In my quest to ensure Aiya has a balanced diet which includes fat vital for her brain and nerve tissue development, I resorted to making my own fat as she is allergic to all other available fats such as butter and olive oil. For someone who does not like red meat or the smell of fat cooking this was torture… the things you do for your kids.
The process of rendering beef fat is very simple. Ask your butcher for fat from around the kidneys as this is supposedly the mildest tasting. It should be hard and white rather than stringy, but you can use any fat from the cow to make suet.
What you will need:
- Beef Fat – About 500g
- 1 table spoon of water
- Latex food prep gloves (If you don’t want the smell of beef fat on your hands)
- Large pot
- Muslin
- Clean container for storing suet in the fridge
Step 1 – Take the beef fat and chop in to tiny pieces, removing any red meat parts – the smaller the pieces, the quicker the fat will melt. The last time I rendered fat I asked the butcher to put the fat through the meat mincer, the texture was perfect and I did not have to spend an age cutting the fat into tiny pieces.
Step 2 – Put the fat and water in the pot and leave on a low heat, you don’t want the fat to burn. The fat will start to melt and any bits that are not pure fat will float to the top. 500g of fat should take about 1 ½ – 2 hours to melt depending on how finely it has been chopped. I only needed to make a small amount as a little does go a long way, but you can do this in bigger quantities which will take longer to reduce down.
Step 3 Strain the fat through a muslin / cheese cloth twice to remove any bits so you are left with a clean liquid.
Step 4 – Place the fat in a clean glass jar or container (I line a tupperware container with baking paper) and then leave to cool. Store the fat in the fridge for no longer than 6 weeks.
Project Aiya 
As always, remarkable!
LikeLiked by 1 person