How to Render Animal Fat
Turning scraps into a kitchen staple transforms your cooking process. It is about patience and temperature control; rush the heat, and you end up with bitter, scorched grease rather than pure, neutral fat.
Cold fat chops better than room temperature fat.
Keep your trimmings in the freezer for twenty minutes before working with them to ensure clean cuts and easier processing.
- heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven
- chef's knife
- fine-mesh sieve
- cheesecloth or clean linen towel
- glass storage jars
What goes in.
- 3 lbraw pork leaf fat or beef suet, chilled
- 1/2 cupwater (to prevent initial scorching)
Low and slow, always
Maintain the lowest possible heat setting. If you see the liquid bubbling aggressively, it is too hot and will degrade the flavor of the final product.
The method.
Prepare the fat
Trim away any visible meat or blood vessels. Dice the remaining clean fat into uniform half-inch cubes.
Begin the melt
Place the cubes and the water into your heavy-bottomed pot. Set the stove to the lowest flame.
Maintain the render
Stir occasionally. Over the next two hours, the water will evaporate, the fat will liquify, and the solid bits—known as cracklings—will shrink, turn golden-brown, and crisp up.
Strain
Line your sieve with several layers of cheesecloth. Carefully pour the liquid through the cloth into your jars, leaving the brown cracklings behind.
Cool and store
Let the jars sit at room temperature until the liquid turns opaque and solid white. Seal and store in the refrigerator or a cool, dark place.
Other turns to take.
Dry Render
Skip the water and render the fat entirely on its own. This produces a slightly nuttier flavor but requires constant attention to prevent the bottom of the pot from darkening.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Discard any bits that look grey or smell off; fresh fat should be stark white and scentless.
Do not press the cracklings against the cloth while straining, or you will cloud the clear fat with fine particles.
Save the golden cracklings—they are excellent salted and eaten as a snack or crumbled over sautéed greens.
The ones that keep coming up.
How do I know when it is finished?
The rendering is complete when the solids (cracklings) are small, crisp, and deep golden, and the liquid fat is perfectly clear, resembling light oil.
Why did my fat turn out grey?
Grey fat usually indicates the raw trimmings were not cleaned thoroughly, or the temperature was high enough to scorch the remaining proteins.
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