The Magic Bus Trip

Dean · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:12 pm Post subject: Tallow / Lard

Rendering beef or pig fat is a wonderful way to add a heavenly smell to any kitchen!

Tallow and lard can (and should) replace all cooking oil, IMHO.

I get whatever beef "trimmings" from the grocery store for FREE! Once you get them, you have to cut them into chunks (about the size of dice). While doing this slicing of this fat, you must remove any meat that is present. Unless you are quite lucky, usually almost half of the fat will have to be "discarded", cuz it will have a lot of meat attached. You want as pure a fat as you can get to render. Of course, if you have any four legged furry friends, you won't have to worry about this wonderful stuff going to waste, since you can feed it to them! Cool

Once you get your mound of dice-sized fat chunks, you can put the whole lot into a large pot (about half full max) and set it on the stove top (uncovered). You want to turn the heat as absolutely low as you can. This fat is going to take several hours to render completely down to liquid gold! And, you will need to stir (with a wooden spoon), this pot of melting fat quite often (about every 30 min).

Once you have a nice pot of liquid gold, you can then strain the cracklin's out using a strainer. Then, you will want to use cheese cloth to further purify this stuff, and pour it into mason jars for storage. Seal well, and wait to cool. Keep one in the cupboard to use, and the rest should go into the freezer. This tallow will keep for a LONG time. You will most certainly use it up before it has a chance to go bad. Even the one in the cupboard should keep for a couple months. When this fat was rendered, the water was rendered ("steamed") out of it, which leaves the fat in a state where it is preserved.

The tallow in the cupboard (at room temp) is going to resemble candle wax and the lard will resemble Crisco. There is nothing better to cook with. It will take really high heat, and nothing will stick to your pans. It will not taint the taste of food, and the saturated fat of beef or pork can't be beat! In fact, you NEED this fat! The RDA is "over the top" for this nutrient dense food! Grin

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When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
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Every day you'll see the dust
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Dean · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:12 am Post subject:

Liquid Gold

Solid White

_________________
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix

Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!

~mina~ · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:46 pm Post subject:

ty for posting this, it looks lovely.

Vesna · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:28 am Post subject:

Are those jars the same -- liquid gold cools into pure white?

What should I ask for at the grocery? "Beef trimmings"? "Fat trimmings"? I suppose I should go directly to the manager of the meat department. Is that what you would suggest?

My dictionary says suet is "the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and other animals, used to make foods including puddings, pastry, and mincemeat."

It says tallow is "a hard fatty substance made from rendered animal fat, used in making candles and soap."

Does that mean that tallow can be made from suet, but also from any of the rest of the fat?

How would you compare tallow and lard in cooking? Would you say tallow is most like leaf lard? Or...?

Thanks!

Manaloa · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:15 am Post subject:

I ask for suet and they'll give me any kind of beef fat, not just from around the organ meat. They even grind it for me, so that I don't have to chop it to little bits. Oh, and yeah, ask for the manager, especially if you have a young person trying to help you out. Some of them have never even heard the word suet. Roll Eyes

I find tallow to be heavier? than lard. I find lard to be softer when cold than tallow. Does that make sense? Sometimes I really have to dig to get my tallow out of my jars when it's cold.
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Dean · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:37 am Post subject:

What Tina said. Yup

I can get beef fat or pig fat (from all places of the animal) from a huge meat processing place just a couple miles north (in the middle of the city). They sell it for $0.99/lb. I can also get the beef fat (not sure about pig) from the meat department at my 24 hour grocery store 2 blocks south of me. They give it to me for free. They throw away two 50-gallon barrels of the stuff every week. Shock

Yes, when you render the fat, it is that liquid gold. The pic of the solid white is the beef tallow in the same jars the next morning. As Tina said, the lard is softer and sorta off white, while the tallow is harder, and whiter, and is very much like candles. You could probably put a wick in the jar, and you could burn this stuff like a candle. But, I'd rather use it for cooking. Cool

Both turn to nice liquid gold and make wonderful oil to cook anything in. I've even added it to food like roast when reheating, or thrown it in the crock while cooking a roast. I use a ton of lard, tallow, and butter. That is the ONLY fat I am using. That and the turkey/duck/chicken fat I save when roasting one of these birds, to add back when reheating the meat.

HTH

Animal fat is where... well, you know. Wink

_________________
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix

Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!

Manaloa · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:24 pm Post subject:

Oh, and the whole house smells wonderful while it's rendering.
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Manaloa

Vesna · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:59 pm Post subject:

I'm amazed at all this! I wonder if I could get stuff from the Oscar Mayer headquarters two miles south of me. Or if it would be too locked down and formal.

jeff · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject:

jem51 · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject:

suet is nothing but beef fat. somehow the birds seem to like it better if it's called suet. must be something in the translation.

Red · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:07 pm Post subject:

If you like beef tallow, you should try lamb tallow! Yum city. Yup

So delicious.
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Red

Heather · Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:02 am Post subject:

wifezilla · Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:19 am Post subject:

I already posted this on my challenge thread, but FYI...

I went to the Safeway butcher counter and said "Who do I talk to about getting some beef or pork trimmings?" Turns out they were out, but I got all the info I needed. They charge 99¢/pound. Plenty of demand so they don't give it away. They are reserving some for me and I am heading back over after work.

I will use that handy phrase at other stores and find out what their policy is. That way I am not initially mentioning any price...so if they are inclined to give it away, I wont be giving them ideas :D
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Vesna · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject:

Dean is right, tallow is wonderful for cooking!

I haven't actually rendered it from trimmings like he says (yet). But when I made beef stock from bones, a couple of cups of fat floated to the top and were easy to break off and store separately after refrigeration. Really heavenly. I added it to cooked beef dishes and it helped repair the woeful leanness we get in supermarket cuts these days.

jem51 · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:37 pm Post subject:

don't think just doing large rendering projects only. i render every little extra piece of fat. i love chicken fat the most. i cook a whole chiken every week and before i put it in the crock pot i pull out those two wads of fat on either side of the opening...put 'em in a small pan on low heat, cover and let em cook. in about 20-30 min i have about half cup of fat and a couple little crispies, yum. i use that fat over the next couple days or so. i do the same if i have a beef cut w excess or any other meat. if it's more than i can eat w the meat, i cut it off and render it. vesna, the thing i discovered about taking off the fat on top of stock, etc, is that is goes bad....unlike rendered. i suppose it's not the fat itself but the juice left on board. i have learned to keep that type of tallow in the freezer and break it off as needed.

Vesna · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:29 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the tips, Jem! Good thing I've been keeping it in the fridge and using up within a week or so.

The chicken thing sounds delish.

Dean · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:47 pm Post subject:

The reason for the long rendering sessions, is to render out all the moisture, which in turn leaves very pure fat, free of critters that break things down, thereby spoiling the fat. Straining it through lots of cheese cloth also helps preserve it. It will keep pretty much forever after all this. Of course, as jem said, getting fats off of other things as you go is a great thing to do.

Every time I do chicken or turkey, I save all the fat drippings in another container, then add some back when reheating the meat. As Vesna said, it makes the meat so nice and tender. It is no coincidence that we prefer it like this. Our bodies wanna make sure that animal fat is high, knowing how bad high protein will be for us. We already figured that one out a few million years ago. Wink

_________________
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix

Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!

Vesna · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: