Behind The Design: OXO’s Good Gravy Fat Separator

The turkey is roasted and ready to carve. Now all you need is the gravy. A fat separator can be an incredibly helpful assistant when you’re ready to make turkey gravy. How? It’s in the name: OXO’s original 4 Cup Fat Separator is designed with a silicone stopper that plugs the end of its spout to create a pressure gradient that prevents fat from rising into the spout. After the fat separates, remove the stopper, pour out the good stuff and leave the fat behind. No more messy, greasy spills that are a pain to clean up.

This OG Fat Separator worked well, but at OXO we don’t rest on our laurels; Instead, we wondered what else we could do to better the gravy-making experience. What improvements could we make to deliver every last drop of deliciousness with none of the fuss? Read on to learn more about our redesign journey.

Why Fat Separation Matters in Gravy and Cooking

Why Use a Fat Separator?

• The beauty of being able to separate the fat from the juices is that each element is needed for a different purpose. Once the fat is on its own, you can use it to make a roux, the thickening fat-and-flour foundation of gravy. Whisk the juices into the roux and voila…gravy! 
• A Fat Separator can also be called into action to degrease stocks, soups, and sauces, a simple way to hang onto flavorful juices while removing less healthy fats.

The Problem with Traditional Fat Separators

• To better understand how we would create the best possible design, we started with feedback from our consumers. One issue was that people lost the silicone stopper because it wasn’t attached to the Separator. So we knew our next Fat Separator would have no loose parts.
• We also heard a lot of love for the concept of bottom-pour separators, less love for the reality of operating them. Users said they were often messy and tough to clean, clogged easily at times and/or leaked. Many had uncomfortable handles that became painful during repetitive use…for example, in making a batch of gravy for a holiday meal.
  
  

The Design Journey of the Good Gravy Fat Separator

Our mission was clear: Create a comfortable, easy-to-clean bottom-pour separator that would release every last drop of good gravy (hence the name) without fat, leaks, clogs or mess. A tall order? Perhaps. But that kind of meaningful improvement is what OXO does best.

Engineering Key Features

• We wanted to focus first on the valve in order to solve leakiness and clogging. For this, we found inspiration in a clever—if slightly unromantic—place: IV bags. IV bags can be opened and closed with a simple pinch valve, and there are no leaks or unwanted dripping. The valve in our Good Gravy Fat Separator features a unique design that bends slightly during closing, like kinking a garden hose to stop the water. It requires little effort to pull but still forms a perfect seal. The result is an easy-squeezy, leak-free design.
• Then came cleanability. (Fat and grease collecting in tiny, impossible-to-reach crevices? No thank you!). To address this, we took the squeeze mechanism out of the equation—literally. The redesign placed this mechanism on the outside of the Separator, meaning no part of it ever touches the grease inside. And suddenly, clean up is a breeze.
• OXO is renowned for the comfort of its products, so we added our trademark soft, comfy, non-slip handle.
• Lastly, as found in our original Fat Separator, we included a removable filter. We added a few more holes to the Good Gravy version to allow liquid to drain through, while still making each hole small enough to catch herbs and other food bits. As a nerdy bonus, the hole pattern represents a Fibonacci sequence.
  
  

Material and Structural Choices

• It was also important that the Separator’s materials be able to stand up to the job. Since hot and warm liquids would commonly be poured into it, we used BPA-free nylon and Tritan heat-resistant plastics. These materials also make the Separator dishwasher safe.

Testing and Validation

• To test the design, we needed grease, so our OXO engineers cooked more than six pounds of bacon. This grease was heated to various temperatures and given various thicknesses to evaluate the potential for leaks, damage and cleanability.
• Next, they chopped the bacon up into different-sized pieces and added it to the Separator—along with herbs, peppercorns and other small food bits—to test for clog-ability. The pinch valve saw them through every experiment and the Separator never clogged.
  
  

OXO’s Good Gravy Fat Separator adds another valuable tool to our kitchen lineup. Through its careful design, we solved users’ most common problems, delivering a gravy making tool that’s comfortable and simple to use, doesn’t clog, and is easy to clean. Shop now to streamline holiday cooking. And while you're at it, check out our Thanksgiving recipes to make ahead, must-have turkey tools, and learn how to use a flavor injector to make a juicier bird!