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separator spoon

separate as you skim
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When making yorkie pudding, it's nice to be able to get some fat off the top of the pot roast to heat before pouring in the batter.

It would be nice to have a wide spoon with a hole in the bottom that can be stopped by some mechanism in the handle of the spoon. Then you could scoop the fat off and drain the broth in one motion. I know I could do this with a traditional gravy separator, but they are breakable and not spoony enough.

Another version would have an little spout coming from the bottom of the spoon. The bowl of the spoon on the spout side would be slightly raised to prevent spilling the fat as the stock is poured off.

Another way to separate gravy would be a sort of displacement contraption. A big syringe with a cone on the end. stick it in the soup and draw until you see stock, then squish the stock back in. Repeat until you have defeatted the stock.

I would really like some kind of egg-sized contraption that would sit in the boiling liquid and collect fat under it's own power, but I haven't figured that one out yet.

nomocrow, Jan 28 2008

Fat Separators http://www.cooksill...tSepartors-6387.pdf
Plenty of existing options [neutrinos_shadow, Jan 28 2008]

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       I've used a kitchen syringe (basting rod?) in the exact way you describe, no cone necessary, so that part is Baked.   

       Trying to separate the fat while boiling probably won't work so well, as the boiling will keep the mix emulsified. You can buy many devices for easy separation once everything cools down and the fat settles out.
DrCurry, Jan 28 2008
  

       I've used a basting rod to pull stock from below, but never fat from above.   

       If you had a cylinder with a cone on one end, and a one-way valve between the cone and the cylinder, you could cause the fat to rise into the cylinder by simply pushing the cone down into the liquid.   

       I wouldn't do this at a full boil (I don't know if I cook anything but pasta at a boil); a bare simmer will leave a substantial amount of the fat at the surface. Turning off the flame will cause it to separate further.   

       A big part of this idea not mentioned is to work with the hot liquid and fat in a safe way.   

       There are a lot of devices to separate the fat (the best being the refrigerator and time), but I usually don't cook that far ahead.
nomocrow, Jan 28 2008
  

       Maybe you should rig up a fractionating column?
DrCurry, Jan 28 2008
  

       If I went through that much effort, I would probably use it to separate other things than gravy.
nomocrow, Jan 28 2008
  

       How about a frame holding a 5 cm wheel, the bottom of which runs about a half cm below the surface of the liquid. The wheel is driven by cold water, which also chills the wheel, thus hardening the fat on the surface. On the back side, a razor blade scrapes the fat off the wheel into a tray. Hook it up to the faucet, let it run for a while - should look somewhat mad-scientist-y.
lurch, Jan 28 2008
  

       silly question, why can't you just use a spoon?
po, Jan 28 2008
  

       I can never seem to scoop fat off the top without getting stock in the bottom of the spoon. The idea is to be able to let this out and have pure fat in the spoon.   

       Honestly, I'm not really satisfied with this idea, and like [lurch]'s idea much better. Perhaps with a CO2 cartridge to power the wheel and cool the water.
nomocrow, Jan 29 2008
  

       1) Tilt baking pan so that broth/oil levels are deeper at one end, or better, in one corner.   

       2) easily draw off the majority of the fat because it'll be 2-5cm deep. Do so with a syringe if it makes you feel better.   

       If you can't tip the pan, just draw off all the liquid into a deep/narrow container (like a tall glass) and once again, easily decant the fat off the top.   

       That's how I do it, anyway.
Custardguts, Jan 30 2008
  

       This is what I do if I'm using a baking pan; I have pyrex graduated cylinder that I use to decant and then scoop.   

       What I really want is a way to draw the fat off of soups, pot roasts and the like without transferring to a separate containers.   

       Also, I would like this configuration because some stocks (those with leeks or other vegetables that float) must be skimmed inside of a strainer pushed into the stock.
nomocrow, Jan 30 2008
  

       "Igor...throw the separator switch...."   

       "This one here, Master?"   

       "No! NO! Not that one, you fool....do you want to get us all killed? The one to the left of the Congelation switch...the red one! Quickly, now...we are running out of lightening!"   

       "This one, Master?"   

       "Yes...now throw it...we are nearly out of time!"
Blisterbob, Jan 31 2008
  
      
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