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How to Make Beef Tallow: 3 Best Ways

Three best methods for rendering beef fat into tallow, depending on your desired use.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Course Condiment
Cuisine American
Servings 24 tablespoons
Calories 115 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 stockpot, dutch oven, or slow cooker
  • 1 steel fine mesh strainer
  • 1 medium piece of cheesecloth finely woven, preferably organic

Ingredients
  

All Methods

  • 1-5 pounds grass-fed beef fat either suet, body fat trimmings, or a mixture of both

Wet Rendering Only

  • 1-4 tbsp sea salt approximately two teaspoons to one tablespoon per pound of fat
  • 2-8 cups filtered water approximately 1¼ to 1½ cups of water per pound of fat

Instructions
 

Dry Rendering

  • If oven-rendering, preheat the oven to its lowest setting (usually 200℉). If rendering via slow cooker or on the stovetop, skip this step.
  • Finely mince or grind the fat. Alternately, allow frozen fat to slightly thaw before chopping it in a food processor.
    1-5 pounds grass-fed beef fat
  • Place the chopped fat in a stock pot on the stovetop, a dutch oven for oven rendering, or in a slow cooker.
  • Turn the slow cooker on low or the stovetop to low heat.

Hybrid Rendering

  • If you'd like to be extra sure the tallow doesn't burn, add about ⅓ cup of water per pound of fat.

Dry & Hybrid Rendering

  • Allow the fat to render for 30 minutes, then stir.
  • Stir every 45-60 minutes thereafter, making sure the fat isn't burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  • Continue rendering until the bits of fat (cracklings) have shrunk and become small, crispy, and slightly browned.
  • Pour the liquid fat into a glass storage container.
  • OPTIONAL: strain the liquid fat through a fine mesh strainer and cheesecloth for a purer, less beefy smelling tallow.

Wet Rendering

  • Clean beef body fat trimming or suet it by removing any remaining pieces muscle meat with a sharp knife.
    1-5 pounds grass-fed beef fat
  • Finely mince or grind the fat. Alternately, allow frozen fat to slightly thaw before chopping it in a food processor.
  • Place ground fat in a stockpot on the stovetop and add water and salt.
    2-8 cups filtered water, 1-4 tbsp sea salt
  • Turn the burner up to high heat until the ground fat has melted, then stir and reduce to a low simmer.
  • Simmer on low for three to four hours.
  • Once the fat has entirely separated from a cloudy layer of tissue beneath, remove from heat.
  • Strain the liquid fat and water through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.
  • Place the bowl in the refrigerator or freezer until the fat has become entirely solid.
  • Pop the tallow cake out of the bowl, removing it from the water below and discarding the water.
  • Flip the disk of tallow over and scrape off any impurities or bits of tissue on the bottom of the cake until the bottom is as clean as the top.
  • Remove any remaining water moisture in the tallow before storing by re-heating the tallow and pouring off the liquid fat fat from the water beneath. Alternately, allow the tallow to sit in a shallow, cheese-cloth covered container for a week or two to cure.

Purify the Tallow

  • Purify wet or dry rendered tallow by putting it through additional rounds of wet rendering (usually one or two will suffice).
  • After each round, strain the liquid tallow through a fine mesh strainer covered by cheesecloth.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoonCalories: 115kcalFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 5.35gCholesterol: 14mg
Keyword basics, fats and oils
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