Get the App

Recipes

Find a Recipe Blue Ribbon Recipes Pinch It!™ Feed Browse All Recipes

Editorial

Food Bites & Articles Videos What is a Blue Ribbon? Meet the Test Kitchen

Community

Member Recipes Groups Sweepstakes Contests Shopping

butter replacement!

(1 rating)
suak avatar
Recipe by
Susan Cutler
@suak
Anchorage, AK

An excellent shortening that may be used to replace butter in cooking and baking. It is made from chicken fat, of which there are usually three or more ounces in one fat bird. Did your Grandmother or Mother do this? Render fat? I remember my Grandmother using chicken fat. It seemed we always had some, probably because we raised chickens! I grew up on a farm in Maine. How fun it was! Does anyone have a story?

(1 rating)
yield 3 -4 fat ounces in 1 bird
prep time 1 Hr
cook time 30 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For butter replacement!

  • 1
    whole chicken
  • enough cold water to cover fat completely~ that was extracted from the chicken
  • double boiler
  • jar with cover for storage

How To Make butter replacement!

  • 1
    Remove the fat from the bird and place in cold salt water for one hour; then drain and cut into small pieces. Render fat in a double boiler over medium heat for as long as it takes to melt it. Pour into a jar and allow to harden.
  • 2
    When using this fat, use one-third less than the amount of butter called for in the recipe. To make pastry, allow four tablespoonfuls of the chicken fat to each cup of flour.
  • 3
    Chicken fat may be used to replace butter for seasoning vegetables and mashed potatoes. This is a pure fat, free from moisture and seasoning and will go farther than butter. Store in cool dark area. It will keep for up to 6 months out of the refrigerator. You may also store it in the refrigerator.
  • 4
    Source: Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book (1920). Author: Mary A. Wilson of Mrs. Wilson's Cooking School, Philadelphia. Formerly Queen Victoria's cuisiniere and instructor domestic science, University of Virginia Summer School, Charlotteville, Virginia. Instructor of cooking for the U.S. Navy
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
ADVERTISEMENT