Suet Rendering Instructions
Don Wiss
There is no reason not to render a lot of suet at the same time. It keeps.
Dice the suet into pieces smaller than walnut size. This is a lot of
cutting, but the small size works best. I cut off as much as possible the
bits of meat, and fibers that aren't suet.
The boiling of suet takes a long time. Many hours. It does not melt easily.
I would start it early in the morning.
Use a stainless steel pot with a thick bottom. Start with a small amount of
added water. Stir often, especially in the beginning. It will become a
liquid with lots of solid pieces floating in it. After a while a few pieces
may stick to the bottom, if there are one hour gaps between stirring. I
have put in too much water, and let it simmer (always the lowest possible
flame) overnight, but too much water just lengthens the process.
The liquid does get a little yellow. I figured it came from the stuck
pieces. One wrote that sometimes grass fed animals produce yellowish fat. I
have only rendered grass-fed bison from North Star Bison.
People suggest rendering twice. The last time I did render twice, and it
speeds up the process. Your goal is no moisture at all. This is key for
preservation. The signal that you have reached this is the lack of small
gas bubbles coming up from the bottom. This is moisture converting to
steam. They seem to never end. I figure they are slowly coming out of the
chunks of non-fat. One thing I also did last time was to insert my stick
blender in the mixture to chop up the chunks. Be careful not to pull it out
and splatter hot fat all over. If you do two renderings, the first
rendering would be done before the bubbles stop. Then heat again until all
bubbles are gone. No need to strain a second time.
One uses a thermometer to ensure that she is not overheating. I don't see
the point if the flame is at the lowest and you stop after the bubbles
stop. She writes "When I'm rendering suet, and the water is nearly gone
(bubbles very small) I start checking the temperature with a cooking
thermometer. As long as there is water in the fat, it won't get far from
212 degrees (less at higher elevations). As soon as the water is gone, the
fat starts heating up. I remove it from the burner before it gets to 225
degrees. That way I'm sure that it is done, and still haven't overheated
it."
For straining I first used a very fine strainer and put a piece of cheese
cloth in it. Not sure why the cheese cloth was needed, but everybody seems
to use it. Since the strainer was much smaller than the volume of chunks in
the boiling pan, I held back the chunks with a spoon and only poured out
the liquid that came out easily. Not particularly efficient. I have since
switched to using a chinois*. And I no longer use cheese cloth. Since the
chinois has a tall aspect ratio I use a tall stock pot underneath. I don't
use the wooden pestle that fits in the chinois, but a large spoon to press
the junk against the sides.
I store my rendered suet at room temperature. It is now stored in one of my
good pots. Ideally some molds exist to pour into. Some have suggested mini
loaf pans, but I haven't tried them.
* Go to:
http://bridgekitchenware.com/cgi-bin/scodb.cgi/s=bridge&uid=&a=c&c=&n=Contents/
and do a search on chinois. They have three.
Don <donwiss at panix.com>.
RoboCheese
the following... :
$ Suet Rendering
$
$ There is no reason not to render a lot of suet at the same time. It
keeps.
$
$ Dice the suet into pieces smaller than walnut size. This is a lot of
$ cutting, but the small size works best. I cut off as much as possible the
$ bits of meat, and fibers that aren't suet.
$
$ The boiling of suet takes a long time. Many hours. It does not melt
easily.
$ I would start it early in the morning.
$
$ Use a stainless steel pot with a thick bottom. Start with a small amount
of
$ added water. Stir often, especially in the beginning. It will become a
$ liquid with lots of solid pieces floating in it. After a while a few
pieces
$ may stick to the bottom, if there are one hour gaps between stirring. I
$ have put in too much water, and let it simmer (always the lowest possible
$ flame) overnight, but too much water just lengthens the process.
$
$ The liquid does get a little yellow. I figured it came from the stuck
$ pieces. One wrote that sometimes grass fed animals produce yellowish fat.
I
$ have only rendered grass-fed bison from North Star Bison.
$
$ People suggest rendering twice. The last time I did render twice, and it
$ speeds up the process. Your goal is no moisture at all. This is key for
$ preservation. The signal that you have reached this is the lack of small
$ gas bubbles coming up from the bottom. This is moisture converting to
$ steam. They seem to never end. I figure they are slowly coming out of the
$ chunks of non-fat. One thing I also did last time was to insert my stick
$ blender in the mixture to chop up the chunks. Be careful not to pull it
out
$ and splatter hot fat all over. If you do two renderings, the first
$ rendering would be done before the bubbles stop. Then heat again until
all
$ bubbles are gone. No need to strain a second time.
$
$ One uses a thermometer to ensure that she is not overheating. I don't see
$ the point if the flame is at the lowest and you stop after the bubbles
$ stop. She writes "When I'm rendering suet, and the water is nearly gone
$ (bubbles very small) I start checking the temperature with a cooking
$ thermometer. As long as there is water in the fat, it won't get far from
$ 212 degrees (less at higher elevations). As soon as the water is gone,
the
$ fat starts heating up. I remove it from the burner before it gets to 225
$ degrees. That way I'm sure that it is done, and still haven't overheated
$ it."
$
$ For straining I first used a very fine strainer and put a piece of cheese
$ cloth in it. Not sure why the cheese cloth was needed, but everybody
seems
$ to use it. Since the strainer was much smaller than the volume of chunks
in
$ the boiling pan, I held back the chunks with a spoon and only poured out
$ the liquid that came out easily. Not particularly efficient. I have since
$ switched to using a chinois*. And I no longer use cheese cloth. Since the
$ chinois has a tall aspect ratio I use a tall stock pot underneath. I
don't
$ use the wooden pestle that fits in the chinois, but a large spoon to
press
$ the junk against the sides.
$
$ I store my rendered suet at room temperature. It is now stored in one of
my
$ good pots. Ideally some molds exist to pour into. Some have suggested
mini
$ loaf pans, but I haven't tried them.
$
$ * Go to:
$
http://bridgekitchenware.com/cgi-bin/scodb.cgi/s=bridge&uid=&a=c&c=&n=Contents/
$ and do a search on chinois. They have three.
$
$ Don <donwiss at panix.com>.
A very deep Thank You.
RoboCheese
"Ain't Fall a blast?? Happy Holloween." Me.