Save the Grease.
If you have made bone-broth, you probably have noticed the layer of grease that usually rises to the top of the pot of goodness…..
I am a wierdo who desires to use as much of my animals as possible. Ox Tail, heart, liver, suet, fat, bones, organs – I want to turn all of it into nutrition for my family. This is traditional cooking. This also makes my children look strangely into the bowls of food I put before them and suspiciously ask, “What’s in it?”
Just eat it. It’s good for you.
My desire to use the entire animal extends to grease, fat and lard. I have always saved my bacon grease & re-purposed it to fry perfect eggs, potatoes, and green beans. I think a little pork makes everything better. If you are crazy enough to live with 3 stinky pigs every summer, your pork will not only make food taste better, it will also make it healthier.
When I make bone broth I usually end up with a bunch of grease at the top of my soup. It is pretty unappetizing in my soup, but it can be incredibly delicious if it’s in the right place.
Why would I want to save the grease?
My cows are grassfed. They live on pasture, in the sunshine. Believe it or not, I do not need to go to the cardiologist and have my arteries checked. The meat (and fat) from Pigs and Cows raised this way are excellent sources of vitamins B6, B12, K2, selenium, iron, phosphorus, niacin, potassium and riboflavin. Probably the most exciting part of these grassfed, sunbathing critters is the high amount of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) they contain. CLA is the cancer-resistant wonder-fat.
All fats are not created equal. The grease on top of my bone broth is a treasure & I do not want to feed it to my chickens, or pour it down my drain, or dump it in my garbage can (who would do that?). I want to eat it!
Before I can eat it I must get it off the top of my soup.
There’s a couple of approaches to gathering the grease. You can either:
- Skim it off the top
- Refrigerate it and take the fat off the top tomorrow
I do both.
If I have time, am feeling like it, and I want fat-cubes, I use a ladle to skim fat off the top of the (already strained) broth. I put it into ice-cube trays & transfer to the freezer.
In the morning I just pop out the fat-cubes.
The beautiful frozen-fat can be moved to a freezer bag and stay in the freezer until I’m ready to use them.
If I’m not feeling like it or don’t have time to skim the fat off the top, I just stick the whole batch of bone broth (grease and all) into the refrigerator.
The next morning I have a fat frisbee on top of my broth. I just loosen the fat from the container with a slender knife….
and remove the frisbee. I can now break the frisbee into pieces, transfer into a freezer bag and pop it in the freezer until I need it.
By the way, do you see the broth in the back ground?
Bone Broth Jello Baby!!! That gelatinous goodness will heal my gut, make my joints as smooth as silk, make my skin glow, heal auto-immune issues and remove toxins from my body. Bone Broth Jello is a miracle food that you should eat regularly. To learn why I eat it all the time go here.
I have freezer bags filled with fat-cubes – now what?
To add some fat (or flavor) to any dish I toss in a couple cubes:
- Great for sauté-ing: Green beans, lima beans, brussel sprouts, corn, spinach, kale, cabbage or other veggie.
- Great for frying: eggs, potatoes, French fries, okra, fish, etc. Animal fats are stable at high temperatures – so fry away!
- Great for adding flavor: soup, stews, beans, hummus, salad dressings.
- Great for creating a non-stick surface. Coat your pan before cooking: ham, pork chops, steaks, sausage, bacon, etc. The natural, animal fats will add flavor and prevent sticking.
The next time you see a layer of oil accumulating on the surface of your soup – remember you can recycle it, reuse it, and re-purpose it. If your food comes from grass-fed animals, take full advantage of that goodness. Save the grease!
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XO,
Candi
