Beef Fat from stock

[Marlene]

I got a great layer of fat off my current batch of beef stock. In the past, I've always thrown this out. So, my questions are:

1 Can I/should I render it?

2. If so, how do I do that?

3. What can/should I use the rendered beef fat for?

[jackal10]

Its has quite a high smoke point. Roast or fry potatoes in it.

If you use it for frying render it first (heat slowly in a pan until it stops bubbling)

You can also use it in savoury pastry.

[Marlene]

Excellent. I'll try rendering it. How long will it keep in the fridge?

[fifi]

I have kept it for several months, in a glass canning jar in the fridge. You could also freeze it and it would keep forever. I did do what jackal10 said. I heat it slowly and gently in a heavy little pot and pour the pure fat off. You want to get the water and other gunk out of it before you store it.

[Marlene]

I did that. At least I think I did! I also poured it into a glass canning jar. I think I see Yorkshire puddings in my future tomorrow night.

[mcattaneo23]

Never thought of doing this, just always tossed it, thanks for the tip guys. Its funny, I never throw away bacon, duck, or even chicken fat, but never thought of saving the byproduct of my stock!!! Love this site

[jackal10]

I did that.  At least I think I did!  I also poured it into a glass canning jar.  I think I see Yorkshire puddings in my future tomorrow night.

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Perfect use for it. Saute a little onion in the fat put some in the bottom of each yorkshire before you pour on the batter.

[Marlene]

Sounds perfect Jack. And it was thanks to you that I even thought about doing this! I'm going to use popover pans for the Yorkies. How much fat per mold? About a tablespoon each or more? Popover pans are a little deeper than my usual muffin tins. I've never used these before.

[Shalmanese]

I've found generally, in order to get the "cleanest" fat, you need to do a two step stock. Blanch and clean enough beef bones to fill your pot to the brim, and then add water and cook for 6 - 12 hours. Drain, discard bones, chill and remove the fat layer. Then, heat it back up, toss in some finely chopped mirepoix and some herbs and boil for another 30 minutes, drain again, discard veggies and freeze the stock. There are a couple of advantages to this method:

1. You get more yield per batch since you can fit more bones in the pot.

2. The fat you get is pure beef rather than having the taste of mirepoix. Tomato paste in particular completely changes the nature of the beef fat but carrots and onions will still colour and flavour the fat.

3. If you so desire, it's easier and cleaner to pick the meat off the bones since theres not bits of bayleaf and carrot sticking to it.

4. The veggies only cook for 30 minutes so they have a much fresher taste.

If you really want the fat clean enough for frying, then you need to clean it further. First, wash the fat under cold water, making sure to scrub the surface scum off it. Next, wash it again under hot water in a tall, narrow pot. Fill the pot with plenty of hot water and let the fat melt completely. Swirl it around until the water gets murky. Then, chill and skim off the fat again. You can repeat this as often as you want until the water runs completely clear. Finally, you need to melt the fat in a pan and heat it until no bubbles emerge to remove any excess moisture. You'll be left with a neutral, beefy fat with a high smoke point and excellent frying charecteristics which can be used to fry many batches of excellent french fries as long as you strain it between each batch.

It might also be easier to accumulate the fat from several stock makings before cleaning. In this case, just freeze the fat from each batch until you have enough to fill a large pot.

[Marlene]

Today I'm rendering beef fat from pure pieces of fat for the first time. It seems to be taking forever. Do the fat pieces ever melt completely down?

[melkor]

Did you put a little water in the pan? You'll be left with little crispy bits, but the bulk of the fat should melt.

[Marlene]

I didn't. Should I add some water?

[melkor]

Yep. The water will help it get going without getting hot enough that it changes color.

[Lori in PA]

(The crispy bits are really good.)

[Shalmanese]

Today I'm rendering beef fat from pure pieces of fat for the first time.  It seems to be taking forever.  Do the fat pieces ever melt completely down?

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The smaller you chop your pieces, the faster the fat renders. Generally, it takes about 15 - 30 minutes to render out a batch of beef fat, not matter how much you have. You can tell when the rendering is done because there will be no more bubbles emerging from the cracklings. All the moisture and, consequently, fat, has been rendered out. Drain off the crispy bits onto lots of paper towels, sprinkle with some salt and eat. Alternatively, if I am making a stew, they serve as an excellent garnish sprinkled on at the end.

[pork]

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