I have read about how tallow is a healthier and tastier alternative to other cooking oils and Crisco so I decided to give it a go. After watching a few videos I went with the dry method in my slow cooker. The wet method you add a cup or two of water to the cooker before adding the suet and the dry you don't.
I visited the new meat market 10 miles north of us and picked up 20# of suet @ 49 cents per pound. That's less than half the price of the other market near here.
I started with this.
I trimmed out all of the meat and bloody parts trying to keep it as free of the connective tissue as posible. It's not absolutely necessary to get all of the connective tissue as it will render out and become part of the cracklins. Into the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours.
Six hours later it's time to strain through with a fine strainer lined with cheese cloth.
Then into a pan lined with wax paper to help release the tallow after it freezes.
There will be a bit yet to render after straining that can go back into the cooker to get more tallow.
Once the tallow cools it will be a creamy white with a rich beefy smell.
From what I have read and the videos I watched it takes awhile for the tallow to "freeze". It will turn from liquid to a firm paste in about an hour. Placing it in the fridge for an hour or so will complete the solidification. The tallow may slightly leach through the wax paper so I turn the pan over and use a hair dryer to release the hunk. Finished product and raw materials, what a difference!
Vacuum sealed and ready to freeze. Should keep for a couple of years like this.
The cracklins can be used to add flavor baked beans and such or for fish bait which is what I will try this spring.
This is my second time rendering. The first time was only five pounds, just enough to fill our fryer. I must say that the fries did have a better taste than salad oil. I also will be using it for frying other things that normally would have used butter or oil for such as venison back strap medalions, eggs, vegies and venison burger. For baking I will try to use it in my biscuits and whatever else I can think of. Twenty pounds should last a us good while and won't need to do this for some time.
Once you use this in a fryer you must filter it so it won't go rancid and it can be messy to process. So far these are the only drawbacks to using tallow.
I hope you all enjoyed this and thank you all for looking.
Lou
I visited the new meat market 10 miles north of us and picked up 20# of suet @ 49 cents per pound. That's less than half the price of the other market near here.
I started with this.
I trimmed out all of the meat and bloody parts trying to keep it as free of the connective tissue as posible. It's not absolutely necessary to get all of the connective tissue as it will render out and become part of the cracklins. Into the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours.
Six hours later it's time to strain through with a fine strainer lined with cheese cloth.
Then into a pan lined with wax paper to help release the tallow after it freezes.
There will be a bit yet to render after straining that can go back into the cooker to get more tallow.
Once the tallow cools it will be a creamy white with a rich beefy smell.
From what I have read and the videos I watched it takes awhile for the tallow to "freeze". It will turn from liquid to a firm paste in about an hour. Placing it in the fridge for an hour or so will complete the solidification. The tallow may slightly leach through the wax paper so I turn the pan over and use a hair dryer to release the hunk. Finished product and raw materials, what a difference!
Vacuum sealed and ready to freeze. Should keep for a couple of years like this.
The cracklins can be used to add flavor baked beans and such or for fish bait which is what I will try this spring.
This is my second time rendering. The first time was only five pounds, just enough to fill our fryer. I must say that the fries did have a better taste than salad oil. I also will be using it for frying other things that normally would have used butter or oil for such as venison back strap medalions, eggs, vegies and venison burger. For baking I will try to use it in my biscuits and whatever else I can think of. Twenty pounds should last a us good while and won't need to do this for some time.
Once you use this in a fryer you must filter it so it won't go rancid and it can be messy to process. So far these are the only drawbacks to using tallow.
I hope you all enjoyed this and thank you all for looking.
Lou
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