DEFATTING OR DEGREASING LIQUIDS
Cooks have come up with bunches of ways to remove unwanted fat from their preparations of stock or broths, gravies, stews or braises, and other “wet” dishes. (Defatting solid foods such as grilled steak or roast meats is generally a slice of a knife.)
While the wet food is a-cooking, use the edge of a large, wide, fairly slim-bowled serving or stirring spoon to scoop at the fat that usually pools at the top and near the rim of the pot. Asian cooks use a dandy wide and perforated “spoon” or scoop (it’s round and sports many small holes); I bought mine at a Chinese grocery.
For small amounts of gravy, sauce or broth, you might use a measuring cup-like fat separator with a spout that emerges from the bottom of the cup. Because fat rises above the liquids in which it is cooked, as the liquid is poured out into a bowl or saucepot, it is last to show up - and hence easily discarded - at the base of the spout.
In a pinch, I have used paper toweling (or slices of stale bread) lightly passed over the top of liquids to be defatted (it helps, of course, if the liquids are calm and not jittery with a simmer or boil). You’d be surprised how efficient this method is—and how much fat a mere two or three sheets of paper towels remove.
But the best and, in some ways easiest, manner to defat something is to refrigerate it until the fat rises to the top as a solid and skim or spoon that off.
RECIPE: Leftover Roast Chicken Stock
Kay Chun, Gourmet magazine, March 2009. Makes 6 cups.
Ingredients
2 chicken carcasses left over from roast (or rotisserie) chicken, any herbs in cavities discarded
1 onion, quartered
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
Scant 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 thyme sprigs
8 parsley sprigs including long stems
4 quarts water
Directions
Bring all ingredients to a boil in an 8-quart stockpot. Reduce heat and simmer, skimming foam occasionally, 2 hours. Strain stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. If you have more than 6 cups, boil to reduce; if less, add water. If using stock right away, skim off and discard fat. If not, chill stock (covered once cool) and discard fat after it solidifies.
Notes: In place of roast-chicken carcasses, you can use 3 and 1/2 to 4 pounds wings, necks, and backs from uncooked chickens. Stock can be chilled up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months.