Tallow

[Geezy]

It’s tallow making time again.

Picked up 5 pounds of Wagyu fat for tallow.

 

Cutting it up into bite sized pieces. I noticed that this fat has a different texture that the beef fat I normally use. It’s crumbly.

 

In the pot with about a 1/4 cup of water to keep it from sticking initially. The water will cook off.

 

Coming along nicely. Keeping the temp low between 200° and 250°. It’s a slow process so gotta stir it ever half hour or so.

 

Further updates coming.

 

 

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[ketomonster]

question,   could you just use a couple of those chunks instead of all the rendering?

[Scott F.]

Yes, I do.

When I buy the fat like that the butcher usually leaves a few strands of red meat. It makes some really nice snacks once fried and "most" of the fat is rendered. Tastes amazing.

Scott

[Geezy]

question,   could you just use a couple of those chunks instead of all the rendering?

No. The whole idea is to get a bunch of rendered fat for cooking. It’s a lot easier to just spoon a little tallow into a pan for frying eggs that waiting for a few fat chunks to render down in the skillet so I can cook.


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[Geezy]

After about 7 hours it rendered down nicely.


Straining out the tallow from the rendered fat.


Filling the mason jars.


Finished product.
5 pounds of solid fat finished out to 3.5 jars of liquid hold and two bags of rendered fat bites.
The fat bites are great snacks if a craving hits and I really like mixing a few in with scrambled eggs for some added flavor and fat.



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[ketomonster]

savory

[Bob]

Yeah, I definitely cooked mine too fast. Mine was rendered in 3 hours. My fat looks like rice crispies, tastes burnt. And the tallow reeks.

I'm still using it though, but I definitely need to exercise patience next time, and remember it's an 8 hour process whether I like it or not, lol.

[Geezy]

Yeah, I definitely cooked mine too fast. Mine was rendered in 3 hours. My fat looks like rice crispies, tastes burnt. And the tallow reeks.
I'm still using it though, but I definitely need to exercise patience next time, and remember it's an 8 hour process whether I like it or not, lol.

Yeah just keep that heat turned down to as slow a simmer as you can.
You could also pressure cook it but I don’t think it renders as well that way.


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[Idunno]

Sweet tutorial 

[Skeptic]

Every year we put a whole beef in the freezer.  In years past, I didnt know nearly as much about the importance of fats as I should have and so wouldnt request the extra fat.   Of course that has all changed, and now I have packages of fat in my freezer too.  I have simply been adding the fat to burgers as I make them up and things like that, but I have been at a loss as to other ways to use it.  Nutritionally, I know raw is best, and I am guessing a bit of nutrition may be lost in the rendering process, but Ill bet that tallow is shelf stable in the pantry!   This here is a great idea.

 

[Geezy]

Every year we put a whole beef in the freezer.  In years past, I didnt know nearly as much about the importance of fats as I should have and so wouldnt request the extra fat.   Of course that has all changed, and now I have packages of fat in my freezer too.  I have simply been adding the fat to burgers as I make them up and things like that, but I have been at a loss as to other ways to use it.  Nutritionally, I know raw is best, and I am guessing a bit of nutrition may be lost in the rendering process, but Ill bet that tallow is shelf stable in the pantry!   This here is a great idea.

 

Unless you canned it like you do jam or something I wouldn’t think it’s shelf stable.
I will keep one jar out on the countertop next to the stove because we use it everyday for cooking. One jar stays in the refrigerator for when the one jar runs out and the rest are kept in the freezer. I’ve read that it’s best to be kept refrigerated or in the freezer for long term storage. Fat will go rancid if kept unrefrigerated too long but I have no idea when that timeline is. One jar gets used in a few weeks to a month.


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[Skeptic]

I run my pressure canner quite often, so I saw those Ball jars and got excited!  I thought for sure that was what you had done, my mistake.  I wonder how much the canning process would change the tallow?  I wonder if anybody else on here does pressure canning?

 

[Bob]

On 2/25/2025 at 8:36 PM, Geezy said:

the rest are kept in the freezer. I’ve read that it’s best to be kept refrigerated or in the freezer for long term storage.

Uh oh. All 6 of my jars have been in the fridge. And I have been complaining about the odor. I thought it was from rapid-rendering with too high of heat, but maybe they are stinking because they should have been frozen.

I think I might ditch them and try again. The bag of fat was cheap.