Render Beef-FAT (tallow) whodunnit?

[vash]

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.

[GH85Carrera]

Or you can make some soap!

[Jeff Higgins]

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.

[vash]

i had some smoked fat tortillas i want to replicate.

[drkshdw]

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.

[vash]

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?

[Evans, Marv]

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).

[vash]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

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.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

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.

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

[drkshdw]

Originally Posted by vash

i heard it makes the house smell like fat?

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.

[J-Mac]

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.

[FOG]

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

[id10t]

Originally Posted by J-Mac

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.

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.

[javadog]

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.

[vash]

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.

[javadog]

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

How the hell do you smoke beef fat?

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by flipper35

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

Probably one of each. At least.

Originally Posted by javadog

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

How the hell do you smoke beef fat?

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

[flipper35]

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

[vash]

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.

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by id10t

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.

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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