Rendering Duck Fat

[BilletHead]

Experiment, rendering duck fat. From todays mallards I trimmed off some skin from the carcasses after breasting them. Not too much as it is a pain but did acquire some. Took a small 5" skillet and threw in the skin. Put the heat on simmer. Watched as the magic began, Some meat attached, no problem got a plan for that too.

Starting to heat up and getting happy, the fat and me too,

Results from the test. I would say about three tablespoons of the golden stuff.

The bits left? A little salt and pepper then popped in the mouth. Meaty cracklings!

Pain in the rear but worth the try. I will fry me a couple of eggs in the fat. If a person plucked a whole at duck and boiled it like an old hen you would reap a lot of the fat for use later. I also wiped out the skillet with a potato roll and ate it too. On a side note duck fat is healthier than butter for you. I just ordered a book called duck, duck, goose by Hank Shaw. He says it is the most heart healthy fats in all of nature. Although this fat is not unsaturated like olive oil is, they are the least saturated of all terrestrial animal fats. Neat book with recipes and info. I am enjoying the reading,

BilletHead

[Feathers and Fins]

Never thought of doing it with duck, I do it with goose, there you go again getting my cooking brain thinking!

[BilletHead]

When Mrs. BilletHead got home from work she says "What do you want for dinner" Good Question babe how about fried eggs done in duck fat? Huh she said and I showed her what I had done. She then used about half of what I had made and fried them up. Very good and clean tasting. I wish it wasn't such a pain to get. May have to order some off the internet. Crazy expensive though. I now know why,

BilletHead

[Feathers and Fins]

Marty now you have a reason to kill as many snow geese as humanly possible lol

[Njardar]

For Christmas we cooked a duck on the rotisserie with a drip pan to catch the fat which was used for the roasted potatoe.

[duckydoty]

Marty, you are quickly going 5 star on us. Our chef (he trained at Cordon Blu in Paris for 2 years) at the lodge we work for in Alaska renders duck fat and uses it all the time. His seared duck breasts with crackling sprinkled on top is fantastic.

[moguy1973]

It has the same smoke point as clairfied butter so it can be used for all sorts of pan frying...

Great read on How-To's of cooking with duck fat...The duck fat popcorn sounds interesting!

http://www.dartagnan.com/Cooking-with-Duck-Fat/cookingwithduckfat,default,pg.html

[BilletHead]

Oh yea Moguy,

Thanks for the link and more reading. Like I said a pain in the rear to work up a bunch from wild ducks without a lot of effort. BUT I took out a couple of fat Canada geese yesterday afternoon and kept the skin to render. A lot more fat to be had and less effort for the reward. We will see,

BilletHead

[moguy1973]

Goose fat is even better than duck fat health wise...

[rps]

Duck and goose fat are amazing. Other uses you won't regret:

1. Put a little in a baggie with small potatoes (or chunks of larger potato), carrots, and onion. Add a bit of salt, pepper, and a sprig of rosemary. Shake and massage the contents until everything is coated in the fat. Pour everything in a pan and roast at 375 - 400 until the edges turn brown.

2. Use duck fat to make your roux for poultry gravy.

3. Use duck fat like crisco for dumplings.

BTW: I put bones and fat in water and simmer for 6-8 hours in a slow cooker. Remove the bones and other chunks and put the liquid in the refrigerator. After a day, the fat will be on top and the liquid underneath is duck stock.

Enjoy!