Chicken Fat

#1

Hi, potential daft question coming!
Three days ago I baked a tray of chicken thighs and then put the tray in the fridge and forgot about it. I’m going to feed the dogs the meat tonight and was thinking about saving the fat which has set like wax. Does the fat have a shelf life please?
Thanks.

#2

yes fat has great shelf fridge life, it does but don’t over fat your dogs :slight_smile: in that if they are accostumed ot alot of fat then cool, if they are not used to getting alot of added fat be a tad careful cause their guts are like ours, needing to get fat adapted :slight_smile:
:slight_smile: the dogs if used to high fat added type meals should easily be good, if you add alot of that fat onto the thighs as extra you might put them into a ‘dreaded D’ issue. So if not sure, throw some of that fat onto their plates and save some fat for another meal for them…ok to space that out but yea, they will do well on it, shiny coats and so much more.

I also baked alot of chicken for ME and my dog so yea, all what you have in the fridge is good to eat for you and the dogs!

#3

Hi Fangs and thank you! We’re all on thighs tonight and I’ll save the fat in the fridge for cooking, I made a soup this morning and used a bit of the fat, it was lovely.
I’ll go easy with fat for the dogs as I definitely don’t want the ‘dreaded D’ issue!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

The fat should last quite a long time, though perhaps not as long as bacon grease. Look for recipes involving schmaltz in Jewish cookbooks; there ought to be some information there.

Whether dogs could do with more fat or not, they can still thrive on a leaner diet, whereas people cannot. Stefansson said that the Eskimos he lived with gave the leaner meat to their dogs. People need a certain amount of fat, because too much protein is toxic (protein toxicity is also known as “rabbit starvation,” because trappers used to die, a few centuries ago, from eating only rabbit meat, without extra fat).

#5

My nan used to let the fat set in the fridge then spread it on toast instead of butter.

Essentially, its just really good, high quality fat with lots of extra vitamins, minerals, collegan, melatonin etc.
So just use it like any other fat. Good for cooking veg in, or you can use it in any cooking.

I make a chilli which is very very lean, so when I have my portion I will stick any fat from the fridge. Coconut oil, butter etc, but chicken fat is ideal.

(Bob M) #6

These are interesting studies about what dogs will eat if they are allowed to eat what they want:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpn.12794

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

That is a fascinating study.

(Bob M) #8

It is, the results look keto to me. More fat than I would have thought, though.

#9

It’s amazing stuff, it doesn’t smoke/burn and provides great flavour! I’ve just done a sweet and sour chinese stir fry and it was lovely! Thanks for the tips!

#10

That’s an interesting study, thanks for sharing it. I’ve not had chance to read it properly but skimmed over it, will read it in bed.
My dogs won’t eat kibble/biscuit/dried food, even saturated in fat; they spit it out. I had to deliver fresh meat to the vet on an overnight stay much to his disgust!

(Megan) #11

Lulu (my rottie pup) and Milly (my friend’s staffy mix) would totally mess with those study results. They would both eat absolutely every bit of food available, regardless of macronutrient types! LOL

#12

Chicken fat called schmaltz in Yiddish was and is a favorite of the Hasidic community and the Old World Jews.
Does all fat from cooking, bacon grease, lamb, beef etc need to be refrigerated after it’s collected?

#13

All foodstuffs are vulnerable to ‘going off’, even including water (I work in the potable water industry btw).

Freeze if possble (the fat), or use up in good time if not freezing, and don’t keep reusing old oil/lard/tallow etc. That would be unadvisable.

(Bob M) #14

Probably not, although anything not saturated fat can oxidize over time. And since it’s almost impossible to end up with pure fat, you’d have protein and who knows what else in there, which can entice mold growth. I do have some tallow and palm oil I’ve kept at room temp for years. Having said that, I usually freeze mine.

#15

Yes, fats and oils will degenerate.

#16

Not from me, quote:

'How long can fats be stored?

1-2 years

In general, fats typically have a recommended shelf life of 1-2 years , depending on storage. You want to keep your fats and oils in a cool, dark, dry place, and sealed for as long as possible.1 Oct 2020’

But that is storage only. If you are cooking with it, recycling it if you will…nowhere near that service time.

(Bob M) #17

Oh yeah, cooking with it pretty much ruins it after only a few uses. Even using tallow I make myself from beef suet (so should have a high saturated fat content, low PUFA content), it gets small stuff in it that gets through the fine-mesh strainer we use. So, I usually toss it after only a few uses.

#18

If you mix the hard fat with something like peanuts, makes a great feed for the birds, in winter to help them.

I’ve never done this btw, but I always mean to do! I just throw stuff on the yard for them.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #19

My mother kept a jar of bacon grease at the back of the stove for decades when I was growing up. It seemed to be fine. Saturated and mono-unsaturated fats tend to be more stable than the polyunsaturates.

(Edith) #20

Chicken fat has a pretty mild taste. I cannot eat dairy, so I will use chicken or duck fat in recipes that call for butter. It does become mostly liquid at room temperature, so I keep it in the frig. It keeps for a very long time in there.