I just tried rendering some deer tallow for the first time...what now?

The doe I shot last week had more fat on it than any deer I’ve ever scanned in the last 3 1/2 decades. I figured be fun to try and melt some down to waterproof my boots. I cut a few big chunks off and left them sit in my garage since opening weekend dear hunting I decided to give it a try today. I stink up my house pretty good it smells like bacon! I ended up trying to boil it first with water on top and it would never break down so then I put it in a frying pan and melted it without burning it. I filled up a family size and a regular sized tomato soup can. I poured the melted tallow through a metal strainer into the cans. I didn’t burn it because it’s a nice bright white when it hardened. From what I’ve seen on videos it sounds like I have to melt it one more time with some water and salt and then strain it all through some cheesecloth or maybe an old shirt? So what am I gonna do with all this tallow? I was just planning on rubbing it on a pair of boots to waterproof them. I have way more left lower than what I need. Any ideas what I can do with the rest?

tallow makes great lube.. just be sure to filter it well... i filter mine twice...

I figure tomorrow morning I’ll melt it down and filter it again a couple times. From the videos I saw its telling me to melt it down with water and salt? I’m sure my hunting clothes smell from cooking it down. My whole house smells like a meat locker.lol

I put it in a pot and boil it over the wood stove out in the shop. Filter once and reboil it. Once it cools to a solid, I break it into chunks and melt it and pour it in forms for future use.

wrap the tallow in cheese cloth and melt in a old crock pot. the tallow flows thru the cheese cloth and floats to the top. when dine let cool and remove the solidified tallow from top and set aside to dry. Tis is how Mom did lard when we butchered. Tallow is good water proofing and in BP bullet lubes. also good for cooking

In Mi, whitetail deer fat is not normally considered “good” to eat and is removed from the meat before cooking. Does rendering it into tallow somehow make it taste good?

Put those boots up on a shelf in case your dog thinks they are now jerky.

Makes good soap.

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

Put those boots up on a shelf in case your dog thinks they are now jerky.

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This is absolutely true; my mother’s people were big tallow for boots believers and dogs and cats would follow them and drool after a fresh coat was applied

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Originally Posted by nagantguy

This is absolutely true; my mother’s people were big tallow for boots believers and dogs and cats would follow them and drool after a fresh coat was applied

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I thought it was supposed to be scentless. Guess I’ll use it for something else. I don’t want stinky hunting boots that’s going to alert when bow hunting.

If you are thinking of using it for boolit lube, I wouldn't add any salt.

I like Country Gent's suggestion of using a crock pot...it'll probably take a few hours, but it could be easy to do outside.

Yeah if I ever make it again it will be outside in the garage my crockpot for sure. I woke up this morning in my house didn’t smell anymore or I was just used to it. It sure melted down easily in boiling water this morning. Once it melted I used an old shirt and cut a piece and put it on top of my metal strainer like cheesecloth and dumped it through. Of course the last tablespoon spilled over my strainer so I poured it all back into my pot brought it back to a boil again and strained it through another piece of shirt. It kind of smells like mink oil but very mild compared to it. I wonder how that would work for dipping traps?

Once it cools I’ll remove it from the container and scrape the back of it I’m zooming I’ll be some nasty buildup on the bottom like I’ve seen in some of the videos. I guess an after I strained it twice like I did I probably don’t have to boil and strain it again?

Still haven’t decided what I’m gonna do with it I think boots are out... Maybe soap on the rope? Lol

I vote BP Lube... works great with a bit of bees wax!!!

I've been rendering tallow from venison scraps for years and I've never melted it in
large chunks. First after you melt the fat and store it, it will go rancid. The best way
is to put the fat in a large pot and fill with water, no salt. Boil the fat for a few hours
to separate the grease out of the fat. Remove from heat source and let cool. The
grease/tallow will stay on top of the water. Remove the fat and and put in a clean
pan. Put the container with the scraps back on the stove to reboil to remove more
grease. After you have boiled out all the grease, and have a pot full of grease and
meat scrapes, melt the grease and pour through a piece of window screen or wire
food strainer, this will remove most of the meat scrapes, melt the grease and this
time filter through a folded piece of cheese cloth. The grease should be nice and clear.
I pour mine into old peanut butter jars that I can seal. The grease should be pure
white and have no smell. It will store for years if kept sealed. Takes a little time
to do , but the finished product is worth it. Mixed with beeswax makes a good bullet
lube and waterproofing for boots, and fido will not eat your boots. Also good for
chapped hands and dry skin.

I only took maybe about a quarter of the tallow off one of my doe just to try it because I’ve never done it before. Here’s what it looked like after I quickly melted it in the frying pan and poured it through a metal strainer.

https://i.imgur.com/9oDUlkS.jpg


This morning I melted it in a pot of boiling water and then strained it through an old T-shirt two times in a row. It barely was off colored on the bottom side so I scraped it with a knife called it done. I put it in a Ziploc bag and put it in the fridge. I’m sure in the next couple days I’ll melt it down into one of my canning jars and seal it till I figure out what I want to do with it. The two off colored pieces are just shadows from the flash, they are all bright white.

https://i.imgur.com/jdseaeL.jpg

It just barely has a smell to it reminding me of mink oil.


I never expected my dog to chew on them anyways. He’s never been a chewer and he’s smaller than my boots.

I just won’t put them on my bow hunting boots because if I can smell them the deer can smell them a mile away. I might melt some down and let it soak into my work boots.

When I render, I use very low heat. Strain thru two layers of paper towel. Never had a problem with any going rancid. Mostly do beef, pork and chicken. Did some bear a couple of years ago for a friend and had no problems.

Use some for BP lube and the rest usually ends up as soap.
swamp

I'm going to try this next deer. Been meaning to for a while now.

For you guys using it for muzzle loader lube, what ratio do you mix it with Bees Wax?

All I have is a Thompson center omega in-line. I’m gonna have to start shopping for a traditional looking muzzleloader, too bad Thompson center discontinued their Hawkins. Seems like used muzzleloaders have never held their value in the real world so I’m sure I can find one pretty reasonably priced one of these days after season is over.

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Originally Posted by Tripplebeards

All I have is a Thompson center omega in-line. I’m gonna have to start shopping for a traditional looking muzzleloader, too bad Thompson center discontinued their Hawkins. Seems like used muzzleloaders have never held their value in the real world so I’m sure I can find one pretty reasonably priced one of these days after season is over.

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You should do that. Traditional muzzle loaders are a lot of fun. And you're right, I see good ones in pawn shops all the time, in fact, that reminds me of a TC .54 in a nearby shop I've been meaning to check back on.

I've been using Bore Butter but not real fond of the consistency, our ML season is early and it's sometimes still hot. Seems virtually everybody says about 50/50 bee's wax to some kind of vegetable oil is what you want, not sure how that relates to using animal fat.

It would also make good soap, use 1/3 to 1/4 tallow, roughly a third Coconut oil, and for the 3rd part I pefer either straight olive oil or an olive oil canola/corn oil mix. There are lye calculators online that let you plug in what you have, they will tell you how much water and lye you need.

I have been for the last 2 years been making pine tar soap from scratch. Comes to trace quickly, has a wonderful fragrance and is very healing for your skin.
When I pop in the shower I wash everything with it including hair. Now hair will come out quite squeeky, so follow with a conditioner.

It is not hard, there is lots of help online, google is your friend.

In my youth I worked at a farm where they butchered 2-3 hogs each year. Did all the work themselves. She rendered tallow in the oven on low heat. Chopping it small or grinding it first. It went through several strainings then into airtight jars. You want to keep the air away from it so it does not go rancid.

I think she used most of hers for pie crusts. But yes some went onto boots, leather gloves.

After having soaked feet today I finally used some for my boots a few minutes ago. I smeared on two thick coats and heated Each time with a hair drier till all of the talo melted and completely soaked in. Don’t think I’ll see any deer tomorrow morning while I’m turkey hunting as they will smell me a mile away. It has a good smell. Kind of like a mild mink oil. Hopefully it puts a good waterproof coating on them. Who knows, maybe the deer will think it’s their long lost brother that went missing last November.

Well I just buffed my boots and dribbled some water on them and can tell you they sure aren’t waterproof from two coats of deer tallo. The water soaked right in.

Hubbards boot and shoe grease from McMinnville Oregon is hard to beat.

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Originally Posted by Tripplebeards

Well I just buffed my boots and dribbled some water on them and can tell you they sure aren’t waterproof from two coats of deer tallo. The water soaked right in.

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You have to mix some beeswax with the tallow to make it shed water. Plain
tallow is used to soften leather, but doesn't shed water, mix with beeswax
for best results.

Thanks, I was thinking about mixing with bees wax. I used all I had a few years ago to mix up boolit lube I never used. Went to PC and never looked back. Think my mix was/is beeswax, Johnson’s paste wax, & and some marv’s mystery oil for transmissions if I remember correctly. I’ll have to find some bees wax. I have a Couple candles that are as big as a king cans. Can I melt a chunk of it and mix it 50/50 with my deer tallo to get the same water proofing affect as bees wax?

On the good side my stiff boots Softened up and slid right on my feet.

Still have a can of bear oil, per Ned Roberts it was the thing to use for ML patches. Rendered it down years ago and have never tried it.

trip, bees wax and tallow go together in the same amounts as apple pie and ice cream... it works great!!!

I took a chunk of my candle and melted it about 50/50 with the deer tallo. Brushed it on while it was completely melted and hot. The mix turned to a thick chunky cream on my boots. I used a blow drier and melted all of the thick surface cream looking wax&tallow into my boots. One looked a little drier than the other so I applied a second coat. Instead of melting with a blow drier into my leather boots this time I buffed off the hardened coat with a rag to leave a surface coat on them. I then used a shoe brush to buff off what I missed. I then rubbed my boots with the heat of my hand So the color looks nice and even. I’ll let them sit for a few hours to harden and then give them a water test. My boots look evenly dark and kinda waxy. They look good even if their not waterproof.

Just tried some water on my boot and it rolled right off. I do have a waxy feeling on the leather surface.

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Originally Posted by Markopolo

I vote BP Lube... works great with a bit of bees wax!!!

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Yes sir that gets my vote as well,
should work great for wooden tool handles it you mix in a little linseed oil and the bees wax.

Let them sit for two days now. If I touch the boots they have a very light waxy feeling. I did buff them by hand. I think I’ll leave the exterior build up instead of trying to buff it all off. I applied two coats of tallow and a coat of 50/50 mixed with candle wax. Each time I heated them with a blow drier until each coat was completely absorbed into the leather. Then I applied a second coat of 50/50 and buffed off by hand so there was a nice even exterior shield. My boots went from a light tan to a dark brown. I would assume the exterior build up will eventually absorb? There is a faint smell of the tallow and candle mix if I take a whiff. If I touch or rub my boots I can feel and smell the mix on my hands. Should I buff the rest off or leave it?


https://i.imgur.com/9qFJSNe.jpg

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Originally Posted by Thumbcocker

Hubbards boot and shoe grease from McMinnville Oregon is hard to beat.

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I'm thinking that is what I will use. Just isn't worth the stink and effort to save a few dollars. Thanks for the info.

Well, the deer like the smell! I wore my boots turkey hunting this morning and had a buck in velvet walk less than two feet from me and sniff my boots!!! I m sure it was the scented candle that I mixed in with the tallow that caught his interest. It smells like Carmel. It walked past me within shotgun barrel length and turned around as he caught my scent in the wind. I had my head against a tree and he peered around it. His head was at elbows reach from my head. He stayed there for a good thirty seconds and kept making loud sniffing noises looking and my boots. Lol...I could have pet the deer!