Like many of you, we've been recently buying more whole cuts of meat to use in braises and to stretch our food dollar a little further. These often come with a fair amount of fat and gristle still attached, which can make the final dish unpleasantly greasy if left on. Here's how to get rid of as much of that fat as possible!
Note: There are images of raw meat after the jump.
As always when working with meat, use a sharp knife. Check out our tutorials on sharpening and straightening knives if you think yours needs some help!
Set the cut of meat on a cutting board. Cut or pinch off a small tag of the fat toward the top.
Still holding onto the tag of fat, set your knife in between this fat and the meat. Pull the tag of fat away from the meat so that it is taut and begin cutting downward in a slicing motion. Tilt the knife slightly toward the fat as you slice. If you cut straight downward, you'll end up going into the meat.
As you trim the fat off, keep it taut and almost parallel to the cutting board. This will help pull it away from the meat and make it easier for you to cut accurately.
Go slowly and work in clean, smooth strokes. Don't try to remove all of the fat at once. Work in strips, starting over at the top of the meat each time. Like most things in the kitchen, practice makes perfect!
If you so desire, you can render the fat by melting it over medium heat and then straining it. Rendered fat is good for cooking and frying.
Related: Food Science: Why Tough Meat Makes a Better Braise
(Image: Flickr member FotoosVanRobin licensed under Creative Commons and Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
Unless it's a super thick layer, I usually cook meat with the fat on and, since I'm often cooking the day ahead, I scoop the rendered fat off the top when I take it out of the fridge for re-heating.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
I also find that very cold/slightly frozen meat is the easiest to trim the fat off of. I don't cook beef very often, but when I do I usually put it in the freezer for 30-60 minutes beforehand to chill it a bit more. Warm fat is super slippery!
view cransell's profile
Why was there a warning before the raw meat photos? Is it NSFW?
view Squirrely's profile
I assume the raw meat warning is for people like me who would be fine with searing just the outer edge of the meat and have it nearly raw. They don't want us to eat our monitors.
view Plaid Ninja's profile
Wait, what if I'm offended by raw vegetables? You don't put up warnings about that...what the heck?
view HelloChloe's profile
What was with that raw meat warning? I mean...if we're reading a food blog, it's most likely that we don't have a problem with raw meat.
You guys have a sudden large influx of vegetarian readers or something?
view wunami's profile