Rendering Tallow for Soap-making and Cooking

Last night we posted about bring home meat from the slaughterhouse.  We not only bring home meat, but fat and bones. The first thing we elected to do to free up some in the freezer is to render the fat.  It doesn't sound like a pleasant experience, but it's not too bad.  What it does is turn a 'waste product' into something useful - valuable even.  As we expressed earlier, when you bring an animal to slaughter, it is yours.  You can keep everything except the "moo."

Here's how we do it.  We open the bag of fat.  It is not particularly nice to look at.   

We begin by filling the biggest pot we have on the stovetop with pieces of fat, turning the stove on to heat it up.  At first the stove is set to high and then later to low. As it heats, the fat liquifies.  It takes a couple of hours, tops.

While hot the clear fat is poured through a cloth lined sieve and into casserole glass dishes.  This separates out the meat (beef cracklins) from the fat.  

Here is a photo of those 'beef cracklins' left over after the fat is rendered.  A little this goes to Belle (our dog).

Once the tallow has cooled, it turns a creamy white color.

We put the tallow in the fridge to make it cold.  We find it cuts better that way.  Then we begin cutting it into squares.  

We bag up those squares into gallon-size freezer bags, label them, date them, and put them in the freezer for storage.

As we need them, we remove and use.  Use the tallow as a cooking oil, similar to what you'd use hog lard for.  We also use it in soap-making. 

Although we didn't get the step by step picks, during the fat-rendering process, we also are boiling the bones to make beef broth.  We add carrot tops, onions and peppers and cook on the stovetop for two to two and a half days.  In the end, the result is rich beef broth which we can in a pressure cooker for later use.

This will be used as a base for soups and gravies.  Using this in place of water when cooking rice is a game-changer.