Offputting fat/grease on leftover roast chicken

[McLarenette]

This is really stupid, but maybe you can help me. I love roast chicken but I’m the only one who eats it so there’s a lot of leftovers. Thing is, I like the cold chicken but I absolutely hate the way the fat congeals all over it, and over whatever the chicken is stored on. It’s extremely off- putting and I have to will myself to power through and do something with it.

I know this is a super indulgent problem to have but I wonder if anyone also hates this and has found a way of dealing with it it that doesn’t involve just throwing lots of food away?

We carve up the chicken completely within an hour of cooking and store the sliced meat in Tupperware in the fridge. There’s very little fat when you do that.

I never find chicken particularly greasy/fatty. Do you roast it on a rack so that any fat drains into the roasting tray rather than the chicken sitting in it?

I also carve it completely when hot which may help reduce any fat congealing. Remove any skin too (although that's the tastiest bit...)

Yep - this! We do this with all meat that's roasted, especially if it's on the bone. Much easier to remove from the carcass too, so you get more from it.

(Don't forget to make stock from the bones...) 😉

Do you buy higher welfare chickens or standard? Cheaper chickens are a lot fattier due to the intensive farming methods.

Skin is the worst bit! 🤢

It is high welfare value chicken but don’t use/have a rack, no. Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong!

PPs' suggestions are great, but if they don't remove the problem altogether, could you reconceptualise it in your head as a friendly disposable protective layer, which isn't really for eating, but helps keep the meat fresh and moist until you're ready to scrape it off with a knife? Like the layer of clarified butter on top of fancy pate, or the fat and jelly round the outside of corned beef that keeps the meaty part nice inside the tin?

Making stock from bones is so expensive due to the amount of energy used for the time it needs to boil. Forget it and use a stock cube...yes I know it's not the same...blah blah.

If it’s just you eating it then you can get a chicken breast joint from Sainsburys for roasting which serves 2 so very little waste. It’s not super cheap for what it is but I prefer that to dealing with a whole chicken & leftovers!

I just roast it in its own juices and pour that off for chicken stock. I haven’t bothered boiling the bones in ages.

Not everyone is bothered enough about the electricity prices to use a stock cube. I’d give up a lot before I resorted to that when I have perfectly good bones to use

I could, but that seems such terrible value and I love the crispy, tasty wings, so I wondered if there was a better way.

Slow cooker makes great stock, cheaper than stove. I agree with taking all meat off bones while it is still warm, much easier to do it then and easier to store and use.

Agreed that it’s not the best value & no crispy wings sadly!

Those juices are for the gravy!
I can never be bothered with making stock. I know I should but I don’t. Will always make gravy though!!

In response to the OP’s actual question, I am a little confused as I don’t tend to find any fatty bits on the chicken. They’re pretty lean! There’ll be fat in the bottom where it’s been sitting in juices - I wouldn’t use a rack as it keeps it more moist, but if you drain it off as soon as it’s cooked that would help, and yes cut it up while it’s still warm and discard any skin (my favourite bit! But not for you if you dislike fat).

The juices can certainly be for gravy. But we prefer cranberry sauce on sliced roast chicken. So I pour off the juices and refrigerate if using in next day or so or freeze in an ice cube tray as stock.

I've never had fatty left over chicken, I pull the skin off though before going in the fridge.

Roast it on top of a rack but put plenty of foil in the tray first unless you want to keep the juices, prick the skin with a fork before you roast it.

Once it's cooked, take it out the pan and out of the juices and put it on a clean plate then take all the meat off and store in a tub.

I fry up bits of left over chicken including wings & pieces of the skin in olive oil & a frying pan until crispy & have it in a salad.
There's nothing better than crispy shards of skin & chicken with a rocket & watercress salad. It works with left over roasted veggies too. The olive oil acts as a dressing so I just add vinegar & a touch of Dijon & Garlic.

Ecopot for stock here. Initial outlay (significant) but then reduced amount of energy needed. Wonderbag would also work