Render Beef-FAT (tallow) whodunnit?
 

GEORGE!!

i just called my butcher. he has beef fat waiting for me. i got a bug up my butt to render some down into real lard. i dont even know why. if it sucks, i press seeds into it and hang it for the birds this winter.

this cant be that difficult. that store bought lard in the blue box..that is hydrogenated right?

i'm thinking biscuits and home made flour tortillas.

Or you can make some soap!

Nothing could be simpler. I used to use a crockpot on its lowest setting. Cut the fat into small pieces, like about 1/2" to 1" cubes, and trim every visible piece of meat off of the chunks. The more you get off, the less will settle to the bottom of the crockpot. Let it heat until it's all liquified, then strain it though a piece of cheesecloth folded over a few times. I used to store it in old baby food jars.

The only fat I ever rendered was bear fat. It wasn't for eating, but rather to use as a patch lube on my round ball shooting muzzle loaders. It was supposed to be the schiz back in the day. That, and sperm whale oil. Never did try the latter (it's way too hard to get a tag for one), but I sure made a lot of the former. Never was impressed and wound up throwing most of it away.

i had some smoked fat tortillas i want to replicate.

Never done cow but have done pig plenty of times. If you're only doing a pound or two, a crockpot is perfectly fine. The secret is long and slow. You don't want to cook the fat at all, just render it.

I prefer to put the fat through a meat grinder for a few reasons. First is because it's easier than chunking by hand and second, the smaller the pieces the more fat that renders from it (and the quicker it goes). Larger chunks take forever to render and they always leave perfectly good fat inside.

But whether you prefer to cut by hand or by grinder, put the pieces into a crockpot and set it on low and let it do it's thing. It's nearly impossible to overdo it on low so let it go overnight and by morning it should be done. No need to stir, watch or even look at em.

If you prefer the stove top, chunk or grind and put it into a large heavy pot. Turn the heat on low and let it do it's thing. This method requires keeping an eye on it and stirring it every once in awhile but as soon as you get cracklins, the lard (or tallow) is done. The cracklins are your reward.

And no matter what method you choose, keep the lard in the fridge. I know plenty in the south that keep it on the counter but I don't use it enough to keep it from going rancid. And I usually do enough for 4-5 pints of lard once a year. The pints I'm not using are kept in the freezer.

thanks.

i dont own a slowcooker.

i'll be doing it in the oven, or stovetop. maybe in my propane grill..i heard it makes the house smell like fat?

Is that the same as suet? I've asked at different butcher shops over the years for some suet, but they never have it &/or don't know what it is. I want to get some some day and make a pot of Sheriff Smoot's chili (a recipe I have from the 1930s).

i'll find out. i think Suet is the gold standard. could be wrong.

i have yet to shock my butcher. i was gonna pick it up today, but i forgot i rode my motorcycle to work. tommorow. i'll know more tomorrow.

Saturday is render day.

If you did get a tag, which of the .45 calibers would work?

It can if it gets too hot. The secret is to not get it that hot though. Ideally it shouldn't even steam or sizzle until the very end. But again, I've only done pig. I would assume it would be the same with cow but don't quote me on that.

I've done duck and pig fat. I cut the fat down to small pieces the put in a pot of hot water and simmer. Strain and let cool. The fat will rise and solidify on top of the water. This way you'll not burn/cook the fat.

Vash,

I use my smoker after grinding through a meat grinder. It imparts a nice smokey flavor. I use it mainly for pemmican and 50/50 w/peanut oil for frying French fires.

S/F, FOG

Heck I cook bacon this way. Whole pound of strips, cut in half. Chuck 'em in a 4 quart pot with a couple of inches of water in the bottom and put the burner on medium high, boil off the water and it cooks up nice and crisp without being burnt, with most of the fat out of the strips.

First, if you want to make tortillas you want lard, which is made from pig fat. You absolutely do not want to use beef fat, so we won't worry whether we call it suet or tallow or just plain ol' beef fat. Make bird food with beef fat, that's all I recommend doing with it. My grandfather used to use it in chili, it makes it inedible as far as I'm concerned. If you want to kill off half your neighborhood, I can give you his recipe.

When rendering fat, you don't need a lot of heat and recognize that there's a couple different types of fat in these meats. Some will melt down into lard, some won't. You'll notice that some fat in meat is pretty soft and other fat is pretty hard. That's the main difference.

There are three animal fats you might keep on hand, in order of how good they are: duck fat, pork fat, chicken fat.

I'm here all night.

Sorry java.

I’m gonna try tallow. I’m one of those that prefer to try something. Maybe you are right. Maybe not.

There is a bad ass smoke beef fat tortilla recipe I want to try. If it sucks, I’ll press the fat into pine cones with bird seed and feed the birds.

I’ve use bear lard. Made a pie crust. It was awesome. George sent me some.

Bear lard? Jeebus, you are more adventurous than I am...

How the hell do you smoke beef fat?

Probably one of each. At least.


The only adventurous part is finding the bear and getting him to cooperate. They can take a fair amount of "convincing".

I bet there aren't many bears that will volunteer for liposuction.

i'm gonna smoke it in my weber propane grill. that's where i am going to do the low-slow rendering.

i'll either:
put some soaked wood chips in a foil "burrito" and set it on the one burner.
or
put some briquettes into a coffee can, lite them up with my propane torch, and then put in some wet wood chips and set the smoldering can into the weber grill to smoke.

that's the plan in my mind..hope i dont have a massive grease fire. :D

This is of interest. The bacon stills comes out crisp? We’ve cooked bacon on cookie sheets in the oven for years so the stovetop doesn’t get splashed with grease.


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I'm no expert, but I think that if you tried to render it in the smoker, the resulting product would be inedibly smoky due to the length of time required.

I recently tried rendering tallow for the first time. I used a large heavy pot, chopped up the suet first (next time i would use a food processor to break it down in to smaller pieces), and added some water like J-mac mentions.
It took about 8 hours to really break down all the way.
Strain everything, and place in the fridge to separate and solidify the fat.

Lots of people mention a bad smell, but mine smelled amazing, like roasting a turkey almost. I suspect since it stays cooler with the water simmering.

My first use for the tallow was in a crust for a quiche... it was amazing... actually came out too light and flaky.

Yea. I want to just give it a kiss of smoke. The fat is what absorbs the smoke. I think a few minutes at the end to just kiss it with a hint.

I bought the beef fat. It’s frozen solid. I’ll thaw it, trim it and chop it in my processor.

The smoke may not happen on my first go.

Kinda gross smelling at the raw stage.

Definitely doing this outside.

Trimmed, I got less than I expected to start with.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1530365665.jpg

i'm gonna file that away with house painting, and making Vietnamese PHO noodle soup.

i'm gonna farm out that work. it was not worth the effort. i can still smell it. it's kinda nauseating, the smell.

i live near a trail. i would hear joggers/walkers go by on the other side of the fence. they would all say, "oh god, what is that smell?!!' and scurry away. i went nose-blind- apparently. :). today, my nose recalibrated. gross!!

:D

I agree. Some things can be bought too easily and making them is nowhere near as rewarding as compared to the effort required.

Tortillas are one such item. A French baguette is another.

I made the beef broth for pho only one time. After calculating the cost and taking note of the time required to make it, it's just not worth it. Too many Vietnamese restaurants nearby to go down that path again.

Now you have a comparison of beef and pork fat. I'm in the camp that worships the pig, I'd be curious to know where you stand...

i think i am team pig. beef tallow has the consistency of candle wax at damn near any temp below "fry temp". i am gonna dunk giant pinecones in it and stuff them full of bird seed this winter. the local squirrel and birds are gonna orgasm..and get really fat.

So true! File this under Lessons I've Learned as I've Gotten Older. Funny you mention the Pho. I also went down this path a time or two. Looking back, I can't believe the number of ingredients and effort that went into it, for just "decent/pretty good" results.

Given where you (Senor vash) now live, you should consider buying tortillas from these guys:

Home - La Tortilla Factory

They are not the same as authentic Mexican tortillas, but some of their corn tortillas have some wheat flour in them (I think), which makes them pretty darn good for gringo-style tacos. They make all sorts of flavored versions, which I have not tried, but the basic white and yellow corn tortillas are the ones to try.

There's a few things that are best left for someone else to do the "heavy lifting", I'm all for cooking from scratch and like experimentation and refinement.

One that is eluding me right now is bacon. Every time I've dry brined the pork belly it always comes out way too salty even after a good rinse before smoking. I'm on my third attempt, maybe I'll try wet brining.

I only have experience with pork and bear. I make bear oil whenever I get one that's fat and close enough to the truck to carry it out.

I would only do this on the stove top to stay in full control. Start on low until it starts running out and don't let it get any hotter than it needs to be. I would also worry about the fire hazard on a grille.

Big mistake to run the fat through the grinder. If you cube it with a knife, you get small bits "cracklins" that are fantastic in hash browns or eggs. If you grind it, you get brown dust.

I'd take it easy cooking with lard. It just isn't good for you.

G

i think store bought lard will kill you. homemade beef tallow, maybe, maybe not. i honestly do NOT know what to believe.

here: is the first link i found.

https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/beef-tallow-uses-and-benefits/

That's so strange... mine smelled good, i swear!

i believe you.

when i took the final bits and took them to the cracklings level. wow..it was like Bacon and Steak had a love child..and it farted a rainbow colored cloud. it was intoxicating..it smelled GREAT!

that slow melt, not so much.