Chicken Fat

Chicken fat, also known as schmaltz, is rendered poultry fat derived from chickens. It's a flavorful cooking fat celebrated for its rich, savory taste and smooth, silky texture. Typically pale yellow to off-white in color, chicken fat adds a distinct depth of flavor to dishes, imparting a characteristic chicken aroma and savory note. The texture is smooth when melted and solidifies into a soft, spreadable consistency when chilled, making it a versatile ingredient for various culinary applications.

If you've never tasted schmaltz on its own, it's worth doing once: warm and roasty, with a clean chicken flavor that's less gamey than duck fat and softer than lard. It carries the essence of roast chicken skin, which is exactly why a spoonful can make a pot of beans or a tray of potatoes taste like you cooked them all afternoon. It's a cornerstone of Ashkenazi Jewish cooking, but every culture that raises birds has found a use for the fat.

You can render it yourself from the trimmings and skin you'd usually throw away — cook them low and slow with a little water until the fat runs clear and the solids turn to golden cracklings (gribenes). Bought or homemade, it has a comfortably high smoke point, so it holds up to roasting and frying without breaking down, and unlike butter it contains no milk solids, so it browns food without scorching as quickly.