Live Blog of my first batch of Schmaltz

I'm getting back to my long lost Ashkenazi roots and making a batch of Schmaltz. This has been a long time coming. The evolution to this point has probably been almost 5 years in the making but I'm finally taking a small step.

It didn't occur to me to take a picture of the two bags full of chicken fat and skin that I have been accumulating exactly for this purpose so the first picture is of the cut up fat and skin, one diced onion and about 2 cups of water in the pot.

I've looked at about 5 recipes and watched one video and decided that since I'm really going for the Schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) and not the gribenes (fried chicken skins) that I'm dicing my onion rather than slicing it. Although all the recipes seem to suggest using a frying pan I'm using a pot because I'm afraid of fat splattering everywhere. So now the pot is on stove over medium-low heat.

- right after I put the pot on the stove and turned on the heat. Of course, I'm using chopsticks to stir.

 2:00 I just checked one of the recipes and realized I should put in some salt so I've added a few pinches. Kosher, of course (duh).