How to Render your own Tallow

[SliceOfLife]

Glad someone bumped this. Good post.

One note though. Tallow doesn't have to come from around the kidneys. It just means rendered beef fat. Some people use it even more broadly to cover all rendered animal fats (other than lard) calling it "Beef Tallow". Kidney Tallow is reputedly the best for soaping though.


Wish I had a source for beef fat these days... though I doubt my roommate would appreciate rendering it here.

 

[castlebar]

Thanks for an excellent tutorial. Much appreciated. I followed it to the letter and achieved extremely gratifying results.

Thanks for the feedback, enjoy your tallow and if you get a chance, post back here about what you made with it and how it came out - thanks,

Jim

 

[BentonClay]

Will do. I have two separate formulations curing as we speak...

 

[BentonClay]

At first, I asked the butcher for tallow but he did not know what I meant until I clarified, "the fat from around the kidneys". He said, "Oh, you mean suet". I guess that's a Canadian usage because in other places I've read to specifically avoid suet. But this stuff was amazing: I started with 5 lbs and ended up with 3.5 lbs, a rather splendid yield I thought. Very little meat left over, just gelatinous blobs. And the rendering smell rather reminded me of Sunday dinner, not unpleasant at all as some report.

 

[perogee]

At first, I asked the butcher for tallow but he did not know what I meant until I clarified, "the fat from around the kidneys". He said, "Oh, you mean suet". I guess that's a Canadian usage because in other places I've read to specifically avoid suet. But this stuff was amazing: I started with 5 lbs and ended up with 3.5 lbs, a rather splendid yield I thought. Very little meat left over, just gelatinous blobs. And the rendering smell rather reminded me of Sunday dinner, not unpleasant at all as some report.

Tallow is after the fat has been rendered, suet is while it is still fat in original form

 

[timmy]

Suet (/ˈsuː.ɪt/) is raw beef or mutton fat, especially the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys.

The primary use of suet is to make tallow, although it is also used as an ingredient in cooking, especially in traditional puddings, such as English Christmas Pudding. Suet is made into tallow in a process called rendering, which involves melting and extended simmering, followed by straining, cooling and usually a repetition of the entire process.

Unlike tallow, suet that is not pre-packed requires refrigeration in order to be stored for extended periods.

Wikipedia heaven.

 

[Doc4]

Well done Jim!

... says Jim.

Approves..



Great job!! Very well presented!!

The first rule about Tallow Club, is you don't talk about Tallow Club.

 

[troy1979]

interesting...

 

[littleton82]

I'm doing this with venison fat right now!

 

[Effy]

.................As for shaving soap with tallow (and tallow makes the best shaving soap), it's a bit more complicated b/c in order for the lather not to collapse you have to use copious amounts of stearic acid, and therefore you have to "hot process" the soap over a double boiler. Not impossible certainly, but it takes a bit of practice...........................

I have to say, if you have a "crock pot" to render tallow, then you can just use that for making the soap in - no need for a double boiler unless you want to make smaller amounts, which the crock pot might be too big for.

 

[lyaxeyka_73]

Hello!
I melt internal fat - the one on the intestine, kidney,...
chop finely, my under running water and boil 3 hours.
salt as a preservative.
2-3 times digest - evident in the clarity of the water in which is brewed.
when cutting it is noticeable that the fat on the mesh...
the best fat - originally white (not yellow), without pollution and meat...
why is beef, sheep,...?
Lauric (for foam well):
sheep - 4% ;
Goat ... 5%;
Beef ... 2%;...
it is important Palmitic-Stearic-Oleic acid in the fat!
;-)