Rendering Beef Fat.

[Spinaker]

Hey Folks,
Happy to see we all made it to the other side free and clear!! Always good to see improvement! It's a positive sign that this community is growing!!

Anyway, down to business. I'm gonna be trimming up a brisket to smoke this weekend, I was wondering if any of you have a technique for rendering down the trimmed fat. Is it as simple as just throwing it in the pan and letting it heat up? What are some methods that y'all have you'd in the past to render down some animal fat? Just curios to see if there is a right way or a wrong way to do it. Any advice/techniques/ pictures are of course helpful!!

Thanks Folks,

-John

[Dewesq55]

When you render pork fat to make lard, they suggest you put the raw fat in water then boil the water away until all that's left is the lard. I'm not entirely sure why, but I assume that you can do the same to get suet/beef fat.

DEW

[Spinaker]

Dewesq55 ,
How much water do you put in the pot to boil? Just enough to cover the fat or more? Thanks for the Input!

[Dewesq55]

About 1/2 cup of water for a lb of raw pork fat.

[fzxdoc]

Here's Meathead's "Beef Love" recipe lifted directly from http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/...se_steaks.html

Make your own "Beef Love"




At David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago, Chef Rick Gresh (right) keeps a cup next to his grill with what he calls "beef love", melted beef fat trimmed from his aged steaks. Gresh paints the steaks with it before they go into the dining room. I have taken his method one step farther. I paint the meat with beef love before it goes on the direct heat as well as before I serve. It enhances browning and brings great flavor to the party.
To make your own beef love, just ask your butcher for a pound of suet, the term they use for beef fat. Butchers trim pounds of it every day and throw it away. It won't cost you anything. Take it home, chop it into cubes about 1/2" and put them in a pot over medium heat to medium low. Put on the lid. After a few minutes you should see tallow (liquid suet) in the pot. If not, raise the heat slightly. After about 30 minutes most of the fat will have melted. There will be some fibrous matter that doesn't melt, just throw it away. Pour the tallow into a heavy bottle, let it cool and solidify, and store it in the freezer. It will keep for months.
When it is time to cook your steaks, scoop off an ounce or two and melt it in a small pan. You can even melt it on the grill.

HTH,
Kathryn

PS. Instead of suet, Huskee says (in the comments section on that link) that he fries up his trimmings from steaks to make Beef Love in a covered skillet on low, reverse seared.

[Spinaker]

Thanks Kathryn I figured that their was a page here on this subject. I was also a bit curious to see what other people have done.

[Huskee]

Spinaker I just put chunks of trimmed fat (pork or beef) in a skillet on low with the lid on, and let it go for a while until there's a decent puddle. Then the cat gets the leftover crispies and everyone is happy. I have never done the water thing and probably never will.

EDIT: I see Kathryn mentioned that in her post above. I have no clue if my way is best, but since it involves doing next to nothing I consider it a worthy option, lol.

[Huskee]

You're one of those "water guys". I don't know you, begone! I'll have to investigate this water business.

[mhalbrook]

I've found the water method works well for cooking chopped bacon, and getting some good bacon fat off of it in the end. Never tried it with other fats, only times I really had that much fat to deal with, I either ground it in with the pork scraps for sausage, or there's a possibilty that one time I rubbed the fat cap and grilled it and ate it.. but that may have been Brian WIlliams that did that..

[Spinaker]

I love your simplicity. Doing next to nothing to achieve your ultimate goal is fine by me. As my Dad says to this day work smarter, not harder.

[Breadhead]

I learned about "Beef Love" from this site. It made a lot of since to me and if it would add flavor I was all in. After I render it I wait for it to come to room temp and then pour it into ice cube trays. Then when it's frozen I remove it from the ice cube try and put it into a freeze bag. 1 cube melted in the microwave is enough for 4 to 6 steaks. https://www.flickr.com/photos/food_pictures/9165203996/

[Spinaker]

See this is what I was looking for. I knew somebody had some little trick to make it easy!! Thanks Breadhead !

[Breadhead]

That's what makes the Pit so cool... We all share our methods and tricks. It's nice to always have a cube of lard when you need it.

[Medusa]

WOW! This sounds really cool! (Good) --Ed