How to Render Beef Suet to Make Tallow (step-by-step)
A super simple step by step guide on how to render beef suet! Use the stove top or the crock pot. Tallow is the perfect cooking fat and is an excellent ingredient for DIY balms, ointments, candles, and much more!
Yield: 5 lbs
Cost: $7
Equipment
- Beef Suet (in any increment) (I used 6lb in the images featured in this post for reference)
- A large pot (or crock pot)
- Colander
- Large Bowl
- Wide Mouth Mason Jars
Materials
- Cheesecloth
Instructions
- Prepare the Suet
- First, if the beef suet is stored frozen, be sure the beef suet is thawed completely in the refrigerator.
- Next, cut the suet into small pieces (about ½ inch) or use a food processor or meat grinder to grind down the fat pieces.
- Once the suet is cut down into small pieces, place it in a large pot on the stove top. Slowly heat the suet pieces on low or medium/low. A very low heat is all that is necessary to melt the liquid fat, too high of heat will scorch the tallow to the bottom of the pot. This can also be done in a slow cooker or crockpot on the low setting.
- Strain the Product
- Once the beef suet has been cooked down there will be browned bits of meat that rise to the top of the liquid fat. Using a fine mesh strainer, colander, or cheese cloth over a large bowl, slowly and carefully pour the melted components into the straining mechanism.
Notes
Note: Often, I like to strain the beef tallow and then add the chunks back to the large pot on the stove for further processing, to ensure there is no waste.
[5lb of suet yields about 4lb of tallow - taking about 6 hours to render on stovetop or 11 hours in the slow cooker]