Rendering Beef Fat

If you've been reading Nourishing Traditions or you were brought up on a farm, this may not be such a far fetched notion to you.

For those of you that neither apply to....perhaps you still can glean something from this crazy concoction! :-)

Okay, first, the proper name for this stuff appears to be 'edible beef tallow'. For real, you can look it up on the net!

Second, according to the NT book, it is a "very stable fat and can be used for frying. Traditional cultures valued these fats for their health benefits. They are a good source of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid."

Third, and here's the cool part, many grocers and butchers will GIVE the fat to you FREE!

Yeah! Free!

Okay, have I won you over yet?

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Well, here's all that you do:

1st, just ask around, Kroger gave this batch to me.

I had maybe 4 lbs or so to begin with, of fat strips.

I cut all meat off, there was only bits and pieces.

I then chopped it up in the food processor, tossed it in a pan with just enough water to cover the bottom. Heat slowly so you don't scorch it.

(*You can do this in a crockpot too if you can't hover over it.)

You stir until the fat melts and any meat particles have browned.

The fat will be mostly clear with a bit of brownish-yellow tint.

Once all fat is melted and everything else has browned, strain the fat through a sieve.

(Some sites recommend another step of mixing with water and boiling it back off and straining again for purity but it's not necessary, especially if you strain it well the first time.)

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Allow it to set up and it can be used as you would lard, without all that weird pork stuff :-).

What you will not use within a day or two, refrigerate. What you will not use within a few days could be frozen.

Finished product!


For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes!