Rendering Beef Fat to Use in the Deep Fryer

[challenger_i]

Yep, what the title implies! Looking for input on taking trimmings and putting in the fryer. Hints on how long it will keep before it gets nasty is welcome, too!

[M-Tecs]

https://thekitchenknowhow.com/how-to-render-beef-fat/
Keep homemade tallow refrigerated for up to 3 months or frozen for up to a year.

[sureYnot]

My fryer always wants to make a mess on the counter with tallow or lard. Works good in the skillet, though.

Pour it in jars while it's hot. It'll last for years with no moisture and a good seal.

[Nobade]

The crock pot is the deal for making tallow. Just let it go until done. Skim and filter and you're there.

[Delkal]

I course grind the fat then slowly render it in a large pot or a crock pot. Heat very slowly and when it almost stops bubbling you are done. Try to keep the temp<300. You can ladle off the fat and filter it thru cheese cloth. Make sure you save the little greasy brown bits left over in the pan. We refer to them as kosher bacon bits and with a little salt you keep snacking on them even though they are full of fat and you know they are probably bad for you. As long as the oil is clear and there is no moisture in it I don't refrigerate it if it remains sealed.

The biggest problem with tallow is trying to clean it since it is a solid at room temperature making it impossible to filter between fries unless it is way too hot. And home made tallow can be extremely "beefy" and can overpower most dishes and french fries. I cut it at least 1:1 with vegetable oil and you still get plenty of the beef taste and it is easier to filter.

[challenger_i]

All good information.

Thanks!

[country gent]

I have done it in a croc pot, I wrap the fats / trimmings in cheese cloth add water and cook down. The clean fat will float let cool and it can be lifted off and dried. The cheese cloth holds the unwanted bits.

[beemer]

I can't help you on how to render it but my Father rendered tallow from a beef we slaughtered in the 1970's. I have a couple pints that is still good, only a little oxidized on the surface. He rendered it and filtered it. He said if it is pure it will keep for years and I guess it did. He used it for his boots and I used it for ML patches.

[GhostHawk]

The old first generation norwegian farm wife I knew always rendered her pig lard in the oven. But I could see where the slow cooker would work.

Personally I switched from electric fry pots to a large wok type nonstick pan on the gas stove. I mostly use whatever brand of Canola oil I can find in gallon size cheap. I do have a nice little alum pot with lid to store it in the fridge in, and a small mesh screen that just sits on top for filtering out crumbs.

One of my favorites is to take cheap pork, be it boneless ribs, or steaks, whatever. Cube it up, hit it with Adolph's meat tenderizer and garlic, then roll in bread crumbs. I do my fry's from scratch starting with raw peeled potatoes, when the fry's start showing golden color drop in the cubed pork and fry till lightly golden brown. Maybe not the best for me, but mighty tasty.

PS I do dry my fry's after cutting on a cotton towel to remove moisture, and do NOT overfill the pan or overload it. AnSd I keep the lid that fits the pan handy off to the side if I need it. So far after some 15 years I never have.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've never done Beef fat, But I started rendering Schmaltz in a pressure cooker, instead of fry pan or soup pot.

[Milky Duck]

I have large pot and preserving pan bot about 15litres ...when kill a sheep I cut up the fat into small hunks and put it in pot and cook on barbeque outside...keep stiring it as it cooks,run sharp knife through it as it starts to render down...keep going till you have nearly clear liquid and some lumps of fat skin,for want of a better term.... scoop out the lumpy bits and pour off the liquid.... I keep it for the wee birds over winter,just hang pots up tree and they go nuts over it...

[challenger_i]

The grease cookie method: that was the method what I was thinking of. Thanks!

I have done it in a croc pot, I wrap the fats / trimmings in cheese cloth add water and cook down. The clean fat will float let cool and it can be lifted off and dried. The cheese cloth holds the unwanted bits.

[AlaskaMike]

I've got a ceramic bowl with a tin foil "lid" that I keep next to the stove that has a mixture of beef, pork and bacon fat. About every month or two I'll scoop it into a sauce pan and heat it up on medium low heat to boil off any moisture, and I'll scoop off any bits, and then I'll pour it back into the ceramic bowl. There's fat in that bowl that is way older than 3 months--probably older than a year.

I'm sure if I didn't keep remelting regularly it probably wouldn't last nearly as long.

[challenger_i]

Well, going by your screen name, I'd be willing to bet the only reason you have a refrigerator is to keep things from freezing...

[AlaskaMike]

Well, going by your screen name, I'd be willing to bet the only reason you have a refrigerator is to keep things from freezing...

Haha! No, I'm in Anchorage (or "Los Anchorage" as most folks up here call it because it doesn't bear much resemblance to the real Alaska). Anchorage temps are probably far more like the Pacific northwest than the insane cold they see in interior Alaska.

That said, in winter when temps are consistently below freezing, I've been known to place an ice chest on the back deck and use it as a second freezer!

[YippyKiYay]

On the farm mom always rendered the fat from beef and hogs.
She put a cup of water in a Huge pot, sweet ice 2 burners, put fine chopped fat in it, and a lid. Low heat a few hours. The water finally evaporates and you get cracklings for corn bread too.

I still do it the same way.