When rendering beef fat for tallow, must the fat come from the cow's kidneys or heart area?
I purchased a package of "beef fat" from the grocery for making tallow. I cut it up into one inch cubes and placed in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours. I ladled off the fat and double filtered it through cheesecloth. The liquefied fat was not as clear as it appeared in an instructional video I'd watched, and in its solid state there's a slightly unpleasant smell. This was my first attempt at making tallow, so I didn't know what to expect.
Does the anatomic location of the fat portion matter?
Best Answer
The source of the fat can make a difference in taste, texture, color, clarity, and fat composition. (And that's not just the part of the cow, but also the breed of cow, how old it was, its diet, etc.) The kidney fat, for example, is a particular area used from cows that produces a particular kind of desirable fat, but it's not necessary for making tallow in general.
As for odor, it's hard to say. Rendering animal fats in general often tends to produce pretty smelly odors. That's pretty normal. You'll have to see whether the flavor is acceptable to you. (I'd mainly be worried about odors from the fat before you started cooking it; in that case, it might be a sign the fat was old or even spoiled. But odors during and after cooking can happen: a lot of smelly molecules are fat-soluble, so they may be released when it is cooked.)
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Where does tallow fat come from?
Tallow is made by rendering suet which is the fat of cattle or sheep, typically the fat that surrounds the animals organs. The process of rendering involves gently heating suet to separate the fat from any remaining muscle or connective tissue. The result is a pure fat that once cooled, is solid at room temperature.What part of the cow does tallow come from?
We prefer tallow made from the \u201cleaf fat\u201d of a cow, which is the mass of fat found around the kidneys. Leaf fat produces a cleaner, milder tasting tallow. If you are butchering yourself, you'll find the leaf fat in a big mass around the kidneys.How do you render fat to tallow?
How to Render Beef TallowWhere does tallow come from?
Tallow is the rendered fat of cattle and sheep predominantly, although other animals can be brought into the equation, such as horses, goats and other dead stock. (Pig fats have a totally different composition and are too soft to become tallow and form a group called greases.🔵 How To Render Beef Fat - Beef Tallow
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