Schmaltz and Gribenes
also called chicken fat · rendered chicken fat · gribenes · grieven · griven · cracklings · chicken schmaltz
- Deli
- serves 12
- about 1 hr 30 min
- Sauces & Gravies
Three ways to read this recipe
The table
| 12 oz(340 g; the pads from inside a bird, or ask the butcher)chicken fat | chop the fat and skin | render 1 hr on the lowest heat | fry the onion 20 min to gribenes | strain, salt the cracklings |
| 4 oz(115 g)chicken skin | ||||
| 1/4 cup(60 mL)water | ||||
| 1 medium(sliced thin)yellow onion | ||||
| 1/2 tspkosher salt | ||||
What to lay out
Everything the recipe asks for, sitting under the step that eats it. Tick each one as you measure it.5 things to get out.
1chop the fat and skin
2render 1 hr on the lowest heat
goes in with what step 1 made
3fry the onion 20 min to gribenes
goes in with what step 2 made
4strain, salt the cracklings
goes in with what step 3 made
Cooking it
Tap a step when it is done; the next one lights up.
The clock
- Start to finish
- at least 1 hr 20 mintwo waits that overlap count once
- Needs you
- 20 minof the steps that give a time
2 of the 4 steps never say how long they take, so both numbers are floors. The recipe itself says 1 hr 30 min.
chop the fat and skin
not timedfrom the start
render 1 hr on the lowest heat
1 hrwalk awayfrom the start
fry the onion 20 min to gribenes
20 minneeds you1 hr in
strain, salt the cracklings
not timed1 hr 20 min in
- needs you
- you can walk away
- never timed
Drawn to scale, so a long wait really does take up the room it takes. The shortest stretches keep a sliver so they stay visible; their times are printed beside them.
Goes with
See how it is written
>> title: Schmaltz and Gribenes
>> category: Sauces & Gravies
>> tags: chicken, rendered fat, onion, stovetop, deli
>> counters: Deli
>> aka: chicken fat, rendered chicken fat, gribenes, grieven, griven, cracklings, chicken schmaltz
>> pairs-with: chopped-liver, matzo-ball-soup, deli-rye-bread
>> servings: 12
>> time: 1 hr 30 min
>> step.1: chop the fat and skin
>> step.2: render 1 hr on the lowest heat
>> step.3: fry the onion 20 min to gribenes
>> step.4: strain, salt the cracklings
Chop @chicken fat{12%oz}(340 g; the pads from inside a bird, or ask the butcher) and @chicken skin{4%oz}(115 g) into pieces the size of a stamp. A whole chicken gives about a quarter of this, so most people save it in the freezer over a month of roasting until there is enough to bother.
Melt @&(~1)chopped fat{} in a heavy pan with @water{1/4%cup}(60 mL) over the lowest flame you have and ~simmer{1%hr}, stirring now and then. The water is the trick that keeps the bottom from catching before the fat has run: it boils away long before the fat is out, and by then there is enough liquid fat in the pan to protect the rest.
Stir @yellow onion{1%medium}(sliced thin) into @&(~1)rendering fat{} and ~fry{20%min} until the skin has shrunk into hard brown curls and the onion has gone deep gold. This is the point people get wrong in both directions — pale gribenes are chewy, black ones are bitter, and the window between them is about four minutes.
Strain @&(~1)pan{} through a sieve into a clean jar, then toss the gribenes left behind with @kosher salt{1/2%tsp} and eat them warm, standing up, before anyone else finds them. The fat keeps three months in the fridge and goes into chopped liver, matzo balls, kasha and roast potatoes; a spoonful on rye with salt is the plainest thing this counter sells.