In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Anyone Render Fats?

Discussion in 'The Smokehouse' started by Grizzly Adam, Oct 30, 2013.

  1. Grizzly Adam

    Grizzly Adam null

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    As you may or may not know, I typically make all of our baked goods. Recently I have been experimenting with rendering our leftover fats into lard/tallow/schmaltz with anticipation of using these in place of the oils in my breads. Does anyone else have any experience with this?
     
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  2. thistle

    thistle

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    Not on a large scale,but do have a small jar of bacon grease on the back of the stove to use when popping popcorn occasionally + sautéing certain veggies,add a teaspoon or so when fixing risotto. Over 95% of my cooking is with extra virgin olive oil though.Only use butter on popcorn,sweet corn in summer & once in a while baked or sweet potatoes.

    Mom has used a tiny bit of bacon drippings when baking her white bread for several decades.The Bulghur wheat its a bit of canola oil & honey to the mix...
     
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  3. Grizzly Adam

    Grizzly Adam null

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    Bacon grease would be great with popcorn. We have been saving that for eggs and such for a while now, but I have just started rendering it to remove the strong tastes that goes along with such meats. Waste not, want not.
     
  4. NW Walker

    NW Walker

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    I render lard regularly. I use the leaf for baking and things like that, and rendered back fat for savory cooking.
     
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  5. BrianK

    BrianK

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    I render a lot of stuff into fats. Most everything I eat seems to get rendered into fat.
     
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  6. Hearth Mistress

    Hearth Mistress

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    Only at living history events....as a reenactor....making soap. It was never a pleasant experience, 100 degree weather in wool tending fire to make soap for tourist who just asked the same questions (did George Washington sleep here? Where do you take a shower/go to the bathroom? Why are you wearing wool in July?)
    Interesting topic though! ;)
     
  7. lukem

    lukem

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    [quote="thistle, post: 14558, member: 67"sweet corn in summer [/quote]

    Put a dab of that bacon grease on your corn...it is wicked good.
     
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  8. Grizzly Adam

    Grizzly Adam null

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    I will second that!
     
  9. thistle

    thistle

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    Put a dab of that bacon grease on your corn...it is wicked good.[/quote]
    I'll try that next year!! Sounds great.
     
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  10. WeldrDave

    WeldrDave Military Outpost Moderator

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    Jack, I don't do any baking, the wife does but she put's a little bacon fat in her sour dough bread mix just before she bakes it. Oh my is that good! Also, it's been many years since I lost my Mother but she added bacon fat to her homemade pie crusts, I couldn't tell you how much but it was fabulous!
     
  11. NW Walker

    NW Walker

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    So Jack, are you rendering lard? If I may offer a suggestion...there are a different techniques online, and most are pretty straight forward but don't really give you what I think is the most important piece of advice I was ever given about rendering for clean lard. The best, pure white, almost flavorless lard comes firstly from the leaf, but most importantly it does not have the brown cooked bacon residue that long rendered lard will get. Not that that's not great, it is, but it's not always appropriate, as in pies and stuff. The secret is to start skimming off the top of the rendering lard as soon as you get it liquid enough. The finer fat will render first, and as the meaty bits and tougher fats sink to the bottom the pure white light fat is on top. So, while it might take a few hours to render a skillet full of fat, you can start skimming off the top and pouring into half pint jars fairly quickly. I will do this throughout the process, and number the jars in the order they come out of the pan. In that way you will get a range, from pure snow white to tan savory lard, and you can use them accordingly. As time goes on the crispins add their color and flavor to the lard and make it more savory, so you want to get the pure stuff out as soon as you can.
     
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