Rendering Tallow

from suet!

Total Time: 12-24 hours

Tallow can be expensive!

I love making my own tallow for cooking because I already purchase 1/4-1/2 cow and the suet (kidney fat) is included! Even if you do not, purchasing suet from your local farmer is very inexpensive.

Jars of tallow from the grocery store can be very expensive for a small amount. This is a huge money saver and its easy!!

This is a recipe for COOKING TALLOW. If you want to render suet to make lotion, soap, etc… you will want to render it several times and I will go over that down here.

Equipment:

  • Crockpot

  • Immersion Blender (optional)

  • Large bowl

  • Large spoon

  • Fine Mesh Strainer

  • Large Glass Baking Dish

  • Large Knife

  • Mason Jars (for storage)

Ingredients:

  • Suet (kidney fat)

  • 1/4-1/2 C water

    Steps:

  1. Take your suet and break it into medium/small pieces. Removing as much connective tissue as possible.

    There should not be any meat attached to suet but if there is, remove that as well.

  2. Once everything is removed cleanly (see instagram video), place it in a crockpot with 1/4-1/2 C water.

    I add enough water to lightly cover the very bottom of the crockpot to prevent burning.

  3. Turn crockpot on low and let it render until soft.

  4. Once all of the pieces are soft, using an immersion blender to turn everything to liquid really speeds the rendering process up! If you do not, it will just take longer. The rendering process can take 12+ hours!

  5. Once everything is a liquid gold color and there are no chunks left, and minimal “bubbles” simmering, its done!

    There might be some crispy pieces floating around (cartilage or tendons that were not removed-thats okay)

  6. Using a fine mesh strainer, pour the tallow into a large glass dish.

  7. Once the tallow is slightly cooled, I like to place mine in the fridge to harden, but you can leave it on the countertop if you wish!

  8. Once the tallow block is hard, you are done! Store it however you wish.

    -wrap the whole block in plastic wrap and store it in fridge/freezer

    -cut into chunks and store in mason jars in fridge or freezer (this is my preferred method and what I show in my Instagram video)

    -you can store at room temperature but you must ensure its in a sealed container in a dark cool place AND that all water was rendered out of product