly, and skim till quite clear at the upper part; let it just boil for a second, then strain it through a sieve, and let it get cold. There will always be more or less watery gravy at the bottom; but the upper part will be clear fat, free from admixture with any other matter, and quite good enough for any ordinary fryings, or for basting meat. 101. TO CLARIFY LARD OR SUET. - The kidney-fat of either animal must be cut into small pieces, and must then be put into a waterbath, or in a cool oven, or on a very cool hot-plate or stove; the slightest increase of temperature more than sufficient to liquefy the fat gives a taste of burning, which is not pleasant. If there is no water-bath at hand, an earthenware jar immersed in a saucepan of water, and covered over with a saucepan-lid, answers all the purpose. Whichever plan is adopted, the process must be very slow, as the cells in which the fat lies take a long time to empty themselves. When the lumps have shrunk almost to nothing, strain the whole through a sieve, and increase the heat a little for the remaining portion; the water-bath not being sufficient to extract all the fat. Keep this last part separate, as it is only fit for frying, and not for pastry. Tie down the jar when cold, and either suet or lard will then keep a long time.
Two rendering methods: the first salvages used drippings from roasting, the second renders raw kidney fat into lard or suet. The governing rule in both is low heat -- fat scorches at a temperature barely above its melting point, and burnt fat cannot be rescued.
- The hinge: keep it below a simmerThe recipe asks for no more heat than will just liquefy the fat; modern renderers usually work somewhere around 225-250F. Anything hotter browns the connective tissue and the whole batch takes on a scorched taste.
- Water-bathThe improvised jar-in-a-saucepan is a bain-marie. It caps the temperature at 212F, which is why the recipe admits it will not extract the last of the fat -- that residue needs direct heat.
- Kidney fatBeef kidney fat is sold as suet; pork kidney fat is leaf lard, the prized grade for pastry. Both usually need ordering from a butcher. Cut into half-inch dice or coarsely grind it -- smaller pieces empty their cells far faster.
- The watery layerThe "watery gravy" beneath clarified dripping is where spoilage starts. Chill the fat, lift the solid cake off, and scrape the underside clean before storing.
- StrainingA sieve alone leaves fine solids behind. Line it with two layers of muslin or a coffee filter; the cleaner the fat, the better it keeps.
- Two grades, kept apartThe advice to separate the last, hotter-rendered fat is sound. It carries browned particles and a stronger flavour -- good for frying potatoes, wrong for shortcrust.
- Storage"Tie down the jar" assumed a cold larder. Refrigerate in a covered jar for several months, or freeze for a year. Rendered fat left at ordinary room temperature will turn rancid much sooner.
- YieldExpect roughly 12-14 oz of finished fat per pound of raw kidney fat; the residue in the sieve will crisp only if it is finished over direct heat, as the recipe's second stage allows.