Defatting Soup Without Waiting

[Corinne]

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the fat off the top of soup - in this case, Gumbo, without waiting for it to cool? I thinking: turkey baster, paper towels, hmmmmm.... There must be a great trick out there for doing this easily with the least amount of mess. Thank you!!!

 

[Andy M.]

I use a large metal spoon, the size that goes along with the ladle and spatula in a set, an skim the fat off the top of the pot. You can usually see pockets of fat around the surface. You can also "herd" the fat together in a portion of the pot to make skimming easier.

I also use the paper towel trick after skimming. I lay a single sheet of paper towel on the surface, then lift it out and directly into the trash. Do this with several pieces of paper towel.

 

[purrfectlydevine]

Somewhere I heard about draging a lettuce leaf over hot soup to remove excess fat. Can't say if it works since I haven't tried it.

 

[grumblebee]

The paper towel trick works quite well. You can also drop a couple of ice cubes in and the fat sticks around the outside of the cube. (just take it out before they melt!)

 

[Robo410]

patience and a steady hand with a metal spoon...the fine residue use paper towel or wonder bread.

 

[Corinne]

patience and a steady hand with a metal spoon...the fine residue use paper towel or wonder bread.

Ah - patience is a virtue...but not one of mine!

 

[auntdot]

All I know is skimming. Can always put a shim under the pot to make the fat rise to the highest point. And then can finish it off with the paper towel, but never do anymore.

Find the skimming works just fine.

Just my opinion, hope it works.

 

[scott123]

In all the kitchens I've worked in, the only thing I've seen chefs use is a ladle. If you press the ladle gently down on the surface, the oil will be the first thing to fill it. This works for chunky stews like gumbo as well.

You could put the whole thing in a colander and then use a gravy separator.

Personally, I like my gumbo fatty Although a lot of the fat comes from the oil in the roux, some of it is pork fat rendered from andouille. At least in my gumbo it is. And you know what they say about pork fat...

 

[Chopstix]

To quickly cool down hot stew or stock, I transfer it out of any thick-bottomed pot first. Then pack plenty of ice into a ziplock bag (gallon or quart) and immerse this in the hot liquid. When the liquid is cooled, a lot of the fat sticks to the bag.

Since I prefer thorough de-fatting, I place the whole cooled lot (w/ bag) in the freezer or fridge for a coupla hours then lift the solid fat off. If there are still tiny globules of fat floating, I strain these off.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Well, for gumbo - I remove my gumbo from the heat and let it sit uncovered and undisturbed for 5 minutes. This allows fat molecules on the surface to rejoin together into larger masses and makes skimming easier.

I then use either a soup or gravy ladle, or a large serving spoon (about 3-4 Tablespoon size), to skim the fat off and dump it into an old can - I always have an old coffee can (with a plastic lid) on hand in the refrigerator for trash grease.

 

[GB]

If you want to buy another kitchen tool, there are fat mops that are basically just nylon brushes. the fat is attracted to the nylon. You just swish the mop around the gumbo and you are all set.

Here is a picture of one.

 

[Andy M.]

Does the fat mop work well? How many passes do you have to make to defat a bit pot of soup or stock? How do you "unload" it between sweeps?

 

[GB]

It works very well, but it is a little bit of a pain to get clean. Still worth it in my opinion.

yes I unload it once it fills up. To unload it you just hold the handle and pull. The bristles go up into the holder part and all the fat squeegees (sp?) out. You can also store it that way so it is nice and neat.

it is especially useful for defatting things like stews which are chunky and hard to use the skim method.

it can go in the dishwasher, but I find that food gets trapped in it so I still need to wash it by hand. I just fill up a bowl with soapy water and give it a good massage in that and that seems to work well enough.

 

[Andy M.]

Thanks, GB. I'll have to give it a try.