Tallow help

#1

This tallow stinks!!!

This is the 1st time I have made tallow from pure fat. Normally I buy bones for to make bone broth and the bones have fat on, which I later skim off and save as cooking fat.
This time I got 2kg of beef fat which I believe is Leaf fat. It came as huge fist sized solid white chunks.
It did smell a little bit while I was cutting it up. not an off smell, just a bit ‘hormone-ish’.

3 hours in. every time I lift the lid of the pot the kitchen gets full of this funky fat smell which is making my wife gag.
I really want to see this through but not even sure I will be able to filter and store the tallow once it is done.
Is it normal to smell this much? will it loose the smell when it is cooled?

(Bob M) #2

Good question about the smell. I’ve used suet, though I’m not sure how that differs from leaf fat. I remember there being a smell, but it wasn’t bad. I used a slow cooker/crock pot. Then just drained it through a fine mesh colander I have. I poured it into small cups, cooled it, refrigerated it, popped them out of the cups, froze it.

(Edith) #3

I’ve used chunks of suet to fry food up on the stove .That has a beefy smell to me, nothing the makes me want to gag. I’ve make lard using leaf lard. Leaf lard comes from around the kidneys in pigs. It has a much milder flavor than fat that comes from the other parts of the pig which tends to have a more savory/porky flavor and smell.

Suet is the equivalent of leaf lard, except from a cow or sheep. Fresh suet has a mild, bland taste, a slightly meaty smell, and a dry, crumbly texture. I don’t think the smell of it rendering should make you or your wife want to gag. Maybe it was too old?

#4

This is certainly a first for me.
Its definitely doesnt small off, it smells like hormone smell.
like the beef equivalent of of a musty goat.
The smell is getting stronger and stronger. I am hoping it will die down.
It is very very strong.

The problem is that I cant get rid of it. to throw it away I would need to let it cool down, make room in the fridge for this massive pot and let it cool before I can scrap it into the bin.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

It’s biodegradable and non-toxic, so if you have a backyard, you could probably find a place to pour the warm fat out of the pot.

The times I’ve rendered beef fat for tallow, the kitchen has always smelled like a stew cooking.

#6

minging, it will be my friends,

#7

I’ve never seen tallow successfully made from anything other than suet. I used to do it in the crockpot, took forever, made the whole place smell, i just started buying it in 7lb buckets.

#8

Well that was gross.

I let it go for 6 hours. Then took it outside and poured it into a bin bag.
Sorry Paul, no way i could pour it out into the garden the dogs would have eatten it all.

The whole thing stunk. Oh well it only cost me £1.

#9

I’m the guy that thinks he can do everything and make everything from scratch. So no matter how much people talk me it won’t work, I have to find out for myself.

But at least I have learned a lot, and will start buying it.

(Edith) #10

This may sound strange but I really don’t like tallow. The one time I bought it, I thought it had a strange texture.

I will buy suet and cut it up into little chunks and throw those in the pan. They render nicely and have a nice flavor. The little pieces that don’t quite melt taste delicious. Maybe just try using suet.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

I’ve rendered beef fat for tallow many times, and while it does tend to make the kitchen smell like a beef stew is being cooked, the rendered tallow makes a great cooking fat. I agree that the texture of solid tallow is not as luscious as that of lard, but once the tallow melts, texture is not an issue.