h a l f b a k e r yProfessional croissant on closed course. Do not attempt.
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When making yorkie pudding, it's nice to be able to get some fat off the top of the pot roast to heat before pouring in the batter.
It would be nice to have a wide spoon with a hole in the bottom that can be stopped by some mechanism in the handle of the spoon. Then you could scoop the fat off and
drain the broth in one motion. I know I could do this with a traditional gravy separator, but they are breakable and not spoony enough.
Another version would have an little spout coming from the bottom of the spoon. The bowl of the spoon on the spout side would be slightly raised to prevent spilling the fat as the stock is poured off.
Another way to separate gravy would be a sort of displacement contraption. A big syringe with a cone on the end. stick it in the soup and draw until you see stock, then squish the stock back in. Repeat until you have defeatted the stock.
I would really like some kind of egg-sized contraption that would sit in the boiling liquid and collect fat under it's own power, but I haven't figured that one out yet.
Fat Separators
http://www.cooksill...tSepartors-6387.pdf Plenty of existing options [neutrinos_shadow, Jan 28 2008]
[link]
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I've used a kitchen syringe (basting rod?) in the exact way you describe, no cone necessary, so that part is Baked. |
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Trying to separate the fat while boiling probably won't work so well, as the boiling will keep the mix emulsified. You can buy many devices for easy separation once everything cools down and the fat settles out. |
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I've used a basting rod to pull stock
from below, but never fat from above. |
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If you had a cylinder with a cone on one
end, and a one-way valve between the
cone and the cylinder, you could cause
the fat to rise into the cylinder by
simply pushing the cone down into the
liquid. |
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I wouldn't do this at a full boil (I don't
know if I cook anything but pasta at a
boil); a bare simmer will leave a
substantial amount of the fat at the
surface. Turning off the flame will
cause it to separate further. |
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A big part of this idea not mentioned is
to work with the hot liquid and fat in a
safe way. |
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There are a lot of devices to separate
the fat (the best being the refrigerator
and time), but I usually don't cook that
far ahead. |
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Maybe you should rig up a fractionating column? |
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If I went through that much effort, I would
probably use it to separate other things
than gravy. |
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How about a frame holding a 5 cm wheel, the bottom of which runs about a half cm below the surface of the liquid. The wheel is driven by cold water, which also chills the wheel, thus hardening the fat on the surface. On the back side, a razor blade scrapes the fat off the wheel into a tray. Hook it up to the faucet, let it run for a while - should look somewhat mad-scientist-y. |
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silly question, why can't you just use a spoon? |
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I can never seem to scoop fat off the top without getting stock in the bottom of the spoon. The idea is to be able to let this out and have pure fat in the spoon. |
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Honestly, I'm not really satisfied with this idea, and like [lurch]'s idea much better. Perhaps with a CO2 cartridge to power the wheel and cool the water. |
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1) Tilt baking pan so that broth/oil levels are deeper at one end, or better, in one corner. |
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2) easily draw off the majority of the fat because it'll be 2-5cm deep. Do so with a syringe if it makes you feel better. |
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If you can't tip the pan, just draw off all the liquid into a deep/narrow container (like a tall glass) and once again, easily decant the fat off the top. |
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That's how I do it, anyway. |
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This is what I do if I'm using a baking pan; I have pyrex graduated cylinder that I use to decant and then scoop. |
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What I really want is a way to draw the fat off of soups, pot roasts and the like without transferring to a separate containers. |
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Also, I would like this configuration because some stocks (those with leeks or other vegetables that float) must be skimmed inside of a strainer pushed into the stock. |
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"Igor...throw the separator switch...." |
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"No! NO! Not that one, you fool....do you want to get us all killed? The one to the left of the Congelation switch...the red one! Quickly, now...we are running out of lightening!" |
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"Yes...now throw it...we are nearly out of time!" |
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