Chicken Fat
Also: Rendered chicken fat, Schmaltz, Poultry fat (Gallus gallus domesticus).
Calculate a 100 % Chicken Fat bar
That is stoichiometry on a measured composition rather than a guess, and it is about as well determined as a published figure: checked against the 36 Codex oils where both fields come from the same standard, the method's median error is 0.84 % and its 90th percentile 2.44 %, and it runs slightly high, by 0.55 % on average. The formula page shows the working. If you have a certificate of analysis for your lot, enter its measured value in the calculator and this estimate is set aside.
Published values
| Saponification value | not published |
| Derived from composition | 196.2 ± 3 % mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 196.2 mg KOH/g (derived) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1399 g/g |
| Iodine value | — |
| INS (SAP − IV) | — |
| Melting point | 22.74 °C |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 0.19–0.43 % |
Soapmaking books print about 0.138 g NaOH per g (median of 2 books), which agrees with ours to within 2 %.
A bar made of 100 % Chicken Fat
Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.
How much lye
| Oil | NaOH | KOH |
|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 66.4 g | 93.2 g |
| 1 kg | 132.9 g | 186.4 g |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 60.3 g | 84.6 g |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 120.6 g | 169.1 g |
For this oil alone at 5 % superfat, with pure sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or pure potassium hydroxide (KOH); in brackets, across the published range of its saponification value. KOH is usually sold at 90 %: divide by 0.9. For a whole recipe, open the calculator.
Fatty-acid profile
Saturated : unsaturated 32 : 68
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 0.51–0.69 | 0.6 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 23.87–24.62 | 24.2 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 5–5.65 | 5.3 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 5.87–6.22 | 6.0 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 36.1–42.13 | 39.1 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 17.53–22.84 | 20.2 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 0.96–1.53 | 1.2 |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 0.42 | 0.4 |
Guides that discuss it
Where these numbers come from
Table 3 lipid profile (% of total lipids) pooled across three farms; sample description in Materials and Methods. Published 2020.
Chicken skin fat: fatty acid composition table, slip melting point 22.74 C, unsaponifiable matter 0.19-0.43 %, FFA, peroxide value.
Retrieved through the FoodData Central API search endpoint; g fatty acid per 100 g fat (total lipid 99.8 g). Used for cross-check in notes only.
Fatty-acid ranges span two open-access studies: (a) Foods 9(8):1046 (2020), Table 3, lipid profile (% of total lipids) of chicken fat by-products (65 % abdominal + 35 % gizzard fat) from 'Parrilleros' broilers, 13 birds x 3 farms, Antioquia, Colombia: oleic 36.10, palmitic 23.87, linoleic 22.84, stearic 5.87, palmitoleic 5.00, linolenic 1.53, myristic 0.51; SFA 30.23, MUFA 41.13, PUFA 24.37; (b) Food Science & Nutrition (2022, DOI 10.1002/fsn3.2807), fat extracted from chicken skin (Babol, Iran): 14:0 0.69, 16:0 24.62, 16:1 5.65, 18:0 6.22, 18:1 42.13, 18:2 17.53, 18:3 0.96, 20:1 0.42 %, slip melting point 22.74 +/- 0.07 C, unsaponifiable matter 0.19-0.43 %, FFA 0.48-0.55 %, peroxide 4.91-9.84 meq/kg. USDA FoodData Central 'Fat, chicken' (fdcId 173564, NDB 04542) agrees in g/100 g fat: 12:0 0.1, 14:0 0.9, 16:0 21.6, 18:0 6.0, 16:1 5.7, 18:1 37.3, 20:1 1.1, 18:2 19.5, 18:3 1.0, 20:4 0.1 (not normalised to total FA; recorded here for cross-check only). Neither open paper reports a saponification or iodine value; the LWT 2023 review on duck fat quotes 192.16 mg KOH/g for chicken fat but could not be opened, so the saponification value and the iodine value are null - do not fill from generic poultry-fat tables. Chicken fat is highly variable with feed (linoleic 17-23 % here). INCI not verified (null).
This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL), which you can download as CSV or JSON. Found an error or a better primary source? Corrections with a link to the document are welcome at support@soapformulator.com.