DH and went and picked up a side of beef today from a grass fed beef friend. I've got the meat in the freezer and I know what to do with that. I spent hours today grinding, rendering and canning the fat. I ended up with just over 5 dozen pints of lovely white fat and probably 3-4 gallons of renderings that the chickens will enjoy through the winter. I make soap but there is no way I will use all this fat in soaping, so there in lays my dilemma. How should I use the rest? There will be more when the next side comes and I don't want it to go to waste cuz I don't know how to use it. Do you have any ideas for me?
I'm feeling rich--Now what should I do with it?
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Marianne
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Holy momma!! Lucky you! and that's a lot of fat!
TanksHill
Super Self-Sufficient
Wow, that's a lot. Maybe you could render the rest and sell it? Or just give it to friends.
Fat will keep pretty well if kept in air tight containers. The rendering usually kills the things that help spoilage and it just needs to be kept from oxygen to avoid going rancid. Here in the South there are still family farms where the lard from the fall hog kill is put in Lsrd buckets (usually small 1-2 gallon metal buckets with a tight friction fit lid) the lid is put on while the lard is still fairly hot and a mild vacuum is pulled as the little air in the head space cools. The greater the head space the cooler the fat when the lid is placed since a half filled bucket can collaspe a thin tin bucket as the lard & air cools. No first hand experience with beef fat (Tallow) since grass fed beef usually doesn't have an excess of free tallow.
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
I would probably make a few cakes of tallow for my birdy friends in the winter.. and chickens also like a bit of fat in the really cold, cold of winter here. I've nailed a fat cake feeder to the chicken coop and drop one in every so often.
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I plan to divide up the renderings (looks like cooked ground beef) into quart baggies and freeze it for the birds. As cold as it is getting here, in a week I can leave it on the back deck and not take up precious freezer space. I mix it with hot red peppers (the kind you might shake on a pizza) and give it to the birds on really cold evenings so they can be warmer at night.
I poured up the hot fat in canning jars and screwed the lids on tight. As the fat cooled it pulled down the lids and sealed them. I just love the sound of lids popping shut.
I wonder if I can use tallow in baking---things like biscuits and pie crusts. Or would they smell and taste like beef?
I poured up the hot fat in canning jars and screwed the lids on tight. As the fat cooled it pulled down the lids and sealed them. I just love the sound of lids popping shut.
I wonder if I can use tallow in baking---things like biscuits and pie crusts. Or would they smell and taste like beef?
AnnaRaven
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Depending on the rendering, it should be fine. Try making some biscuits and see. Its also great for french fries.BirdBrain said:
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I put it in a huge cast-iron pan with 4 inch sides than spans two eyes. Since I ground it fine it barely had to heat through before the oil came out, so it wasn't heated on high or for very long. There doesn't seem to be much smell. Hm, French fries. That does sound good. I guess it would work on oven baked fries too--that is how I usually do them. I like to make sweet potato fries. I bet those would be good with the beef fat too.
TanksHill
Super Self-Sufficient
I don't see why you couldn't use it in all savory recipies.
G
G
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
They use beef fat finely ground in pasty crust here in Michigan and I can say without a doubt that it is really good. but I couldn't say whether or not it tastes beefy only due to the pasty being beef.
