What to do with beef fat (raw)?

[sorenkkg]

I just butchered my first sirloin steaks

I got 12 out of one of those huge packs from Costco. Saved a bunch of $$$ by doing it myself (literally, $7 per kilo!)

I trimmed off some fat, and I'm wondering, before I throw it out-- is there some use for it?

It's literally white, little or no meat in it.

Do I render it? I keep bacon fat-- is this similar?

Ideas please! Or if not, I'll just toss it.

Thanks,
Soren

[Charski]

Yes, you can render it - this is tallow! Which is just the name given to rendered beef fat, same as rendered pork fat is called lard.

I love tallow to cook with - it adds a nice beefy flavor (surprise, surprise!) to whatever you cook in it.

You can get it to melt fastest if you grind it first, using a coarse blade on a meat grinder, but if you can't do that, then chill it really well, cut into chunks, and pulse in a food processor, or just cut it with a knife into very small pieces and use that.

You can start it by putting in a pot with a little water (depends on how much fat you're starting with, but at least 1/4 cup) which allows the fat to start rendering without burning. As it cooks down, the water will evaporate.

Or you can just do it over a very low flame without water.

When it's all melted, strain out any bits and then I pour the tallow into mason jars and refrigerate. It lasts ages if covered and stored on the fridge.

[Auntie Em]

It can also be rendered in a crock pot.

I prefer beef fat to pork fat, due to lower Omega 6 content.

I use beef fat as my main cooking fat. I also put dabs of it in my tea.

Having lots of beef fat is great! Congratulations!

[sorenkkg]

ok super, I'll give it a try tomorrow! I probably have about a pound? maybe 3/4? I might try the crockpot thing, interesting idea!

[Auntie Em]

Soren, if you have a large enough refrigerator, the crock pot full of water and simmered beef fat can be put in the refrigerator after it has cooled to room temperature. Leaving the whole thing overnight to cool makes it easy to just lift the fat off the water, the next day. A potato in the crock pot helps soak up smells, so that the rendered beef fat is then fairly smell-free.

[rosethorns]

great info .thanks.

[sorenkkg]

Ok, so, crockpot with water and the fat, not just the fat?

[sistertzu]

I've never made it in a crock pot. I add beef fat cubes to a sauce pan with a couple cups of water, after it's cooked an hour on medium I blend it up with a hand blender add in more water cooking for a bit longer. I cool and refrigerate with the water until fat is firm then remove it. All the impurities stay in the water the tallow rises to the top. The taste is fabulous.

[pooticus]

It pains me to say this, but if it's factory farmed beef fat, I would throw it out. *sob* *hic* *hold me*

The reason? Because the amount of estrogen found in beef fat is obscene when it comes from cattle fed GMO corn and soy like they do in feed lots!

Now, if it was from grass fed beef? I would say, render that fat down baybee then go to town on it! It would be high in CLA, Vitamins D (I think also high in Vitamin A), B12, etc, along with good amounts of Omega 3s!

Sorry to be the voice of doom and gloom but it only takes getting an estrogen positive breast cancer one time, to change your complete view on feedlot, high production meats. And hope yall don't hate me!

[metqa]

If I"m eating factory farmed steaks and ground beef, I'm already eating all the bad stuff anyway.

No hating, but for me I'm gonna use what I've got since I paid for it. I might pay for it down the line but I wanna eat now. When I become rich and well off, I might consider buying grass fed then.

Thanks for the warning though.

[sorenkkg]

Originally Posted by pooticus

It pains me to say this, but if it's factory farmed beef fat, I would throw it out. *sob* *hic* *hold me*

The reason? Because the amount of estrogen found in beef fat is obscene when it comes from cattle fed GMO corn and soy like they do in feed lots!

Now, if it was from grass fed beef? I would say, render that fat down baybee then go to town on it! It would be high in CLA, Vitamins D (I think also high in Vitamin A), B12, etc, along with good amounts of Omega 3s!

Sorry to be the voice of doom and gloom but it only takes getting an estrogen positive breast cancer one time, to change your complete view on feedlot, high production meats. And hope yall don't hate me!

No hating! I already considered that. Since this is beef from Costco, I know it's not organic/grass fed etc.

I'm leaning toward moderation-- like, you get X fat in the meat, but maybe purposely seeking out the fat is asking for trouble.

Then the flip side-- 1) I already save bacon fat, and 2) I use butter, which is milk fat, from cows.
Back at square 1?

If I go through with this, then the "wet rendering" sounds like I could do that... this is really interesting, regardless of what I eventually do...

[buttoni]

I tend to cut beef tallow/fat off my roasts and freeze it in a large ziploc bag. Then when I'm making soups, I'll take out a small piece, defrost and dice it real small. I then render it in a large soup pot and make the soup right on top of the grease and beef cracklings. If it's diced small enough, those crispy bits are good in many veggie soups. Kinda depends on the soup I'm making if I leave the fried bits in it or not, though.

[metqa]

Hey now that's a nice idea too!!! I'm gonna try that on my next stew, cause while I love the idea of a pot of tallow, I just don't feel like another project in the kitchen right now.