Rendering Tallow

As I sit down with one of my 2-3 afternoon snacks...a bowl of well-cooked veggies and a cup of stock, I am struck with the reality of how much has changed in two weeks. For instance, I never thought what I'm eating right now would taste good to me...but, I have come to appreciate the natural sweetness in vegetables and sure look forward to a sautéed bowl of carrots and zuchinni.

In the midst of all this current craziness, I have found myself trying the arts of many things homemade-related. First it started with kefir, simple enough--check. Then bone broth/stock--check. Then yogurt--again, check. Then...I got wild ;) and decided to render suet.

What?

I made beef tallow.

What???

You heard me, this stuff:

One of the important things of this diet is consuming quality fat...specifically animal fat. If you are unaware of how important it is for every person to consume fat for our health (I know it sounds backwards but its true!) read this. I won't go into detail about how good fat is essential to our health and even aids in weight loss...maybe some other time. No, I'm going to go into detail about how I got my hands on some of that good fat. 

I bought some grass-fed suet, I think it was maybe $1.75 a pound. If you don't know what suet it is, its pretty much fat cut straight off the cow. I was pretty nervous about this endeavor...but I figured it couldn't be too hard...and it was probably the easiest homemade thing I've ever tried my hand at.

First I chopped it up into larger chunks (you want it cold so it cuts easily.)

Then I threw it in my food processor and processed until it looked like this.

Dumped it in my crockpot and set it on low and let it do it's job. You can also do it on the stove but that requires more babysitting...the crockpot method you can forget about and just check randomly.

You cook it until all the fat melts and you're just left with the impurities floating on the top. It looks like this. (I don't even know how long I cooked it for...an afternoon, probably?)

Then I strained it through a sieve lined with cheesecloth, poured it into jars and wah-lah...good quality beef tallow.

I got two pint sized jars full from one pound of suet.

Yep. I rendered beef tallow. I admit it. Judge me, I don't care...it sure makes food taste amazing!!! :) It was cheap, easy, and what better quality can I ask for that grass-fed from a local farmer? Perfect.

Next...I'd like to try my hand at making kombucha. :)