As far as I'm concerned, there's only one good fat separator, and this is that one!

Thanks joe. Is it the shape that makes it better? The others altho similar are all rounder.

Here's a mild dissent. I have tried a couple of those gadgets but not the one linked to above. I've found the pitcher types with a spigot arising from the base of the container a pain in the rear to clean.

I find the easiest way to do defat a soup or broth is with some items you may already have in the kitchen. Get a 2 cup pyrex liquid measuring cup and a ladle which fits into that measuring cup. Push the ladle vertically just barely into the liquid in the pot so that the fat on the surface of the broth runs into the ladle. Some broth will, as well, but don't worry about that. Ladle it into the measuring cup... repeat until you have most of the fat off. Then do the same thing in the measuring cup. Whatever broth came with the fat now is at the bottom of the measure. Ladle the fat off the stuff in the measuring cup, discarding it into a styrofoam or other disposable cup. Pour the broth from the cup back into the pot. Repeat as needed. Put the styrofoam cup with the fat in the freezer and toss in the trash on garbage day.

It really is pretty efficient, and you don't need an extra piece of equipment.

I don't have room to store special purpose kitchen gadgets like a fat separator. I use Arley's technique when there's a lot more "good" liquid than fat. When it's the other way around, I use a turkey baster to draw the "good" liquid out from under the fat.

For little broth and much fat, I use velodoug's technique.

For much broth and less fat -- like soup, for instance, especially in larger pots -- I use paper towels. I allow the broth to settle so the fat floats on top. Then I take one sheet at a time and gently "float" it onto the surface so it lands flat all at at once on top of the fat. The fat clings instantly and I remove the paper towel and toss it. Repeat as many times as needed....until I begin to pick up drops of water-broth on the towel.

I did have a "grease mop"...a stringy thing, looked like a small mop but the strings were made from some sort of synthetic stuff....you just swished it around on top of the soup or whatever and it picked up all the fat....then you just washed the fat out of the mop....
Yeah! Sure!!...I tossed that one in the garbage!
I had a mess once when I sucked the broth out of the bottom with a turkey baster....seems the hot liquid warmed the air in the bulb and squirted hot broth all over the kitchen....threw that away too.
I now mostly do the "pour it into the 2 cup measure and ladle off the grease method"...
Linda C

i use the ladle method as well which has worked for me. been there, done that with the mop thing linda talked about, not a good choice. i've also tried the turkey baster with the same results.

stick with the ladle or large spoon, work great.

maryanne

In a pinch I have also used ice cubes. They gather the fat and you skim them off before they melt.

I've been wanting a bigger separater so I bought the Trudeau one linked above. I hope it works well! I have the one with the spout at the bottom and it works very well only it's small. I put it in the dishwasher with no problem.

Ummm, you dont separate fat from gravy, lol. I think you mean separate fat from meat drippings with which you make the gravy.

If someone is recommending, a PLASTIC separator, I would RUN FAST, away from it. I have never had a plactic separator that did not crack eventually, usually sooner than later. I found laboratory glass quality ones, (at vermont mountain glass, I think the name is. If you want to know for sure, please email me at: bluelytes@yahoo.com and I will give you the right name), with the spout coming out of the bottom. And with all due respect to the other poster, I have never had a problem cleaning it. This one beats any other one hands down, IMHO.

About 10 years ago I purchased a "gravy mop", also called "Fat Mop" from Pampered Chef. They don't carry it any longer, but I found it a couple years ago on Fantes.com. It's manufactured by a company called "All Mops & Brushes" and sells for about $5.00. I use it all the time after boiling chicken to make chicken stock. You simply brush it across the surface of the stock. It removes the grease. You may need to skim the surface with it several times, but it is quick and easy and works wonders. Much better than putting a hot pot of stock in the refrigerator to cool overnight so you can skim it off the next day. I bought about 7 of them and gave them away to friends and relatives.

On the Amazon.com link to the Trudeau fat separator (which is upline on this thread) a review describes a technique using a ziplock bag. That looks useful as well. Check out the link and scroll down to the reviews for more information.

The best thing is once you're finished separating the drippings, you can throw away the ziplock bag.

Hi. Happy holidays.
If I don't have time to let the fat rise and chill, I use the de-fatter pitcher. Else I put it into containers and let it sit until I see the layer of fatty stuff at the top...then just pour it off.

I have this one and like it alot - it also doubles as a regular measuring cup, marinater etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: oxo fat seperator

I use the OXO fat separator.

You can use a few feet of plastic tubing (aquarium store). Place the drippings in a container on a elevated surface (the range?) and an empty container at a lower level (the floor?). Hold one end of the tubing near the bottom of the drippings/upper container. Suck on the other end of the tubing to fill the tubing with liquid, and hold that end at the bottom of the empty/lower container. Liquid will continue flowing from upper to lower container, so long as the end where the liquid is exiting the tubing is held at a lower height than the end where the liquid is entering the tubing. This is simply siphoning. The tubing can get clogged, so don't hold it right at the bottom of the drippings container, and use tubing that is not too narrow. To stop flow, just pinch the tubing.

This method will separate fat from liquid just as effectively than a fat separator. It works well when you have a large quantity of liquid to process (e.g. made 4 gallons of fatty stock, stockpot is too heavy to pour into separator). A few feet of tubing is cheaper, and takes up less storage space, than a fat separator. Disadvantage is - that it is kind of a fiddly process the first time.