Instructions to Render Tallow

By rendering beef tallow, you can obtain a great fat for cooking.

Beef tallow is a fat from a cow that can be used for cooking. It is used in a similar way as lard, duck fat or bacon fat, but it has a different, beefy flavor. Beef tallow is not commonly used any longer, and is often fed to birds, but it can certainly be rendered and used in cooking by anyone. The process of rendering involves slow cooking over low heat in order to melt the firm beef fat and remove any impurities.

Things You'll Need

• 1 lb. raw beef fat (suet)
• Sharp knife
• Food processor
• Heavy cast iron pot

Instructions

1. Start with raw beef suet. This is essentially beef fat, and ideally it would be firm and solid, similar to the texture of cold butter. You should be able to find suet at your local butcher.

2. Cut up your suet into small pieces, somewhere between 1-inch cubes and a finer dice. Make sure to remove all bits of meat from your suet, as they will compromise the quality and purity of your beef tallow.

3. Put your cut-up suet into the freezer for about two hours. After it's cold (but not completely frozen) take it out and put it into the food processor. Pulse for about 20 seconds. You want the suet to be shredded but still intact.

4. Put your pound of shredded suet into a heavy cast-iron pot over very, very low heat on the stove. Your fat should begin to render within about 20 minutes. Little crispy bits of fat will begin to appear. If they smoke or burn, turn the heat down even lower. You don't want these bits to burn because they will leave you with fat that is not clear and pure. Your suet should be fully rendered in about an hour and 20 minutes.

5. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove bits of meat or crispy bits; pure tallow will be left.

Tips & Warnings

• Store your rendered tallow in a lidded jar in the refrigerator. You can also carefully pour the liquid tallow into a muffin tin and put it in the freezer for about two hours. Take the muffin tin out and run a butter knife around the edges of the tin to remove the tallow. Cut each piece in half or leave them whole, put them in a freezer bag and into the freezer until you need to use them.

References

• Beef Tallow: 8 Practical Tips to Render Beef Tallow at Home