Brief summary of Rendering Beef Fat

I've had a request re fat rendering so I hope this helps those impatient to try tallow or other animal fat soap making. When I render the next lot of beef fat I'll do a photo tutorial for those who follow picture instructions better than text only instructions.

My original batch of beef tallow was made on the stove in a pot, mostly following the directions here -  http://justlikemynanmade.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/rendering-animal-fat-for-oils-part-2.html, but chopping the fat. Thanks Narelle :)!

Since then, after I trim the unwanted bits off, I just chop it into chunks about an inch or two in size and throw it all in the crockpot, without the water as it isn't in danger of burning/boiling in my crockpot on the lowest heat setting, and periodically check it. Please know your crockpot before you try this as it may need to be closely supervised the first time this is done. When it has melted, as much as it can, I turn off the crock pot, remove the undissolved pieces of  hard fat/gristle (they are cooled and fed to the dog) with a slotted spoon and let the fat go cold and set in the crockpot. Then I loosen the fat block, cut it into quarters for ease of handling, slice off the sediment (scungy looking) part on the base (more dog food!) and remelt to liquid in the crockpot on low heat setting again. I let it cool slightly, a thin skin should form on the top this time, then strain it through an old fine cotton tea towel into my pyrex jug and pour it into room temperature glass containers (hot fat and cold glass = nasty accident!), to let it set, if I'm not using it immediately. Glass containers with wide tops let it slide out in a block into a freezer bag and you can just pop it in the freezer until you are ready to use it. You can also slide it out onto a plastic bag or waxed paper on your zeroed scale and weigh it before you pop it in your freezer bag then write this on the bag for future reference when making soap batches. Ensure you write "Beef Tallow" on the bag and the date it was rendered otherwise it may be mistaken for something else.

Note: The fat can be strained after both heating periods if you don't have a dog for scungy bits disposal purposes :).

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Please use common sense when trying this as I take no responsibility for any accidents that happen.

KEEP CHILDREN, PETS AND HUNGRY INQUISITIVE MALE FRIENDS/PARTNERS CLEAR

As the title says this is a brief summary not an extensive tutorial. Any burns, fingers sliced off, dogs with digestive dysfunctions, curious children or pesky partners ARE NOT my problem.

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Cheers,
RobynLouise xo