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  • Pork Lard

• Schmaltz
  • Myra's Schmaltz
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  • Schmaltz

Pork Lard
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Preheat oven to 250F. Place 1lb of fat (leaf fat, fat back or pork fat
pieces cleaned of skin and meat and finely diced) in an ovenproof dish. Add
enough cold water to partially cover. Put in oven (or over very low flame)
for 40 minutes, or until fat has melted, stirring occasionally to prevent
it from browning or sticking. Remove from oven and strain through a
cheesecloth into a heat proof container. Set aside. When fat has set into a
smooth white shortening, cover and refrigerate. Will keep for 3 months.

From Amanda (ahl5 at PANTHEON.YALE.EDU)
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Myra's Schmaltz
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For the unintiated, schmaltz is chicken fat rendered with onions. Way
back before margarine was invented, rendered chicken or goose fat was used
instead of butter for meat meals. Schmaltz adds the most wonderful flavor
to foods, and we lowcarbers can count ourselves lucky that we can indulge!
I recommend using it in other recipes where called for.

3-4 cups raw chicken fat and skins
1 medium onion, finely chopped

In a skillet over moderate heat, cook the chicken fat and skin pieces
until the fat liquifies out and the solid pieces shrink and become golden
brown. Add the onion and cook until the skins and onion are very crisp and
dark brown (but not burned). Remove from heat. Remove the crispy bits with
a slotted spoon (see note). Stir and let stand until cool, but still
liquid. Pour into a glass jar or container and keep in the refrigerator or
freezer. Will keep almost indefinitely.
Makes about 1 cup schmaltz.
NOTE: The leftover crispy bits are called "griebenes," and are the
Jewish version of fried pork rinds, so enjoy them as a snack (I always
do!).

From Betty (tguyer at JUNO.COM)
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More Schmaltz
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>Where do you get this from? or do you have to render it yourself?  If so,
>what is the process.

You can buy it ready-made in almost any Jewish delicatessen, or in a
grocery store which caters to Jewish cuisine....
It's easy enough to make yourself...just strip off the chicken fat any
time you make chicken, and freeze the portions of fat in a ziplock bag...
when you have a good amount of raw chicken fat, just thaw it out and put
it in a frying pan over medium to high heat....make sure it doesn't
burn...
In 15 minutes or so, the fat will have 'rendered' out, leaving behind
'cracklings' (you can also do this with pork, obvious THAT wouldn't be
'kosher' tho! <g>)...let the fat cool somewhat, then strain it
(cheesecloth would be nice, but a fine-meshed strainer will do) and let
the liquid fat completely cool...what you now have is 'schmaltz', which
you can use to fry and/or to flavor in cooking....

From June (revcoal at CONNIX.COM)
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Schmaltz
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When I need schmaltz for baking, I make it the following way, using the fat
and skin from the chickens:

Place about a cup's worth of skin and fat, diced or ground small, in 2 cups
of cold water. Bring to a boil, and simmer, stirring frequently, skimming
as needed, until the water has been reduced by half. Strain into a clean
glass container. Using a wide-mouthed pint jar is great, as you can see
about how much fat you've rendered out. Place in fridge. When the fat as
set, remove it from the liquid, place in whatever container in which you'll
be using, and freeze. The liquid is now chock-full of collagen from the fat
and skin, and should be nicely jellied. You can use it when making stock;
it adds body and protein. Not much flavor though.

Now, as far as what you've saved from your chicken soup, if it's just as
bland and plain as what you've gotten from the skin and fat, you can freeze
it right along. You might want to premeasure it in useable portions before
freezing. I use it for the crust of my Thanksgiving Apple Pie; since the
main meal is a meat meal anyway, why not? I like the results better than
butter or Veg. shortening, and from what I have read not only is it lower
in saturates (though higher in outright cholesterol) it has lineolic acid,
which I have read helps the body break down the "bad" cholesterol.

I figured out to use it for crusts from a Shaker cookbook. They spoke
highly of chicken fat as a pastry shortening.

From: Blanche Nonken in rec.food.preserving
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