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How to remove excess oil from food

Food
 Doing away with excess oil in your foods is a step to ensuring that you keep your calories in check (Shutterstock)

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

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

Broth

After boiling meats or poultry to make soup, the broth can end up being very oily. You can always use an ultra-fine mesh skimmer to remove oil and any unnecessary food particles. This gadget works perfectly well by straining the oil with its tiny holes.

If you don't have a skimmer you could let the broth sit for a few minutes to cool if you're not using it immediately. After cooling, refrigerate the soup in a jug and cover with a lid then set it upside down. The fat in the broth will congeal and stay in the jar when you empty its contents.

If you're using the broth immediately after boiling it, after it has cooled, pour it into a plastic bag and seal it. The fat will rise to the top and leave out the liquid in the bottom. Drain this on a container and use it without the fat.

Gravy

After cooking your meat, fat and juices may come out making gravy. To minimise on the fat, add a few ice cubes. The fat after some minutes will cool and solidify separating from the thick sauce.

You could wait for the gravy to cool and separate the fat but that may take so much of your time.

Another option is making the gravy earlier and refrigerating overnight. The following day, the fat will have hardened and can easily be removed with a spoon.

Minced beef

Even excess oils from ground beef can also be removed. This can be done by rinsing it with hot water.

A study by Loma State University shows that this method removes fat content by 50%. Do this twice and be careful when handling the hot water to avoid accidents in the kitchen.

Also, you can consider choosing leaner alternatives when buying your ground beef for healthier life choices.

 If you still want to enjoy your French fries, you can bake them (Shutterstock)

Vegetables

How we cook our vegetables makes such a huge difference. To ensure that the right amount of oil is used just spritz your non-stick cooking utensil with cooking oil spray instead of adding oil or butter directly.

If you make a mistake and use too much oil while cooking veggies, judiciously add hot water until the vegetables are tender but not overcooked.

French fries

Deep-frying in itself is an unhealthy method of cooking but if you have an air fryer, you can get away with deep-fying.

Sometimes removing oil is as easy as practicing better cooking methods like steaming or baking as opposed to shallow frying or deep frying.

If you still want to enjoy your French fries, bake them on your oven and season them with salt, paprika or your spice of choice for added flavor. The seasoning will give an appearance of crunchier looking fries without frying them hence reducing the fat.

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