beef tallow
From Becky at theseasonalhomestead.com
Ingredients
- 10 lbs beef fat
Instructions
Prepare fat by trimming off any excess meat pieces, leaving just the fat. Cut fat into small pieces. The smaller the pieces the faster the fat will render.
Put fat in a large pot on low. Let simmer, stirring every so often to keep the solid fat on the bottom from burning. Note – when simmering, slow bubbles are ok, but a rolling boil is a sign the heat is way too high. The fat should stay light in color and soft at this point.
As the fat renders down it will start to become liquid. Depending on the size of the fat, this could take anywhere from 6-24 hours. When most of the fat has rendered (liquified), pour the liquid through a sieve and into a medium saucepan. Place on low heat again and bring the liquid only pot to a simmer.
The remaining solid fat should be placed back in the large pot on low heat. The solid fat will continue to render down to a liquid, but watch it closely as it is apt to scorch.
The reason for separating out the rendered fat early is it helps you get a very pure two quarts that have hardly any "beefy" smell and flavor. What is left rendering in the large pot will likely make at least another quart but it will be stronger because it has set in the fat for longer.
The medium saucepan should continue to simmer until any water has evaporated. Pour the liquid into a quart mason jar fitted with a funnel and over that place cheesecloth or a tea towel to remove all remaining impurities and food particles. Let cool.
Meanwhile, once the remaining fat in the large saucepan has rendered down, repeat step 5. Begin using immediately. Tallow is shelf stable for 3-4 months. If stored in the fridge, tallow will last more than a year. If frozen, 2-3 years.
Notes
Let the tallow simmer with the lid off. This helps any water evaporate, leaving the pure tallow in the pot
When simmering, slow bubbles are ok, but a rolling boil is a sign the heat is way too high.
For this recipe, we used 10 lbs of fat trimmings. After rendering we ended up with 3 quart jars and 1 pint jar of tallow. Final weight came in at around 5 lbs of tallow.
If you want to speed up the rendering process, you can use a meat grinder to get the fat as small as possible or an immersion blender on step 3 after the fat has rendered substantially.
The first separation of tallow is mild and perfect for use in skincare. The remainder is stronger and best used in cooking.
If you aren’t sure if you got all the water evaporated, store the tallow in the refrigerator or freezer. It will mold quickly at room temperature if there is still water in it.