Pork Dripping

Pollycat

Just looking for a bit of advice, please.

I usually use goose fat to cook my roast potatoes but I noticed in one of our little shops that they were selling beef dripping.
I Googled it and have decided to try this instead of goose fat.
We're having home-made wedges tomorrow so I'll try a bit out on them (I usually use 2 tablespoons of olive oil) to decide if I like it.

I also noticed they also had some pork dripping, the good stuff with the dark meaty juices at the bottom.

So......I got to wondering if it's possible to use pork dripping to roast a large leg of pork.
I usually put some Olivio in the meat pan with whatever joint I'm roasting, to help roast the parsnips and leeks and then use the meat juices to make the gravy.

Or is pork dripping just best used spread on toast?

I've Googled and checked all my cookbooks and the only recipe I can find that mentions using pork dripping for a roast is a James Martin one for roast pork belly where he spreads 3 tablespoons of pork dripping on the pork before cooking.

It's for Christmas dinner so I don't want to make a !!!!-up of things.

Thanks.

shammyjack

I use it to great effect. Cooks a lovely roast if you baste regular and the best thing is you end up with more drip than you started with !

good_advice

Hello Pollycat
I am using Crisp n dry oil on my roast potatoes.
I parboil the potatoes first and then pop them on a baking tray with the hot oil. Takes about an hour in a hot oven.

Fruball

Beef dripping and pork dripping make the most awesome roasties and research has now shown that using vegetable oils is unhealthy! At last! So fill your boots and enjoy good animal fats for roasting - tastier and healthier!

Pollycat

So it's OK to use pork dripping as fat to roast my pork leg in?
Beef dripping for my roast tatties (instead of the usual goose fat).
I'm not too bothered about clogged arteries as it's once in a blue moon.

Thanks, guys.

Pollycat

OK.

I've bought 500gm of beef dripping for my roast tatties (£1.30) and 2 tubs of pork dripping 250gm (70p each) to roast the pork leg (and parsnips & leeks).
The pork has a nice layer of dark juices at the bottom, I'm not sure if I'll use this or just the fat.

I'll let you know how it all tasted.

Pollycat

Just an interim update on this:

I used some of the beef dripping to cook home-made wedges last night - and they were delicious.

So - beef dripping was definitely the right choice for my Xmas roast tatties.
I hope the pork dripping for the pork leg wil be just as successful.

Merry Christmas everyone.

suki1964

When we were growing up there was no such thing as veggie oil for cooking, it was the dripping. Always had a bowl beside the cooker and all dripping was added to it for reuse when required. The dark jelly that settled at the bottom dad scraped out and ate on toast.

bossymoo

Gotta love roast tatties in dripping!

Also gotta laugh that autocorrect tried to change tatties to fatties :rotfl:

meritaten

when I was a child, dripping was THE fat to use for chips, roast potatoes and to start off your roast joint.
I still try to save some from the sunday roast to make roast potatoes if I do them in the week.

Pollycat

OK, guys, here's my update:

The potatoes roasted in beef dripping (not par-boiled) were wonderful, crispy and fluffy - I used King Edwards potatoes.

The pork (and parsnips & leeks) roasted in the pork dripping (including the dark jelly at the bottom) were great too.

Next time I roast a beef joint, I'll definitely use beef dripping (instead of oil)

OK - a final question:
I have about 300gm of unused beef dripping.
Could I freeze it?

Thanks.