Kitchen hacks: Simple tips to remove excess oil from cooked food

Did you know, you can drain oil from fried foods using bread? Picture: Pexels Magda Ehlers

Published Aug 16, 2023

| Published Aug 16, 2023

Removing excess oil in your foods is a step to ensuring that you keep your calories in check. That said, doing so does not mean that you necessarily do away with fats and stick to vegetables only.

Here are some tips on how to get rid of that excess oil from some common foods.

Scoop it out with a ladle or a spoon

It may be a home-made curry or the one you ordered from a restaurant. Many times, you see a thick layer of oil floating on the top. Take a ladle and press it against the dish so that oil is squeezed out and fills up the ladle.

Now simply discard the oil and enjoy your dish without much guilt.

The ice cube method

On her website, television chef Nigella Lawson revealed: “To remove the layer of fat that floats at the top just chuck in a few ice cubes. The fat goes cold and immediately sticks to the ice cubes.”

The ice floats on the oil because it is less dense, meaning you can easily remove them once they have gathered the grease particles. Lawson explained that you can scoop the cubes out with a slotted spoon after a minute or two, at which point you can throw them away.

You should never dispose of oil or fat down your sink drain – even in liquid form – as it could cause a blockage when the particles solidify. The chef recommended bringing your casserole, gravy, or whatever you are making back up to heat after removing the ice cubes and serving the dish as normal.

Use bread

Did you know, you can drain oil from fried foods using bread? With this method, you can now put your leftover slices of bread that are not so fresh any more to use.

What you need to do is, while your food is still frying, get a bowl and layer the bottom of this bowl with a slice or two of bread. Once done with frying, place the food on the slice of bread. What happens? The bread absorbs all the excess oil and fats from fried food.

Use a special fat skimmer tool

There are a number of tools available made specifically for removing the hot fat, including a simple fine-mesh stainless steel strainer.

By using one of these, you can skim the hot oil and fat straight off the top of the pan without losing any of the soup, stew, broth, etc.

You can read the latest Food digimag here.