Bone soup and fat

ScandiBrit

ScandiBrit

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Denmark
Hi

Local butcher gave me 3Kg of beef bone which I thought I would make into a hearty winter soup. I did a bit of googling and my inventiveness got as far as boil it with some pepper corns and bay leafs! Anyway, 6 hours later I removed the bones, fat lumps and returned the stripped off the meat to the pan and then cooked again for an hour. I put it outside and in the morning was amazed at the cm+ of fat at the top.

My question is do you then scrape this fat off and then maybe use the fat for dripping? Also what is the general process for the removing of the fat ?
Thanks
rich
 
Yes you can remove the fat but it will preserve the meat until you want to use it. Yes you can use it as dripping for cooking. All you can do is scrape it off. As far as I know, there is no magic way of removing it.

What kind/cut of beef was this? It does seem to be a lot of fat.
 
I imagine that your butcher gave you some beef, which is usually the preferred one for meat broth - maybe even with some offal?

During cooking, however, the meat broth produces fat and to remove it you can use a skimmer and at the end always remove the meat with it. If you want to remove more fat you can cool the broth, put it in the fridge and wait for it to solidify, at which point it will be easier to remove the fat from it.
However, even if I do not completely remove it, in the end it gives more flavor and consistency.
 
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I have made soups with chicken carcasses, and the result always seems to be a layer of fat at the top. It's easy enough to let it cool, then scrape it off (sometimes, it congeals so much that I can pry it off, like the lid of a jar). I have always cooled it in the refrigerator. When you say that you put the pan outside, I was concerned about spoilage. But, I believe Denmark has about the same climate as Michigan does this time of year, so your outdoors are the equivalent of refrigerator temperatures.

You absolutely can save the fat in a jar for use later. I always want to remove the fat to create a healthier stock, but there's more to it than just that. Even if you're not concerned with the healthiness, too much fat in a broth can make it unpleasantly greasy.

What you did with your broth is perfectly good: bay leaves and peppercorns are a fine seasoning. I usually add carrots, celery, and onion to the boil if I have them, but you can still get a full-flavored broth with just the meat and the seasonings.
 
I would use the fat for cooking Yorkshire puddings

If you get bones again I suggest you roast them first to render out some fat and get the Maillard reaction going, this will give the stock a better flavour, and don't forget to scoop any marrow out of the bones and stir it into the soup.
 
ScandiBrit said:
Hi

Local butcher gave me 3Kg of beef bone which I thought I would make into a hearty winter soup. I did a bit of googling and my inventiveness got as far as boil it with some pepper corns and bay leafs! Anyway, 6 hours later I removed the bones, fat lumps and returned the stripped off the meat to the pan and then cooked again for an hour. I put it outside and in the morning was amazed at the cm+ of fat at the top.

My question is do you then scrape this fat off and then maybe use the fat for dripping? Also what is the general process for the removing of the fat ?
Thanks
rich
Click to expand...

My fat removal is something I do by letting the soup / stock sit in the fridge overnight. Then scrape the fat off. Yes, you can reserve it for other purposes.

Cooking up the bones: I combine beef, lamb, goat, and venison bones and bits of collagen, excess meat from these into one pot. Okay, I seldom have goat or venison, but if you do - add them together. I simmer for many hours (covered) with at the very least, onion and a splash of vinegar.

If I know I'll be making a western-based soup stock, I also add in carrot and celery, bay leaf. For east Asian, I leave those out. If I don't know, I leave those out. I don't add any salt during the stock making phase. Salt will come when I make the actual soups or stews.

Along then with any other ingredients you want with a specific soup or stew.

I make separate stocks for poultry (chicken, turkey, and any other poultry you are probably not likely to have at hand at any given time). This cooks down a lot more quickly than beef. 4-5 hours is my standard.

Also, pork goes into a stock of its own - 5 or 7 hours is what I use. This I do gear for east Asian cookery. If I want it collagen-rich, I'll add a pork trotter/foot.

I find a crock pot / slow cooker handy for the above, but not essential.
 
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