Couple questions about beef fat. Tonight I trimmed 1.5lbs of fat off 3 racks of short ribs. I used my new toy - foodsaver - and have sealed it and put it in the freezer. Last week I trimmed and saved the brisket fat. I've just saved a lot of fat.
1. Besides adding fat to hamburger meat or painting it on steaks - beef love - what else would I use it for?
2. I vaguely remember seeing something that not all brisket fat is "good fat", is that true and what's the good fat?
3. If i'm going to continue saving beef fat, what's a useful size/weight/portion size to save it as?
Equipment:
Brinkman Gas/Charcoal duo with offset firebox
Pit Barrel Cooker
Maverick Remote Temperature Gizmo with Pit and meat probes
Thermopen Instant thermo
1. Render it down and use it just as you would lard. Use as the fat portion in make roux for sauces, pastries, etc. If you have enough of it, use it for fryer oil. If you are feeling adventurous, one gallon rendered beef fat X two strippers + 6 oz. of glitter is a great way to make sure you never get invited back to the inlaws (or even have inlaws anymore).
2. Kidney fat is the best fat, but you likely won't encounter that. Back fat is the next best, this is what you trim off your strip or ribeye steaks. Other fat that lies between muscles is also good. Subcutaneous fat, the soft, squishy fat on a brisket or shoulder clod is not very good and should be trimmed and disposed of.
3. This totally depends on you. Keep in mind that in a household freezer, rendered fat will likely still be scoop-able, so it's not really necessary to have individual portion sizes frozen like you would with soup stock.
I save beef fat to mix with venison for my burger &/or sausage. For that use I don't like "kidney fat" as it tends to be a little "tallowy" (if that's a word). It seems to set up at a lower temperature like lamb fat. I also render beef fat & use it to brown venison steaks, roasts & stew meat.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
I never thought of this before, but caul fat could possibly be used for wrapping and cooking brisket flat. It is traditionally used for game and other lean meats which tend to dry out.
I have used it to confit beef in. Real fish and chips are cooked in beef fat. It can also be rubbed on your leather boots to keep them in good condition, work boot, probably not church shoes. But your dog might eat them then. I did not know that they sell it as bird food in the grocery. My girlfriend thought I was trying to attract pterodactyls one day.
Retired high school teacher and principal
Dr ROK - Rider of Kawasaki &/or rock and roll fan
Yoder 640 on Husker themed comp cart
Cookshack Smokette smoker
Antique refrigerator smoker
Weber 22 1/2" kettle w/ GrillGrates AND Slow and Sear
Rec Tec Mini Portable Tailgater w/ GrillGrates
Plenty of GrillGrates
Uuni wood pellet oven, first generation
Roccbox Pizza Oven
Meater Block
"Go Big Red" Thermopen instant read thermometer
Ultrafast instant read thermometer
CDN quick read thermometer
Maverick ET-732 thermometer
Maverick ET-735 thermometer
Tru-Temp wireless thermometer
Infrared thermometer (Mainly use for pizza on the Uuni and Roccbox)
Beverages - Is there really anything other than Guinness? Oh yeah, I forgot about tequila!
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
When people refer to rendering, is that just heating the fat over a low heat to liquify it?
As far as I know, yes. I too do the ice cube tray thing. What I do is put a heap of fat trimmings in the skillet on low, covered. Stir after maybe 5-10 min to evenly coat the skillet bottom if it's not already.
Let it go about 45 min or so, until it's obvious the trimmings are spent and turn crispy.
Then I pour the liquid fat into a bowl to let it cool a bit more. The into the ice cube trays. The cat/dog get the leftover crispies in the skillet. They love it.
Like others have mentioned they're great for painting steaks which you already know JCBBQ but Spinaker has a great tip with a pot of chili, I think I will try that! Also, I don't use the gnarly fat from parts of the exterior of the brisket. Just steak trimmings and internal fat trimmings.
Comment