Preparedness

Thanks fabric. According to your informative link the product we use at home is a 'silver protein', using the gelatin to keep the silver suspended and not a true colloid.

This is apparently the cocktail that has a tendency to turn the skin blue when ingested in greater concentrations. According to some, it presents potential bacteria problems, which it claims to eliminate in foods! :huh:

FWIW, we've never had a problem, having used it for years, but may further our search for something more desirable.
 
Hi guys,

I'm going to be rendering 5 pounds of tallow in the next week or so. Last time I did 15, but it was my first time and was really messy and tiring.

The main problem is the straining step. I cut my suet into one inch cubes, so in the end there is a lot of these "cracklings" at the bottom of the pot. After I have poured out the easily accessible oil. To get the most tallow I could, I ended up squeezing all the fat out of these because they seemed to have absorbed a lot of the rendered fat. I'm not sure if these protein structures actually absorb the rendered fat in the pot. A lot of indications I read say they should be crispy. They are brown for me, but not dry. And some of the tallow I rendered was softer than others, though it all stayed good for 3 months in the cupboard, So I am thinking maybe there was still quite a bit a water content in the cracklings, and this was what I was partially squeezing out.

I'm debating whether all the effort to squeeze out the cracklings is worth it or not. I thought it was like 20% of the total tallow I got from these guys, but I could be wrong. I've been looking for some contraption to not do it by hand.

My other idea is to buy a meat grinder or food processor (don't know which :huh:) and put the suet through this and maybe this will make the cracklings less of a problem altogether. Because it will be smaller pieces and not retain so much liquid substance. I'm really curious if anyone has had success with this. Also I want to know the model of appliance, because I will buy one, but I want to make sure it works on the suet.

I've been browsing Amazon and other online retail stores for quite a while the last few days and will continue... I'll buy some things meat grinder maybe, better strainer, and hope this works. Of course I would love to hear recommendations to be more sure.
 
Hi wetroof, I don't have any experience in making my own tallow. I just buy it in a large amount and vacuum seal it and put it in the freezer. It's one suggestion that cuts down on some of the work. Here is the site if you're interested. Good Luck!
 
I've made my own tallow several times. Like yours, my cracklins are not crackley. They're pretty soft. I have a small strainer that I use to press out the extra tallow from the cracklins though sometimes I don't bother with it. Next time I may simmer the cracklins again after I drain out the tallow to see if any more fat can be liquidated from them.

It's easier to cut the fat when it's cold and hard. It's messier and more time consuming trying to cut soft fat. Also if you use a coffee filter your tallow will come out whiter but this is a very slow process for me too so sometimes I don't bother with it either.
 
hmm... I know I have skipped over that product at some point. guess I forgot. that is not a bad price. So I have a question, are we sure that it is grass fed? I know it says it is. Also what is the color, taste, texture like?

I actually remember now that I read some suspicions about the product. A guy was claiming it did not seem like the fat he rendered, and so he didn't think it was grass-fed. It was white instead of yellow. Well I'd like to know your comments on it, the benefits of not rendering it myself are huge!

I also got into contact with a farm that is two hours from my house. they will render suet but I have to buy a large amount. over 50 pounds, and I was just worried about buying that much and it not being good or spoiling for whatever reason. Now I think I might consider this.

I have no freezer and limited refrigerator space by the way. I would really have to store it in the open. but tallow should be fine for this. animal fats like tallow don't go rancid I don't think. that is what I think at least.
 
Odyssey said:
I've made my own tallow several times. Like yours, my cracklins are not crackley. They're pretty soft. I have a small strainer that I use to press out the extra tallow from the cracklins though sometimes I don't bother with it. Next time I may simmer the cracklins again after I drain out the tallow to see if any more fat can be liquidated from them.

It's easier to cut the fat when it's cold and hard. It's messier and more time consuming trying to cut soft fat. Also if you use a coffee filter your tallow will come out whiter but this is a very slow process for me too so sometimes I don't bother with it either.
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I use a paper towel. I thought this is similar to a coffee filter. mine comes out very yellow. I wonder what the coffee filter is filtering. THis might explain why the wellness meats tallow that 3D student linked to was white (as some person claimed who bought it).

I figured out cutting it half frozen is much easier also. but thanks for the tip :)
 
I heard too that color is indicative of the animal's diet. The tallow is whitish when it is solid. But when melted it is golden yellow, like ghee. It tastes good, especially with a dash of salt on it. The texture is rougher than say, lard or ghee.

Over 50 pounds would be a lot. But if you're putting it in all of your dishes when you eat, you should steadily put a dent in it over some months. I had a bucket sit inside during the summer last year for a month and the bottom third had rancid brown specks in it. So I would definitely try to keep it cool.
 
Okay thanks I have to decide what to do. It's relatively cool where I live... I made a note to research animal fats, tallow, and rancidity so maybe I can figure something out. For now I already ordered the 5 pounds which I will pick up on the weekend and render.

I was thinking about this, and it doesn't make sense that a coffee filter could change the color, if its true that the color is due to certain vitamin compounds. Because vitamins are "dissolved" in the fat...so the holes would have to be nanometers to strain it out. and it depends on the size of the molecule maybe.

But it may be the color is from small pieces of the cracklings not strained out. in that case maybe a coffee filter would change the color.

I'm glad to hear it tastes good (though I guess this is subjective). I cannot eat that amount I rendered plain. It has a very strong taste. not burnt, the taste is hard to describe. much different than lard or butter or ghee which is much more mild in comparison. So I always mask the taste with spices or in long cooked meat-roasts and salt and pepper, and the taste is not so strong.

I heard the taste could be due to how long the meat is left to hang (I guess ferment) before its packaged. And the suet I ordered from a farm with other meat, and all the meats had a very strong taste. So maybe this is it, but I would think when the suet is heated and the fat rendered the taste would come out the same. but I don't know that much about biology.

I will try and find some information to these questions. for now I am going to wait to buy fancy equipment to render.
 
I've rendered down pork fat into lard now a few times which is working out really well, lovely soft creamy texture to it. Great to cook with or use on the side with a little salt/pepper added or a little mustard in there works great too.

The only straining I do is through a regular metal sieve, lifting the crackling out with a spoon and letting it sit over the pot in the sieve to drain. Some are crispy, some softer, all tastes good though and very hard to stop eating them once you've started. I do find that it takes quite a while on a low heat to get the moisture out of the fat, you need to wait until the fats starts making quite loud popping noises, it takes some hours to get there if you are making a lot. Do have a deep pan with a lid on it or be prepared to clean lots of exploded fat blobs from around the kitchen.

Slowly on a low heat seems to be the way. Eventually the fat gets hot enough to fry the cracklings making them crispy, which will force the water off but not be hot enough burn the fat.
 
If the coffee filter retains the yellow color of the tallow, I would be very suspicious and not use it, as it could retain essential nutrients. I strain through a metal thieve, too.

Yes the bits should be cooking slowly, under the temperature at which blobs would explode. As soon as there is enough liquid in the pot, there's no more blob exploding. Until then, the bits have to be moved often in order that none sticks at the bottom and burns. The least burning will change the taste and also alter the color towards grey.

I dont put a lid on the pot because key for conservation of the rendered tallow is that there is no moisture in it once you put it in jars. It is moisture that prevents the long conservation and also makes the tallow creamy. Instead it should be the consistency of candles: hard.
But having rendered tallows of different beef races, I also found that there are indeed differences in the consistency, and some are creamier.

I pour the hot liquid directly through the thieve into glas jars, and immediately screw the lids to close them. After a while I hear a "pop" sound of the lid, the tallow will keep long and fresh.

Danse la vie
 
Could I use my pressure cooker to cook the meats first and then put them in jars? Would that be possible?
I have read the whole thread and looked at the links provided, but as far as I understand it you can your meats while boiling the glass jars in water.
Thanks!
 
Yes, you could use the pressure cooker to cook the meats before canning (with the same pressure cooker). Is this what your asking? Probably you do not want to do this if your pressure cooker is aluminum like mine is because it will leech into the meats I think.
 
wetroof said:
Yes, you could use the pressure cooker to cook the meats before canning (with the same pressure cooker). Is this what your asking? Probably you do not want to do this if your pressure cooker is aluminum like mine is because it will leech into the meats I think.
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Thanks, wetroof. What I meant was: can I cook the meats and then put them in jars without boiling these again in water. What does boiling meats in their jars do exactly, what I couldn't achieve by just cooking the meats? Hope my question is clear. ;)
I just checked. My PC is made of stainless steel.
 
Mariama said:
Thanks, wetroof. What I meant was: can I cook the meats and then put them in jars without boiling these again in water. What does boiling meats in their jars do exactly, what I couldn't achieve by just cooking the meats? Hope my question is clear. ;)
I just checked. My PC is made of stainless steel.
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Hi Mariama,

You will still have to process (boil) your jars in the pressure cooker after filling them. This is sterilize them and to drive all the air out of the jars that would provide a medium for bacterial growth. It creates the vacuum that pulls the sealer into place, keeping the food fresh.

You will need to make sure your pressure cooker can produces the right amount of pressure. The manual that came with your cooker should tell you if it is suitable to be used as a canner too. If you are close to sea level, 10 to 12 lbs of pressure seems to be enough. At anything higher than 2,000 ft of elevation, all the manuals say the pressure must be at 15 lbs, processing for 75 min for cooked food and 95 min for raw. I've processed raw stew beef for 120 min, just to be sure.
 
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