Rendering beef tallow in instant pot

[grantgallagher]

Have any of you guys done this? Do you use the lid and pressure cook or just render on saute? Also, ive read a few recipes online that call for pouring hot into mason jars and putting the cap and lid on right away and letting it cool closed.

Any recommendations/methods?

[7pigfeathers7]

I like my Instant Pot for things like rice, bone broth and beans. A pressure cooker needs water to produce steam and generate pressure, which I don't think you would like in your beef tallow.

[Willy]

I've only rendered fat on the stove top. Put a little water (say, a cup) in a pot, add the fat and cook on low heat until the fat is rendered (the water will have evaporated, but it helps early on before some fat has rendered). The hotter the rendering, the more color your tallow will have. If'n you pour into mason jars, be sure they are preheated. Hot fat and cold glass just might not mix well.

[EdF]

I'd avoid trying to do it in a pressure cooker like the instant pot (at least under pressure). I have an older Magafesa which was designed to be both a pressure cooker and a pressure fryer. It has a much heavier gasket and other design things going on for being able to handle straight oil based cooking.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Haven't done it, but this might help... pretty wordy before the instructions so you gotta scroll down a bit https://allthenourishingthings.com/f...e-instant-pot/

[Backroadmeats]

Just put in a roaster on about 175.. most fat will render around 170 that why u smoke your sausage under that so u don't cook the fat out.. scoop out the clear liquid and let the rest cook til not more come out.. I make soap from beef fat and a hundred pounds of lard a year.. buy a electric roaster

[IowaGirl]

I render lard and tallow for cooking and soap making. I don't see how the instant pot is any different than a roaster pan or crock pot, but other than me using a crock pot and her using an instant pot. our methods are about the same.

If you render in a pan directly on the stovetop, adding some water helps prevent any overheating of the fat while rendering. Water can also be used to clean up fat that's not the cleanest nor the freshest, but that's a story for another day. If the fat is reasonably clean and is sweet smelling, there's no point to adding extra water if you render in something that's temperature controlled -- the oven, crock pot, instant pot, roaster pan, etc. -- so you don't have to babysit the process as much.

Like Backroadmeats says, heat it up as little as possible. And also for as short a time as possible. I ladle off the rendered liquid fat as it accumulates. If you start smelling a "fatty" or "deep fat fryer" smell, the fat has been heated too high or for too long or both.

Even if you don't add water, there is still some water naturally in the fat. If you can, leave the lid off your rendering pot to allow water to evaporate.

I don't agree with pouring the fat right in a canning jar for storage. I strain the fat into a larger container (a flexible plastic ice cream pail works great), let the fat cool down to room temperature without stirring (to let impurities and water settle out), chill it in the fridge until the fat is solid, remove the fat from the container, and scrape off any odd bits off the bottom. It's really important to remove all the water and foreign matter that might still be in the rendered fat. Otherwise the fat will mold and won't stay sweet as long. Remelt and then put into containers for storage.

You'll get a LOT better yield if you grind the fat first. Somewhere around 70-80% yield for tallow, and maybe 10% lower for lard. Chop the fat reasonably fine if you can't grind.

[mrteddyprincess]

All very cool suggestions on here!
Christmas day I rendered brisket fat in a chilli pot on the stove. I usually allow the tallow to cool so it's not piping hot when I pour through cheesecloth on a home canning funnel. Works like a charm unless you're out of cheesecloth.
Have you ever tried buying cheesecloth on Christmas day? Turns out the pharmacy CVS sells cheesecloth when they opened that day. Funny thing was it's a real fancy sterilized type that comes in little individual packages all folded up like a hanky in four inch squares. Unfold one and it fits perfectly in two layers right over the canning funnel. I bought a whole box and I have 24 more sterile little cheesecloths waiting on me in the closet. The other funny thing is CVS keeps the little handy cheesecloths over in a section called "wound care."

[mrteddyprincess]

Mr. Bones , right? Cooking a pig in cow fat to make it taste better. I tell you that result was tasty. Thanks for the spell correct.

[tstalafuse]

If you want to render using the IP as a pressure cooker, you have to do it as a double boiler. Put water and the trivet in an 8qt pot, put you fat in a 6qt pot, set the 6qt on the trivet, and seal it up for pressure cooking. This will keep the fats from burning or scorching, and you don't have to cookoff the water.. You will still want to strain it and do the other stuff to preserve it.