How to Make Beef Tallow at Home in a Slow Cooker
Simple instructions for rendering beef tallow at home with a slow cooker or in the oven. Makes about 8 cups of finished tallow useful for general cooking, making soaps, lotion, boot cream, etc.
Servings: 128 tablespoon
Calories: 160kcal
Cost: 5
Equipment
- 1 immersion blender or hand blender optional but recommended
- 1 Slow cooker
Ingredients
- 5 lbs beef fat (beef suet)
- 1 cup water
- 1 fine mesh strainer
Instructions
- Allow the fat to thaw for 30 minutes if it's frozen. Cut the beef fat into 1 inch pieces using a chefs knife.
- Combine the beef fat and water in a slow cooker, put on the lid and cook on high heat.
- After 20-30 minutes the fat should be warm enough to puree. Pulse or puree it with a handblender. This step is optional, but will increase the amount of tallow the fat makes, as well as decrease the cooking time.
- Stir the fat while it cooks occasionally, making sure it isn't sticking in the edges of the pot.
- Once the fat turns clear and small bubbles appear on the surface it's done. Strain the fat through a fine mesh strainer. Some people use a coffee filter but it takes forever and I don't recommend that. Cheesecloth works well in a pinch.
- Store the fat in mason jars in the fridge or freezer. It will last months in the fridge, and years in the freezer.
- Bring it to room temperature before cooking with it to make handling easier.
Video
Notes
Rendered beef fat can be made from any fatty cut of beef or fat trimmings. Besides the suet I use here, you can also make this with fatty brisket trimmings, beef belly, etc.
If you want to render the tallow in the oven by baking it, follow the directions above and cook it at 325 F until the fat is clear, about 3-4 hours.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 160kcal | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 0.1mg | Calcium: 0.1mg